Comedy

Jim Abrahams (1944–2024), Airplane! filmmaker

Jim Abrahams was part of the Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker (ZAZ) filmmaking team, known for such comedies as “Airplane!” and “The Naked Gun.”  

Judy Tenuta (1949–2022), standup comedy’s “Love Goddess”

Judy Tenuta was a comedian and actress who played the accordion in her act and called herself “The Love Goddess.”

David A. Arnold (1968–2022), comedian and “Fuller House” writer

David A. Arnold was a comedian who wrote for the Netflix revival series “Fuller House” and created the Nickelodeon show “That Girl Lay Lay.”

Teddy Ray (1990–2022), comedian featured on “Wild ‘n Out”

Teddy Ray was a comedian known for appearances on TV shows including “Wild ‘n Out” and “Pause with Sam Jay.”

Jak Knight (1993–2022), comedian and “Big Mouth” star

Jak Knight was a comedian and actor known for his voice role on the Netflix animated series “Big Mouth.”

Johnathan Szeles (1958–2022), comedian and magician known as The Amazing Johnathan

Johnathan Szeles was a comedian and stage magician known as The Amazing Johnathan, a longtime headliner in Las Vegas.

Jeanne Robertson (1943–2021), humorist known for family-friendly laughs

Jeanne Robertson was a humorist who was known for her wholesome stories of family life, featured on YouTube and Sirius XM.

Sean Lock (1963–2021), English comedian known for “8 Out of 10 Cats”

Sean Lock was an English comedian and actor known for the British TV show “8 Out of 10 Cats.”

Trevor Moore (1980–2021), comedian with “The Whitest Kids U’ Know”

Trevor Moore was a comedian who was a founding member of the sketch comedy troupe “The Whitest Kids U’ Know.”

Jackie Mason (1928–2021), legendary stand-up comedian

Jackie Mason was a legendary stand-up comedian known for his outrageous ethnic-based humor.

John Paragon (1954–2021), played Jambi the Genie on “Pee-wee’s Playhouse”

John Paragon was an actor who played Jambi the Genie on the 1980s cult classic children’s TV show “Pee-wee’s Playhouse.”

Paul Mooney (1941–2021), comedian, actor & writer for Richard Pryor and In Living Color

Paul Mooney was a pioneering comic who was the writer for Richard Pryor, "In Living Color," and "Chappelle's Show."

Frank Jacobs (1929–2021), Mad magazine writer

Frank Jacobs was a longtime writer for Mad magazine, best known for his song parodies.

Marion Ramsey (1947–2021), "Police Academy" star

Marion Ramsey was an actress best known for starring as Officer Hooks in the "Police Academy" movies.

Natalie Desselle Reid (1967–2020), starred in 'B.A.P.S.'

Natalie Desselle Reid was a comic actor known for roles in "B.A.P.S." and "Madea's Big Happy Family."

David Lander (1947–2020), Squiggy on 'Laverne & Shirley'

David Lander was an actor and comedian best known for his costarring role as Squiggy on the hit 1970s sitcom "Laverne & Shirley."

Norm Crosby (1927–2020), legendary old school comic

Norm Crosby was a legendary old school comic known as the "The Master of Malaprop."

Carol Arthur (1935–2020), 'Blazing Saddles' actor

Carol Arthur starred in "Blazing Saddles" and was the widow of .

Conchata Ferrell (1943–2020), Berta on 'Two and a Half Men'

Conchata Ferrell starred as the wisecracking housekeeper Berta for all 12 seasons of the hit sitcom 'Two and a Half Men.'

Manuel “El Loco” Valdes (1931–2020), Mexican comedy legend

Manuel “El Loco” Valdes was an actor and comedian who was a Mexican pop culture legend.

Carl Reiner (1922–2020), legendary comedy writer, director, and performer

Carl Reiner was a legendary comedy writer and performer who created "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and directed films including "The Jerk.”

Fred Willard (1933–2020), comic actor who starred in “Best in Show”

Fred Willard was a comic actor beloved for roles in films including “Best in Show,” “A Mighty Wind,” and “This Is Spinal Tap.” During his long career he also appeared in several TV shows, including "Fernwood 2 Night," "Real People," "Roseanne," "Murder, She Wrote," "Everybody Loves Raymond," and "Modern Family." His final recurring role was as Steve Carell's father in the upcoming Netflix series "Space Force."

Corey La Barrie (2020), YouTube star

Corey La Barriewas a YouTube star and Instagram influencer who attracted a large following for his comedic posts.

Matty Simmons (1926-2020), National Lampoon co-founder

Matty Simmons was a co-founder of National Lampoon Magazine and produced the movies  Animal House  and  Vacation .  

Michael McCarthy (1959–2020), SNL writer and Second City veteran

Michael McCarthy was a comedian who was a former writer for “Saturday Night Live” and a performer with Chicago’s Second City improv group.

Mal Sharpe (1936–2020), pioneering radio prankster

Mal Sharpe  was the pioneering radio comic known for “The Man on the Street” pranks. In the early 1960s, Sharpe teamed with Jim Coyle to go out in the street in San Francisco and prank unsuspecting people with unusual interview questions. After fooling someone with their bizarre inquiries, they would reveal the joke. The pair had a show on radio station KGO. After the duo filmed a TV pilot in 1965, Coyle mysteriously left show business. Sharpe continued to do some radio work and formed a jazz band in which he played trombone.  

Maggie Griffin (1920–2020), Kathy Griffin’s mother who costarred on “My Life on the D-List”

Maggie Griffin was the mother of comedian Kathy Griffin and costarred with her daughter on televisions My Life on the D-List.

The best of Tony Randall, who would have been 100 this year

Tony Randall would have been 100 years old this month.

Jack Burns (1933–2020), comedy partner of George Carlin and Avery Schreiber

Jack Burns was a comedian and actor who was in popular comic duos with George Carlin and Avery Schreiber in the 1960s. Burns and Carlin had a popular album titled “Burns and Carlin: At the Playboy Club Tonight.” Burns and Schreiber were popular guests on TV variety shows. When Don Knotts left “The Andy Griffith Show” after season 5, Burns joined the cast as the inept deputy sheriff Warren. Barney Fife was a tough act to follow, and Burns's character was not popular with fans. He was fired midway through season 6. Later Burns was a head writer for “The Muppet Show” and co-wrote “The Muppet Movie.” He also appeared on the comedy sketch show “Fridays” and was a voice actor for many animation series.

Terry Jones (1942–2020), founding member of the Monty Python team

Terry Jones  was a founding member of the Monty Python comedy team, who brought absurd humor to the world with their “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” TV sketch show and several movies. Jones directed those films — “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” “Monty Python’s Life of Brian,” and “Monty Python’s the Meaning of Life.” He appeared in them too, as well as in non-Python films including “Jabberwocky” and “L.A. Story.” It was Jones who was responsible for a key piece of the tone of “Flying Circus,” the show’s tendency to skip punchlines to sketches in favor of ending abruptly or wandering dreamily to a new story in a stream-of-consciousness way. Jones was also a medieval historian and an author of children’s books.

Buck Henry (1930–2020), classic SNL host & "The Graduate" writer

Buck Henry was an actor, director, and screenwriter who co-created “Get Smart” with Mel Brooks, was Oscar-nominated for his screenplay for “The Graduate” (1967) and hosted “Saturday Night Live” 10 times in the show’s early years. Henry co-directed “Heaven Can Wait” (1978) alongside Warren Beatty, earning another Academy Award nomination for Best Director.

Neil Innes (1944–2019), Monty Python comedian who co-created The Rutles

Neil Innes was a comedian, writer, and songwriter best known for collaborating with the Monty Python team. He wrote songs and sketches for their TV show, “Monty Python’s Flying Circus,” and he wrote and performed songs on some of the comedy troupe’s albums. Innes played several small roles in the movie “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” — the leader of Sir Robin’s minstrels, a serf crushed by the Trojan Rabbit, the leader of the chanting monks, and more — as well as writing the songs “Knights of the Round Table” and “Brave Sir Robin.” He also had small roles in “Monty Python’s Life of Brian” and Python member Terry Gilliam’s “Jabberwocky,” and he had his own show on British TV, “The Innes Book of Records.” Innes was a member of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, who were featured in the Beatles’ movie “Magical Mystery Tour,” and the Rutles.

Angelo Lozada (1966–2019), comedian warmed up “Daily Show” audiences

Angelo Lozada was a New York comedian who was the warmup act for “The Daily Show” for three years. He co-created and starred in the web series “Get Some!,” for which he was nominated for best actor in a web series at the Official Latino Short Film Festival. Lozada was the founder of the comedy troupe Noyurican Rule, and he was featured on “Showtime at the Apollo,” BET’s “ComicView,” and Martin Lawrence’s “1st Amendment.”

Chuy Bravo (1956–2019), “Chelsea Lately” sidekick

Chuy Bravo was an actor best known as Chelsea Handler’s sidekick on the talk show “Chelsea Lately” from 2007 to 2014.

Rip Taylor (1935–2019), zany comedian

Rip Taylor was a popular comic known for his outrageous personality. He was called the “king of confetti” for punctuating the end of his jokes by throwing a bucket of paper confetti into the audience. He was a popular game show panelist, appearing often during the heyday of the genre on “The Hollywood Squares” and “Match Game” and hosted the “$1.98 Beauty Show.” Taylor was a regular guest on talk shows and appeared on many TV series and had a funny role in “Wayne’s World II.” His signature bit before paper confetti was to pretend cry after reading a joke which led him to appear on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” where Sullivan forgot his name and introduced him as “The Crying Comedian.” His publicist Harlan Boll, who announced Taylor's death to the Hollywood Reporter, said Taylor was survived by his longtime partner Robert Fortney.

Suzanne Whang (1962–2019), former host of “House Hunters”

Suzanne Whang was the host of HGTV’s “House Hunters” from the show’s debut in 1999 through 2007. She was also an actress and comedian, and she had a recurring role as Polly Nguyen on “Las Vegas.” Whang played Carol Cheng on “General Hospital” and made appearances on shows including “Criminal Minds,” “Two and a Half Men,” and “Boston Legal.” She won the Best Up & Coming Comedian Award at the 2002 Las Vegas Comedy Festival and the Andy Kaufman Award at the 2004 New York Comedy Festival. She had been battling breast cancer for 13 years.

Kip Addotta (1944–2019), “The Tonight Show” comedian

Appeared on the Dr. Demento radio show and “The Midnight Special.”

Rip Torn (1931–2019), “Men in Black” and “The Larry Sanders Show” star

Rip Torn was an Emmy-winning actor best known for his roles as Artie on television’s “The Larry Sanders Show” and as Chief Zed in the first two “Men in Black” movies.

Arte Johnson (1929–2019), “Laugh-In” star

Arte Johnson was known for playing a variety of colorful characters on hip comedy show “Laugh-In.”

Tim Conway (1933–2019), "The Carol Burnett Show" star

Tim Conway was one of the stars of "The Carol Burnett Show," delighting audiences of the 1960s and '70s with hilarious characters including Mr. Tudball and The Oldest Man.

Eunetta Boone (1955–2019), showrunner who created "One on One"

Eunetta Boone was the creator of the UPN sitcom "One on One" and its spinoff "Cuts," as well as showrunner for the Disney Channel series "Raven's Home."

Kevin Barnett (2019), comedian, writer

Kevin Barnett was a standup comedian and co-creator of “Rel,” a sitcom starring Lil Rel Howery that debuted on Fox in September 2018. Barnett had also been a writer for Comedy Central's sitcom “Broad City” as well as cohost of the weekly podcast “The Roundtable of Gentlemen,” head writer for the sketch comedy show “Friends of the People,” and a cast member and writer on MTV2's “Guy Code.”

Bob Einstein (1942–2019), “Super Dave” actor

Starred in “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”

Bill Daily (1927 – 2018), comedic TV sidekick

Co-starred on “I Dream of Jeannie” and “The Bob Newhart Show.”

Comedians Remember Patrice O'Neal

Comedian Patrice O'Neal, who died Nov. 29, 2011, at 41 of complications of a stroke, was often described as loud and fearless. A hulking, 6-foot-4 man weighing at least 300 pounds, O'Neal was a large presence onstage and off, intimidating audiences of strangers as well as those closest to him with his cutting remarks. But most do agree that O'Neal, love him or fear him, was a unique talent. Legacy.com remembers the funny man, known best for his stand-up performances, with quotes about him from his fellow comedians:

Smile, You're Watching Candid Camera

With Candid Camera, Allen Funt made unwitting stars out of thousands of people during the show's decades on the air. Funt pioneered the art of hidden-camera practical jokes, putting normal people into highly abnormal situations, usually with hilarious results. It was always in good fun, as evidenced by the smiles that appeared once the participants heard Funt's catchphrase, "Smile, you're on Candid Camera." Now, 15 years after his death Sept. 5, 1999, the show that started it all is coming back, bringing Funt's legacy of laughter to a new generation via the TV Land channel. Before it hits the airwaves, see clips of some of our favorite Candid Camera moments.

Flip Wilson Transformed Television

At the peak of his popularity, Flip Wilson was criticized by some of his contemporaries criticized him for not doing enough to advance the cause of African Americans. After all, his hit television program, "The Flip Wilson Show," gave him access to millions of viewers each week in the heavily segregated America of the early 1970s.

Edie Adams: No Dumb Blonde

The way Edie Adams looked –– golden-haired, pretty and vivacious –– might lead some to assume that she was a stereotypical dumb blonde. In reality Adams was blonde, but she was no ditz...

Carole Lombard and the Screwball Comedy

In the 1930s, movies were a favorite escape from life's trials and tribulations. Most popular were screwball comedies, and one of the queens of the genre was Carole Lombard...