George Kirby (June 8, 1923 – September 30, 1995) was an American comedian, singer, and actor.
Career
Born in Chicago,
Kirby broke into show business in the 1940s at the
Club DeLisa
The Club DeLisa, also written Delisa or De Lisa, was an African-American nightclub and music venue in Chicago, Illinois. Located at 5521 South State Street (State Street and Garfield Avenue, on the South Side), it was possibly the most prestigious ...
, a South Side establishment that employed a variety-show format and preferred to hire local singers, dancers, and comedians. His first recording was as a stand-up
blues singer, performing "Ice Man Blues" on a
Tom Archia
Ernest Alvin Archia, Jr. (November 26, 1919 – January 16, 1977) known as Tom Archia, was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.
Early life
Archia was born in Groveton, Texas, moving with his family as a child to Rockdale and then Baytown, ...
session done in 1947 for
Aristocrat Records
Aristocrat Records, sometimes billed as the Aristocrat of Records, was founded in April 1947 by Charles and Evelyn Aron, together with their partners Fred and Mildred Brount and Art Spiegel. By September Leonard Chess had invested in the young rec ...
.
He was one of the first
African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...
comedians to appeal to white as well as black audiences during the height of the
Civil Rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...
era, appearing between 1963 and 1972 on
Perry Como's ''Kraft Music Hall'', ''
The Ed Sullivan Show
''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the '' CBS Sunday Night M ...
'', ''
The Dean Martin Show
''The Dean Martin Show'', not to be confused with the ''Dean Martin Variety Show'' (1959–1960), is a TV variety-comedy series that ran from 1965 to 1974 for 264 episodes. It was broadcast by NBC and hosted by Dean Martin. The theme song to the ...
'', ''
The Jackie Gleason Show
''The Jackie Gleason Show'' is the name of a series of American network television shows that starred Jackie Gleason, which ran from 1952 to 1970, in various forms.
''Cavalcade of Stars''
Gleason's first variety series, which aired on the DuMon ...
'', ''
The Temptations Show'', ''
Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In
''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' (often simply referred to as ''Laugh-In'') is an American sketch comedy television program that ran for 140 episodes from January 22, 1968, to March 12, 1973, on the NBC television network, hosted by comedians Da ...
'', and ''
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' was an American late-night talk show hosted by Johnny Carson on NBC, the third iteration of the ''Tonight Show'' franchise. The show debuted on October 1, 1962, and aired its final episode on May 22, ...
''. As an
impressionist, he mimicked white celebrities such as
John Wayne and
Walter Brennan
Walter Andrew Brennan (July 25, 1894 – September 21, 1974) was an American actor and singer. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performances in '' Come and Get It'' (1936), ''Kentucky'' (1938), and '' The Westerner ...
, not solely black stars like
Bill Cosby
William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and media personality. He made significant contributions to American and African-American culture, and is well known in the United States for his eccentric ...
and
Pearl Bailey, something ostensibly provocative for the 1960s, as
Sammy Davis had broken ground doing in the mid 1950s. A
bebop
Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early-to-mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo, complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerous changes of key, instrumen ...
piano player, Kirby did song and vocal impressions of jazz greats
Louis Armstrong,
Nat King Cole
Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...
,
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...
, and
Joe Williams. Kirby did a profoundly believable female and child voice, as well as an array of military and airline sound effects.
In 1970, he was allowed to produce ''
The George Kirby Show'', a television special, to gauge whether he could attract an audience for a weekly series. It led to his hosting ''
Half the George Kirby Comedy Hour'', a
sketch comedy and
variety show
Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a comp ...
, which lasted for 22 episodes in 1972; it was one of the actor-comedian
Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and musician. He has won five Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and was awarded an Honorary Academy Award in 2013. Additionally, he was nominate ...
's first credits in front of the camera. The series was in many ways an uneasy compromise between Kirby's natural gifts and what the public would accept of black actors at the time; a regular feature was a
shaggy dog story
In its original sense, a shaggy dog story or yarn is an extremely long-winded anecdote characterized by extensive narration of typically irrelevant incidents and terminated by an anticlimax.
Shaggy dog stories play upon the audience's precon ...
entitled the "Funky Fable". He was also a regular in the
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
series ''
The Kopykats'', with other impressionists such as
Rich Little
Richard Caruthers Little (born November 26, 1938) is a Canadian-American impressionist and voice actor. Sometimes known as the "Man of a Thousand Voices", Little has recorded nine comedy albums and made numerous television appearances, including ...
,
Charlie Callas,
Marilyn Michaels
Marilyn Michaels (born Marilyn Sternberg, February 26, 1943) is a comedian, singer, actress, impressionist, author, and composer.
Family
Marilyn Michaels was born in Manhattan to Russian Jewish émigré parents. Her mother was cantoress and actr ...
, and
Frank Gorshin.
Following the demise of his show, Kirby's career declined, especially as audiences began to look for more cutting-edge comedy.
HBO did include him in their ''On Location With'' comedian series in the late 1970s, filming one of his many appearances at
Grossinger's
Grossinger's Catskill Resort Hotel was a resort in the Catskill Mountains in the Town of Liberty, near the village of Liberty, New York. One of the largest Borscht Belt resorts, it was a kosher establishment that catered primarily to Jewish client ...
in the NY Catskills, a club he had played regularly since 1961.
His career never again reached its former heights, but he did register featured guest appearances on ''
Gimme a Break
''Gimme a Break!'' is an American television sitcom created by Mort Lachman and Sy Rosen, that aired on NBC for six seasons from October 29, 1981, to May 12, 1987. The series starred Nell Carter as the housekeeper for a widowed police chief ( ...
'' with
Nell Carter
Nell Carter (born Nell Ruth Hardy; September 13, 1948 – January 23, 2003) was an American singer and actress.
Carter began her career in 1970, singing in the theater, and later crossed over to television. She was best known for her role as Ne ...
, ''
What's Happening Now!!
''What's Happening Now!!'' is an American sitcom sequel to the original ABC 1976–79 sitcom '' What's Happening!!'' focusing on its main characters as adults. It aired in first-run broadcast syndication from September 7, 1985 until March 26, 19 ...
'', ''
Crazy Like a Fox'', and ''
227
Year 227 ( CCXXVII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Senecio and Fulvius (or, less frequently, year 980 '' Ab urbe cond ...
''. In 1983 he did a
USO
The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...
tour with
Bob Hope
Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in Bob Hope filmography, more than 70 short and ...
to entertain the troops in
Beirut, Lebanon as part of the
multinational peacekeeping force.
Imprisonment
Arrested in 1977 for selling
cocaine
Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South Ameri ...
and
heroin to an undercover officer, Kirby served three and a half years in prison. After his release, he visited schools to tell students to stay off drugs.
Death
Diagnosed with
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...
in his later years, Kirby made his last public appearance at an all-star benefit in May 1995 given by his friends for his mounting medical bills.
On September 30, 1995, Kirby died of Parkinson's disease at a
nursing home
A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of elderly or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as skilled nursing facility (SNF) or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms have slightly different meanings to i ...
in Las Vegas. He was survived by his wife, Rosemary.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirby, George
1923 births
1995 deaths
African-American male actors
African-American male comedians
20th-century African-American male singers
American rhythm and blues musicians
American male comedians
American impressionists (entertainers)
American male television actors
Argo Records artists
Neurological disease deaths in Illinois
Deaths from Parkinson's disease
Male actors from Chicago
20th-century American male actors
20th-century American singers
Comedians from Illinois
20th-century American comedians
20th-century American male singers