NBC Television · Public domain

A comedian and screenwriter best known for creating José Jiménez, a heavily accented Bolivian astronaut character he performed regularly on The Steve Allen Show in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The character became a genuine pop-culture fixture during the space race, spawning records and a catchphrase, before shifting cultural attitudes toward ethnic caricature led Dana to retire it himself. He continued writing for television for decades afterward.