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thatcrazycajunIt is my sad duty to report that one of television's earliest funnymen—and the last surviving member of the notorious "Rat Pack"—has died. Joey Bishop, TV talk-show host, sitcom star and comedian, has passed away at 89 at his Newport Beach, CA home. Death was announced as the result of "multiple causes;" CNN.com has details here.
I was one of Joey's youngest viewers; at around three years old or so, I was so fascinated by his ABC talk show I actually cut out letter shapes from newspaper to form the show's title on the living-room floor...and squalled up an unholy racket when my mother dared dislodge any of the letters in passing. (It was one of her favorite funny stories to tell by way of illustrating my childhood precocity.) He was also a longtime mainstay of fellow Packer Dean Martin's NBC celebrity roast specials, and could usually be counted on for some suitable drollery about the evening's "Man/Woman of the Hour." He never worked blue that I knew of, and he always showed class, onstage and off.
You can read more about Joey's relationships with Pack honcho Frank Sinatra, Dino and the others in The Way You Wear Your Hat: Frank Sinatra and the Lost Art of Livin', an excellent book put out by a major Sinatra fan a few years back. Amazon sells it here.
I was one of Joey's youngest viewers; at around three years old or so, I was so fascinated by his ABC talk show I actually cut out letter shapes from newspaper to form the show's title on the living-room floor...and squalled up an unholy racket when my mother dared dislodge any of the letters in passing. (It was one of her favorite funny stories to tell by way of illustrating my childhood precocity.) He was also a longtime mainstay of fellow Packer Dean Martin's NBC celebrity roast specials, and could usually be counted on for some suitable drollery about the evening's "Man/Woman of the Hour." He never worked blue that I knew of, and he always showed class, onstage and off.
You can read more about Joey's relationships with Pack honcho Frank Sinatra, Dino and the others in The Way You Wear Your Hat: Frank Sinatra and the Lost Art of Livin', an excellent book put out by a major Sinatra fan a few years back. Amazon sells it here.
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Date: 2007-10-18 07:42 pm (UTC)