John Brent (14 March 1938, in Madison, Connecticut – 16 August 1985, in Los Angeles) was an American comedian, actor and beat poet.
He was part of the Second City comedy club, and then later The Committee. He is mainly known for being half the duo behind the 1959 How To Speak Hip comedy album with Del Close. Otherwise he recorded and published little, since he died at a relatively young age.Paul Colby, Martin Fitzpatrick The Bitter End: Hanging Out at America's Nightclub 2002 p. 120 "There is little left of John Brent, who died at a very young age, very little written and nothing that..."Penny Marshall - My Mother was Nuts: A Memoir - 2012 - Page 94 "They were all creative—and nuts! John, who had made the comedy album How to Speak Hip with Del Close, kept an array of pills in a large flashlight. Every so often he dumped them out on the coffee table and said, “Let's see, two of these are ..."Kim Howard Johnson The Funniest One in the Room: The Lives and Legends of Del Close 2008 "His drug intake began to increase around the same time, likely accelerated by the proximity of John Brent. In [Brent's] apartment above mine on Hudson St., we'd get high after the Second City show—him on junk and me on speed—and he " He also appeared as an actor in such films as Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, Catch-22, Steelyard Blues, and American Graffiti.
Brent's son, Jeremy Paz, resides in San Francisco. He owns and operates Question Mark Tavern, which has a barroom called The Hip Pocket dedicated to his father and the How to Speak Hip album.
Filmography
Film YearTitleRoleNotes1963Greenwich Village StoryPoet1969Bob & Carol & Ted & AliceDave1970Catch-22Cathcart's Receptionist1972The Candidate1973Steelyard BluesTattoo Parlor Man1973American GraffitiCar Salesman1979More American GraffitiRalph1980Porklips NowHead ButcherShort Film1980First FamilyU.N. Official #2
Television YearTitleRoleNotes1981WKRP in CincinnatiBuzzyEpisode: "Straight from the Heart"1983Laverne & ShirleyShastaEpisode: "Defective Ballet"1985The History of White People in AmericaTV movie; final role
References