George Carl (7 May 1916 – 1 January 2000) was a "

vaudevillian Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

" style comic & clown. Carl was born in

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, and he started his

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

career traveling with a variety of circuses during his teenage years. In time, Carl became internationally famous as a clown and

visual The visual system comprises the sensory organ (the eye) and parts of the central nervous system (the retina containing photoreceptor cells, the optic nerve, the optic tract and the visual cortex) which gives organisms the sense of sight (th ...

comedian. Johnny Carson, a fan of Carl's, invited him to appear on

The Tonight Show ''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. The show has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2009 and 201 ...

on March 21, 1985, when Carl was 69. His appearance was so well received that he was asked back within weeks for a second appearance which also received raves from viewers. He appeared again on May 27, 1986, doing essentially his same act and received great laughter from an obviously appreciative audience. With hardly any props, except for a microphone, a mic stand, his hat, and sometimes a harmonica, Carl would seemingly accidentally become tangled up in the mic cord, get his thumb stuck in the microphone stand and, through a flurry of silent bits, wind up accomplishing nothing at all in the time spent onstage. At the age of 79, George Carl made his screen debut in the 1995 film ''

Funny Bones ''Funny Bones'' is a 1995 comedy-drama film from Hollywood Pictures. It was written, directed and produced by Peter Chelsom, co produced by Simon Fields, and co written by Peter Flannery. The music score was by John Altman, and the cinematogr ...

'' also starring Jerry Lewis. He played an old music-hall comedian, one of the Parker brothers, who never spoke until a scene in which his character explains the reason performers perform; "Our suffering is special. The pain we feel is worse than anyone else. But the sunrise we see is more beautiful than anyone else. The Parkers is...like the moon. There's one side forever dark. Invisible. As it should be. But remember, the dark moon draws the tides also." Comedians using similar visual material include Charlie Frye, Bill Irwin,

Geoff Hoyle Geoff Hoyle (born 15 April 1945) is an English performer who originated the role of Zazu in the Broadway theatre production of ''The Lion King.'' Hoyle has also performed in vaudeville shows, worked with Bill Irwin in "The Pickle Family Circus", p ...

, Barry Lubin, Chipper Lowell, Rob Torres, Dandy Danno and

Avner the Eccentric Avner Eisenberg "Avner the Eccentric" (born August 26, 1948) is an American vaudeville performer, clown, mime, juggler, and sleight of hand magician.Frank Cullen ''et al.'', "Avner the Eccentric" in ''Vaudeville, old & new: an encyclopedia of v ...

. Carl died of cancer in Las Vegas on January 1, 2000.

References

External links

* * * 1916 births 2000 deaths American clowns American male comedians Vaudeville performers People from Ross County, Ohio Comedians from Ohio Deaths from cancer in Nevada {{US-comedian-stub