Edd Byrnes (born July 30, 1933) is an American actor known for his starring role in the television series 77 Sunset Strip. He also was featured in the 1978 film Grease as television teen-dance show host, Vince Fontaine, and a single-charted recording artist with "Kookie, Kookie -- Lend Me Your Comb" (with Connie Stevens).
Born as Edward Byrne Breitenberger, he shared an impoverished and unhappy childhood in New York City with brother Vincent and sister Jo-Ann. When he was 13, his father died. He then dropped his last name in favor of "Byrnes" based on the name of his maternal grandfather, a fireman.
His time enduring and most famous role was as Gerald Lloyd "Kookie" Kookson III, on the ABC television detective series 77 Sunset Strip. He played a continually hair-combing serial killer in the pilot, Girl on the Run, but he was so popular (a national teen sensation), as a result that the producers brought him back the following week as a regular cast member in the role of a chrome-plated hot rod driving, hipster-talking ("Kookie-talk") parking valet and sometime protege private investigator. Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. explained the situation to the audience:
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