In the heyday of the network era of broadcasting, writer, actor, and producer Bill Dana created a nationally recognized comic character who endured in the American consciousness for over a decade. When that character first uttered his signature phrase, "My name … Jose Jimenez," on The Steve Allen Show in 1959, he became one of the clearest representatives of a familiar American type. Portraying a Mexican immigrant on the bottom half of the social ladder, Dana's Jimenez worked at various times as an elevator operator and a bellboy. By today's standards, that portrayal, which included Jimenez's broken English and naive innocence, appears to many condescending at best. However, Jimenez was a singularly noble character, possessing goodness, wisdom, and sincerity, traits comparatively unusual in the history of American TV characters. Although he exhibited stereotypical racial characteristics common to the period, at the same time Jimenez displayed more...