- Kovacs got custody of his oldest two daughters after his divorce, but in 1953 their mother kidnapped them and they were not returned to him until 1955. After Kovacs died, his widow Edie Adams successfully fought their birth mother for custody.
- It is suspected that his death in a car crash was caused by losing control of the steering as he was trying to light a cigar by striking a match against his shoe sole. He hated to use lighters, believing they ruined the taste of a cigar.
- When he died, he owed the IRS several hundred thousand dollars in back taxes (he felt the tax system was unfair, and simply refused to pay it). His widow, Edie Adams, made television commercials and did other work to finally pay the back taxes, refusing help from her celebrity friends. She owned all the rights to all of Ernie Kovacs' surviving television work.
- The car in which he was killed was a new 1962 Chevrolet Corvair.
- Daughter actress Mia Kovacs died in an auto accident on 8 May 1982. Daughter Kippie Kovacs died after a long bout of ill health on 28 July 2001.
- Kovacs won awards for producing commercials for his TV sponsor, Dutch Masters Cigars. These one minute spots were done as sort of "minute movies" in a humorous vein. He utilized Classical chamber music and no spoken word until the final message of: :"Next time, step up to Dutch Masters!".
- His father was a bootlegger during prohibition.
- Married Edie Adams in Mexico City. The ceremony was presided over by former New York City mayor William O'Dwyer, and performed in Spanish, which neither Kovacs or Adams understood; O'Dwyer had to prompt each to say "Si" at the "I do" portion of the vows.
- His daughter Kippie was married to Burt Lancaster's son, screenwriter Bill Lancaster. She had one daughter, Keigh.
- Created the first kaleidoscopic images on live television with a large metal can with two mirrors inside of it, taped to the lens of a television camera.
- Was chosen originally to play the character of Melville Crump in It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963), but he died in a one-car accident before principal shooting. In real life he was married to Edie Adams, who played Melville Crump's newlywed wife, Monica Crump, in the movie. The role of Melville Crump was finally played by Sid Caesar.
- He had three daughters: Betty (b. 1947) and Kippie (4 January 1949 - 28 Jul 2001) with first wife Bette Wilcox and Mia Kovacs (20 June 1959 - 8 May 1982) with second wife Edie Adams.
- He was nicknamed "Mister Moustache" by other television celebrities.
- Many of the kinescopes he made on the DuMont television network have been lost.
- Portrayed by Jeff Goldblum in Ernie Kovacs: Between the Laughter (1984).
- Ernie Kovacs died only 10 days before his 43rd birthday.
- Interred at Forest Lawn (Hollywood Hills), Los Angeles, California, USA.
- He was nominated for the 2015 New Jersey Hall of Fame in the Performance Arts Category.
- He was inducted into the 2019-2020 Class of New Jersey Hall of Fame in the Arts and Entertainment category.
- Repeatedly used :"Rialto Ripples Rag" (1917) by George Gershwin as theme song for his various Television shows.
- He was nominated for a 2013 New Jersey Hall of Fame for Arts and Entertainment.
- Graduated from Trenton Central High School.
- Hoasted a comedy/variety show on WTTM in Trenton, New Jersey,.
- Attended the New York School of the Theatre.
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