Durante had a nose to remember, but the Smithsonian could smell a gimmick

On Aug. 19, 1959, the entertainer Jimmy Durante sat down in a makeup artist’s chair in Hollywood determined to create a lasting gift for the nation. What the Smithsonian Institution needed, Durante decided, was a plaster cast of his magnificent nose. It was doubtless Durante’s press agent who cooked up the scheme. There’s nothing a […]