George Kirby
Encyclopedia
George Kirby was an American
comedian
, singer, and actor
from Chicago, Illinois.
Kirby broke into show business in the 1940s at the Club DeLisa
, 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
session done in 1947 for Aristocrat Records
.
He was one of the first African-American comedians to begin to appeal to white as well as black audiences during the height of the Civil Rights
era, appearing between 1966 and 1972 on The Ed Sullivan Show
, The Dean Martin Show
, The Jackie Gleason Show
, Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
. He was an excellent impressionist
— targeting, somewhat scandalously for the time, many white actors such as John Wayne
and Walter Brennan
rather than solely black stars such as Bill Cosby
and Pearl Bailey
— and, for a man of his ample girth, an unexpectedly agile dancer. He also did vocal impressions of such singers as Louis Armstrong
and Ella Fitzgerald
.
In 1970, he was allowed to produce a television special, The George Kirby Show, to gauge whether he could attract an audience for a weekly series. This led to his hosting a sketch comedy
and variety show
, Half the George Kirby Comedy Hour, which lasted for 22 episodes in 1972; it was also one of the actor-comedian Steve Martin
'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 segment entitled the "Funk
y Fable
". He was also a regular in the British
-produced ABC
Comedy Hour series The Kopycats, alongside such other impressionists as Rich Little
, Charlie Callas
, Marilyn Michaels
, and Frank Gorshin
.
Following the demise of his show, Kirby's career declined, especially as audiences began to look for more cutting-edge comedy. He had been an occasional drug addict; now, to make up for lost income, he took to selling drugs. In 1977 he sold heroin to an undercover
cop
; he plea bargain
ed to a ten year prison term and was released after 42 months. His career never again reached its former heights, but he did register featured guest appearances on Gimme a Break with Nell Carter
, Crazy Like a Fox
, and 227
. He then took ill with what was later diagnosed as Parkinson's Disease
. He was well-loved enough within the comedy community that friends and admirers formed the "Friends of George Kirby", which performed an all-star tribute to him in 1995 to help pay his mounting medical bills, only a few months before he died.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
, singer, and actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
from Chicago, Illinois.
Kirby broke into show business in the 1940s at the Club DeLisa
Club DeLisa
The Club DeLisa, also written Delisa or De Lisa, at State Street and Garfield Avenue, on the South Side, was an important nightclub and music venue in Chicago....
, 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
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
singer, performing "Ice Man Blues" on a Tom Archia
Tom Archia
Ernest Alvin Archia, Jr. , was a jazz tenor saxophonist. He took "Texas Tom" as his marquee name.Archia was born, in Groveton, Texas...
session done in 1947 for Aristocrat Records
Aristocrat Records
Aristocrat Records, sometimes referred to 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 record company. Over time, Leonard bought the others...
.
He was one of the first African-American comedians to begin to appeal to white as well as black audiences during the height of the Civil Rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
era, appearing between 1966 and 1972 on The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....
, The Dean Martin Show
The Dean Martin Show
The Dean Martin Show is a TV variety-comedy series that ran from 1965 to 1974 for 264 episodes. It was broadcast by NBC and hosted by crooner Dean Martin...
, The Jackie Gleason Show
The Jackie Gleason Show
The Jackie Gleason Show is the name of a series of popular American network television shows that starred Jackie Gleason, which ran from 1952 to 1970.-Cavalcade of Stars:...
, Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under the Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night....
. He was an excellent impressionist
Impressionist (entertainment)
An impressionist or a mimic is a performer whose act consists of imitating the voice and mannerisms of others. The word usually refers to a professional comedian/entertainer who specializes in such performances and has developed a wide repertoire of impressions, including adding to them, often to...
— targeting, somewhat scandalously for the time, many white actors such as John Wayne
John Wayne
Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
and Walter Brennan
Walter Brennan
Walter Brennan was an American actor. Brennan won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor on three separate occasions, which is currently the record for most wins.-Early life:...
rather than solely black stars such as Bill Cosby
Bill Cosby
William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr. is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, educator, musician and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a starring role in the 1960s action show, I Spy. He later starred in his own series, the...
and Pearl Bailey
Pearl Bailey
Pearl Mae Bailey was an American actress and singer. After appearing in vaudeville, she made her Broadway debut in St. Louis Woman in 1946. She won a Tony Award for the title role in the all-black production of Hello, Dolly! in 1968...
— and, for a man of his ample girth, an unexpectedly agile dancer. He also did vocal impressions of such singers as Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
and Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
.
In 1970, he was allowed to produce a television special, The George Kirby Show, to gauge whether he could attract an audience for a weekly series. This led to his hosting a sketch comedy
Sketch comedy
A sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
and variety show
Variety show
A variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts, especially musical performances and sketch comedy, and normally introduced by a compère or host. Other types of acts include magic, animal and circus acts, acrobatics, juggling...
, Half the George Kirby Comedy Hour, which lasted for 22 episodes in 1972; it was also one of the actor-comedian Steve Martin
Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer....
'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 segment entitled the "Funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
y Fable
Fable
A fable is a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, mythical creatures, plants, inanimate objects or forces of nature which are anthropomorphized , and that illustrates a moral lesson , which may at the end be expressed explicitly in a pithy maxim.A fable differs from...
". He was also a regular in the British
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
-produced ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
Comedy Hour series The Kopycats, alongside such other impressionists as Rich Little
Rich Little
Richard Caruthers "Rich" Little is a Canadian-American impressionist and voice actor. He has long been known throughout the world as a top impersonator of famous people, resulting in his nickname, "The Man of a Thousand Voices"....
, Charlie Callas
Charlie Callas
Charlie Callas was an American comedian and actor most commonly known for his work with Mel Brooks, Jerry Lewis, and Dean Martin and his many stand-up appearances on television talk shows in the 1970s...
, Marilyn Michaels
Marilyn Michaels
Marilyn Michaels is an American comedic actress, impressionist and singer. She auditioned for and won an RCA recording contract, singing the follow-up song to Ray Peterson's "Tell Laura I Love Her", entitled, "Tell Tommy I Miss Him". She later won contracts with Warner Bros...
, and Frank Gorshin
Frank Gorshin
Frank John Gorshin, Jr. was an American actor and comedian. He was perhaps best known as an impressionist, with many guest appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show and The Tonight Show...
.
Following the demise of his show, Kirby's career declined, especially as audiences began to look for more cutting-edge comedy. He had been an occasional drug addict; now, to make up for lost income, he took to selling drugs. In 1977 he sold heroin to an undercover
Undercover
Being undercover is disguising one's own identity or using an assumed identity for the purposes of gaining the trust of an individual or organization to learn secret information or to gain the trust of targeted individuals in order to gain information or evidence...
cop
Police officer
A police officer is a warranted employee of a police force...
; he plea bargain
Plea bargain
A plea bargain is an agreement in a criminal case whereby the prosecutor offers the defendant the opportunity to plead guilty, usually to a lesser charge or to the original criminal charge with a recommendation of a lighter than the maximum sentence.A plea bargain allows criminal defendants to...
ed to a ten year prison term and was released after 42 months. His career never again reached its former heights, but he did register featured guest appearances on Gimme a Break with Nell Carter
Nell Carter
Nell Carter was an American singer, and film, stage, and television actress. She won a Tony Award for her performance in the Broadway musical Ain't Misbehavin, as well as an Emmy Award for her reprisal of the role on television...
, Crazy Like a Fox
Crazy Like a Fox (TV series)
Crazy Like a Fox is an American television series set in San Francisco, California, that aired on CBS from December 30, 1984 to May 3, 1986.-Overview:...
, and 227
227 (TV series)
227 is an American situation comedy that originally aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, until May 6, 1990. The series starred Marla Gibbs as a sharp-tongued, inner-city resident gossip and housewife, Mary Jenkins...
. He then took ill with what was later diagnosed as Parkinson's Disease
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...
. He was well-loved enough within the comedy community that friends and admirers formed the "Friends of George Kirby", which performed an all-star tribute to him in 1995 to help pay his mounting medical bills, only a few months before he died.