Editing Jimmy Durante (section)

==Later years and death==
[[File:Its a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World Trailer22.jpg|thumb|left|Durante in ''[[It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World]]'']]

Durante continued his film appearances through the popular 1963 ''[[It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World]]'' and a number of television appearances through the early 1970s. He narrated the Rankin-Bass animated Christmas special ''[[Frosty the Snowman (TV special)|Frosty the Snowman]]'' (1969). The television work also included a series of commercial spots for [[Kellogg's Corn Flakes]] cereals in the mid-1960s, which introduced Durante to millions of children. One of his last appearances was in a television commercial for the 1973 [[Volkswagen Beetle]], where he proclaimed that the new, roomier Beetle had "plenty of breathin' room... for de old schnozzola!"<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.google.com/search?q=1973+volkswagen+beetle+jimmy+durante|title=Volkswagon Commercial Durante|website=Google.com|access-date=February 10, 2025}}</ref>

In 1963, Durante recorded the album of pop standards ''September Song''. The album became a best-seller and provided Durante's re-introduction to yet another generation, almost three decades later. ''Jimmy Durante's Way of Life'' album featured his interpretation of the song "[[As Time Goes By (song)|As Time Goes By]]", which accompanied the opening credits of the romantic comedy hit ''[[Sleepless in Seattle]]'', while his version of "[[Make Someone Happy (song)|Make Someone Happy]]" was in the film's closing credits. Both are included on the film's best-selling soundtrack. Durante also recorded a cover of the well-known song "[[I'll Be Seeing You (song)|I'll Be Seeing You]]", which became a trademark song on his 1960s TV show and was featured in the 2004 film ''[[The Notebook]]''.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

He wrote a foreword for a humorous book compiled by Dick Hyman, titled ''Cockeyed Americana''. In the first paragraph of the "Foreword!", as Durante called it, he describes meeting Hyman and discussing the book and the contribution that Hyman wanted Durante to make to it. Durante wrote, "Before I can say gaziggadeegasackeegazobbath, we're at his luxurious office." After reading the material Hyman had compiled for the book, Durante commented on it: "COLOSSAL, GIGANTIC, MAGNANIMOUS, and last but not first, AURORA BOREALIS. ''[Capitalization Durante's]'' Four little words that make a sentence—and a sentence that will eventually get me six months."{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

[[File:Jimmy & Margaret Durante's grave.JPG|thumb|right|Jimmy and Margaret Durante's grave at [[Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City]], California]]

Durante retired from performing in 1972, following a stroke that left him reliant on a wheelchair. He made a public appearance in 1974 when MGM held a reunion of its former stars, in connection with its new ''[[That's Entertainment!]]'' film.

Durante died as a result of pneumonia in Santa Monica, California, on January 29, 1980, 12 days before he would have turned 87. He received Catholic funeral rites four days later, with fellow entertainers [[Desi Arnaz]], [[Ernest Borgnine]], [[Marty Allen (comedian)|Marty Allen]], and [[Jack Carter (comedian)|Jack Carter]] in attendance, and was interred at [[Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City|Holy Cross Cemetery]] in Culver City, California.<ref>"Durante Family and Friends attend Funeral Rite", ''The New York Times'', April 2, 1980, p. 13.</ref>