Dick Shawn (born Richard Schulefand, December 1, 1923 – April 17, 1987) was an American actor and comedian. He played a wide variety of supporting roles and was a prolific character actor. During the 1960s, he played small roles in madcap comedies, usually portraying caricatures of counterculture personalities, such as the hedonistic but mother-obsessed Sylvester Marcus in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), and the hippie actor Lorenzo Saint DuBois ("L.S.D.") in The Producers (1967). Beyond his film work, he appeared in numerous television shows from the 1960s through the 1980s.
Career
Born in Buffalo, New York to a Jewish family, and raised in nearby Lackawanna,Obituary, washingtonpost.com. Accessed August 7, 2022. Shawn performed his stand-up comedy act for over 35 years in nightclubs around the world. His award-winning one-man stage show, The Second Greatest Entertainer in the Whole Wide World, was sometimes performed with a unique opening. When the audience entered the theater, they saw a bare stage with a pile of bricks in stage center. When the play began, Shawn emerged from the pile of bricks. The startling effect of this required complete concentration and breath control because the slightest movement of the bricks could ruin the surprise appearance.
In addition to roles in more than 30 movies and seven Broadway productions, Shawn made television appearances, toured often, and periodically performed a one-man show that mixed songs, sketches, and pantomime. He was a speaker at the Friars Club Roasts in Los Angeles and New York. At one of the X-rated roasts (a 1986 Playboy roast of Tommy Chong) that had overdosed on tasteless routines by previous speakers, Shawn walked up to the microphone, took a long pause, and "vomited" pea soup onto himself and other speakers at the dais.
In the Mel Brooks 1967 movie The Producers, Shawn won accolades for his portrayal of Lorenzo St. DuBois, whose "friends call" him LSD, an actor auditioning for and winning the part of Hitler in a theatrical production that was intentionally meant to fail.
Shawn's television appearances included The Ed Sullivan Show, TV movies, sitcoms (including Three's Company on which he played Jack Tripper's father), dramas including The Fall Guy and Magnum, P.I., and a music video for "Dance" by the hair metal band Ratt (1986). In the UK he appeared in Sunday Night at the London Palladium in 1958.
Amongst his roles in anthology TV series, he starred in an Amazing Stories episode "Miss Stardust", directed by Tobe Hooper, about a bizarre intergalactic beauty pageant, and played the Emperor in The Emperor's New Clothes for Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre. He filled in for vacationing Johnny Carson as guest host on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson on January 1, 1971, which saw the airing of the last cigarette commercial on American television (for Virginia Slims), one minute before the cigarette ads were banned.
Personal life Shawn married Rita Bachner in 1946, and they had four children: Amy, Wendy, Adam, and Jennifer. His only grandchild, Rachel Travolta, is the daughter of Wendy and her husband, Joey Travolta. He was a longtime resident of Englewood, New Jersey.Lewis, Dan. "Dick Shawn: Mixed-Media Man", The Baltimore Sun, November 28, 1971. Accessed July 24, 2019. "Dick Shawn left the comforts of his 14-room home in Englewood, NJ, one recent Sunday and flew to Hollywood to start work on a movie for television."
Death On April 17, 1987, during a performance at University of California, San Diego's Mandeville Hall, Shawn suffered a heart attack and collapsed face-down on the stage. The audience initially assumed that it was part of his act. After he had remained motionless for several minutes, a stage hand examined him and asked if a physician was present.
After CPR had been initiated, the audience was asked to leave the auditorium. Most in attendance remained, assuming that it was part of Shawn's act, and only began leaving after paramedics arrived. A notice in the following day's San Diego Union newspaper announced that Shawn had died during the performance at the age of 63. Shawn was interred at Hillside Memorial Park, a Jewish cemetery in Culver City, California.
Legacy Jim Knipfel claims that Andy Kaufman was inspired by Shawn.
Actor Matthew Glave portrayed Shawn in Leave 'Em Laughing, a short film surrounding his final moments.
Filmography
Film YearTitleRoleNotes1956The Opposite SexPsychiatric Patient1960Wake Me When It's OverGus BrukaberThe Wizard of BaghdadGenii-Ali Mahmud1963It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad WorldSylvester Marcus1965A Very Special FavorArnold Plum1966What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?Captain Lionel CashWay... Way OutIgor ValkleinokovPenelopeDr. Gregory Mannix1967The ProducersL.S.D. — Lorenzo St. DuBois1969The Happy EndingHarry Bricker1972Evil Roy SladeMarshall Bing Bell1977Looking UpManny Lander1979Love At First BiteLieutenant Ferguson1982Good-bye Cruel WorldRodney Poinsetter / Ainsley Poinsetter1983Rock 'n' Roll HotelWeevil King of EvilYoung WarriorsProfessor Hoover1984AngelMaeThe Secret Diary of Sigmund FreudThe Ultimate Patient1985WaterDeke HallidayBeerTalk Show Host1986The Check Is in the Mail...DonalduncreditedThe Perils of P.K.The psychiatristCaptain EOCommander BogShort Film1987Maid to OrderStan Starkey1988Rented LipsCharlie SlaterPosthumous Release
Television YearTitleRoleNotes1954–55Max Liebman Spectacularsunknown role3 episodes1955Max Liebman Presents: KaleidoscopeGuestTV movie1955–58The Ed Sullivan ShowHimself8 episodes1958The Eddie Fisher ShowHimself3 episodes1959The Dinah Shore Chevy ShowHimself"Eve Arden / Dick Shawn / Red Norvo"1961General Electric TheaterFelix Franklin"Don't Let It Throw You"CheckmateDanny Whitman"Laugh Till I Die"The DuPont Show with June AllysonCharlie Wilson"The Old-Fashioned Way"Michael ShayneErnie Trask"The Trouble with Ernie"1963The Jimmy Dean ShowHimself"Dick Shawn / Whitey Ford"The Judy Garland ShowHimself#1.11"1963–67The Jerry Lewis ShowHimself2 episodes1964The Price Is RightHimself"03.20.1964"1964–86The Tonight Show Starring Johnny CarsonHimself38 episodes1965For the PeopleErnie Garatella"Secure Any Special Privilege or Advantage"1966The Andy Williams ShowHimself2 episodesThe Bob Hope ShowHimself"Murder at NBC"1967ABC Stage 66Paul Benderhof"I'm Getting Married"Sheriff WhoCrawford OffwhiteTV movieOff to See the WizardTom Thumb"Who's Afraid of Mother Goose?"That GirlHimself"The Mailman Cometh"1968The Lucy ShowAce Winthrop"Lucy and the Pool Hustler"What's My Line?Self – Mystery Guest"Dick Shawn"1969That's Lifeunknown role"Sex and the Married Man"The Joan Rivers ShowHimself"05.04.1969"The Liberace ShowHimself"07.27.1969"1971Dames at SeaThe CaptainTV movieThe Bold Ones: The New DoctorsNick Sutton"The Glass Cage"1971–78The Hollywood SquaresHimself – Panelist3 episodes1972Evil Roy SladeMarshal Bing BellTV movie1972–73Love, American StyleHenry Chadwick / Howard2 episodes1973–74The $10,000 PyramidHimself – Celebrity Contestant18 episodes1974CBS Daytime 90unknown role"My Little Love"The Year Without a Santa ClausSnow Miser (Voice Role)TV movie1975Medical CenterPete Rashid"The Price of a Child"1975–77Captain KangarooDoc Grannick the Mechanic / E.J. Fusay3 episodes1976You're Just Like Your FatherHarry Tofler, Sr.TV movie1978MarySkit charactersunknown episode(s)1979Fast FriendsDeke EdwardsTV movieLaverne & ShirleyGatekeeper/Phone Representative"Upstairs, Downstairs"1980Fantasy IslandVic Erskine"Skater's Edge / Concerto of Death / The Last Great Race"1980–81Mr. & Mrs. DraculaDracula2 episodes1981Aloha ParadiseCyrus"Fiona / Engaged to Be Dumped / Fantasie Impromptu"1981–82The Love BoatHarvey Blanchard / David Jackson3 episodes1982Private BenjaminDrysdale"You Oughta Be in Pictures"Madame's PlaceHimself"Pinky's Shock"Slapstick StudiosSheldonunknown episode(s)1983Magnum, P.I.Buzz Benoit"Squeeze Play"Three's CompanyJack Tripper, Sr."Like Father, Like Son"1984LegmenCasanova"Knight at Casanova's"SteambathFrankie Melnick"Madison Avenue Madness"The Fall GuyEdward Seraph"Losers Weepers"Body LanguageHimself5 episodes1985Tales from the DarksideBo Gumbs"If the Shoes Fit..."Hail to the ChiefIvan Zolotovseries regular (6 episodes)Faerie Tale TheatreEmperor / Guest Interviewee2 episodes1986The Twilight ZoneNelson Westbrook"Gramma / Personal Demons / Cold Reading"St. ElsewhereEdgard Eisenberg"The Equalizer"1987Amazing StoriesJoe Willouhby"Miss Stardust"
Theatre YearTitleRoleNotes1948For Heaven's Sake, Mother!Milton Rubin1961–62Come Blow Your HornAlan Baker (replacement)replaced Hal March1962The EggEmile Magis1962–64A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the ForumPrologus / Pseudolus (replacement)replaced Zero Mostel1964–65Fade Out – Fade InByron Prong (replacement)replaced Jack Cassidy1965PeterpatPeter1968I'm SolomonYoni, Solomon1975–76A Musical JubileePerformer
References
External links The Official Dick Shawn website Dick Shawn Website