In Memoriam: The year in R.I.P. in comedy for 2017

It’s rather remarkable that most all of the funny nonagenarians profiled in this year’s HBO documentary, If You’re Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast, managed to make it through 2017 unscathed.

But several other comedy legends passed away in 2017, old and not-so-old.

Let us take one more look back at the comedians we still love and miss so dearly, who left us in the past year.

UPDATED Dec. 30 with the death of Danny Breen at age 67.

UPDATED with the Dec. 28 death of Rose Marie at age 94.

JIM NABORS, AKA GOMER PYLE (1930-2017)

Jim Nabors, best known in his younger years for playing country bumpkin Gomer Pyle on two different hit TV sitcoms, and in his later years for singing — particularly at the opening of every Indy 500 — has died. He was 87. Nabors died in his home in Hawaii, his longtime partner and husband, Stan Cadwallader, reported. His website lists a short but sweet bio: Jim Nabors was born in 1930 in Alabama and raised there, graduating from the University of Alabama. He moved to Los Angeles due to his asthmatic condition and was discovered on stage doing…

KEN SHAPIRO (1942-2017)

Before Saturday Night Live, before The Groove Tube even, Ken Shapiro was making funny faces on television with Chevy Chase when nobody knew their faces. Shapiro and Chase performed sketches together on Channel One, then on PBS as the first people seen on-air on The Great American Dream Machine, before making sketch comedy movie The Groove Tube in 1974 (a year before everyone discovered Chase on SNL). Shapiro later wrote and directed Modern Problems, the 1981 comedy starring Chase as an air-traffic controller who acquires superpowers in a toxic accident. Shapiro died Nov. 18, at his home in New…

SEAN HUGHES (1965-2017)

Irish comedian Sean Hughes was only 24 when he won the Edinburgh Fringe Festival’s top prize for his 1990 showcase, “A One Night Stand with Sean Hughes.” Hughes returned to Edinburgh this past August with friends for an improvised showcase, “Sean Hughes’s Blank Book.” Hughes broke through young, and he has died far too young, at only 51. His last Tweet from a week ago told friends and fans he was “In hospital.” He reportedly died Monday from cirrhosis of the liver. Hughes was a fixture of screens big and small during the 1990s, from a supporting role as…

RALPHIE MAY (1972-2017)

Ralphie May, a larger than life stand-up comedian who won the hearts of America if not also their votes in the very first season of NBC’s Last Comic Standing, has died. May was 45. Though battling pneumonia for the past week, May continued to show up for his 2017 residency at Harrah’s Las Vegas. He had just won Casino Comedian of the Year in an award ceremony on Wednesday. He died of a heart attack early Friday. Well, I won Casino Comedian of the Year, y’all. Thanks @HarrahsVegas #NoApologies pic.twitter.com/1YXNVMlHce — Ralphie May (@Ralphie_May) October 5, 2017 Born Feb….

JOEY EDMONDS (1940-2017)

Joey Edmonds had an impact on the comedy world twice, first as half of the duo Edmonds and Curley, then for future generations of stand-up comedians performing at colleges across America as agent/manager of Joey Edmonds Presents. Edmonds died over the weekend. Born Joe Putzer, he grew up in Oshkosh, Wisc., and graduated from the UW-Oshkosh St. Luke’s School of Nursing in 1962. As Joey Edmonds, he performed in a folk trio in the 1960s called the Tri-Adds. But Edmonds found even greater success pairing up with Thom Curley for the comedy duo Edmonds and Curley. From the late…

SHELLEY BERMAN (1925-2017)

Shelley Berman, famed comedian and actor whose career spanned several decades, died early this morning at the age of 92 at his home in Bell Canyon, Calif., his publicist Glenn Schwartz told The Comic’s Comic. Berman, born Feb. 3, 1925, in Chicago, died from complications of Alzheimer’s Disease, which was the only reason he stopped performing in 2014. In 1943, after his discharge from the U.S. Navy, he enrolled at Chicago’s famed Goodman Theater acting school. One of his most famous and poignant routines involved Berman portraying his own father when 18 year old Shelley calls home to ask for $100 for…

JERRY LEWIS (1926-2017)

That the French would love Jerry Lewis should surprise no one who saw him perform at his peak from the mid-1950s through the mid-1960s. That Americans would mock the French for it is perhaps more surprising. For the great physicality, cartoonish faces and slapstick sound effects that Lewis used to make merry needed no translation around the world. From his smash success as a duo act with Dean Martin, through his dozens of starring movies (10 of which he also wrote and directed) and his 44 years of fundraising service for the Muscular Dystrophy Association through annual Labor Day…

DICK GREGORY (1932-2017)

All of the comedians and comedy fans who claim Richard Pryor was the greatest stand-up comedian ever have Dick Gregory to thank for that. Before Pryor or George Carlin embraced the so-called counterculture, Gregory was out there on the front lines of 1960s activism and breaking the racial barriers for black comedians to achieve mainstream success. Dick Gregory died Saturday night from heart failure after being hospitalized earlier this month in Washington, D.C. Gregory was 84. As his son, Christian, wrote: “One of his finest gifts was the ability to make you sit up and pay attention.” Dick Gregory…

PATTI DEUTSCH (1943-2017)

Patti Deutsch, who started out performing in an improv group with Fred Willard, became well-known through appearances on Laugh-In, Match Game and Tattletales, and maintained a voiceover career from the 1980s through the 2000s, died last week from cancer. Deutsch was 73. Born Dec. 16, 1943, in Pittsburgh, Deutsch was a member of the Ace Trucking Company improv comedy group, which performed sketches first on TV via This Is Tom Jones, then on Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In, The Midnight Special and elsewhere. She also appeared in TV commercials like this one. Those appearances earned her a spot on the…

STEVIE RYAN (1984-2017)

Stevie Ryan, one of the first YouTubers to score her own comedy series on TV, has died. She was 33. Ryan, born June 2, 1984, and raised in Victorville, Calif., moved to Los Angeles at age 19 to pursue a career in show business. After booking various commercial projects, her YouTube videos caught the eye of New Wave Dynamics back in 2010. They developed Ryan’s videos into a sketch comedy series, Stevie TV, which aired from 2012-2013 on VH1. She later co-hosted a talk show, Sex with Brody, for E! with Brody Jenner and Dr. Mike Dow in 2015. We’re…

BILL DANA (1924-2017)

Bill Dana, the comedian who pretended to be an astronaut and became a fan of America’s original astronauts, has died. Dana was 92. Dana was born William Szathmary on Oct. 5, 1924, into a Hungarian Jewish family in Quincy, Mass., adopting a variation on his mother’s name for his stage name because he felt Szathmary was too difficult to pronounce (for a modern example of same: see Louis Szekeley becoming Louis CK). A WWII vet who earned a Bronze Star in combat as an infantryman, Dana enrolled at Emerson College on the G.I. Bill. He graduated from Emerson College in…

TINO INSANA (1948-2017)

Voice-over actor and improviser Tino Insana, who got his start in Chicago with a comedy trio with John Belushi, has died. Here is The Second City’s obituary for Insana: Tino Insana, improviser, actor, writer, award-winning voice-over artist, best remembered as Mr. Grouper in “Bubble Guppies,” for which he was nominated for a Kids’ Choice Award, USA, died Thursday, June 1, 2017 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Cause of death was complications from cancer. He was 69. His role as “Uncle Ted” in “Bobby’s World,” was the beginning of a 25-year career as a sought-after voice actor. “He was like his…

GARY SHAPIRO (1964-2017)

Singer. Songwriter. Comedian. Rabbi. Cantor. Gary Shapiro touched many lives in and around Los Angeles in ways a typical comedian never did. Shapiro died unexpectedly on Thursday. More details on that as they become available. Shapiro was born July 1, 1964. He was only 52. Memorial services will be held at 12:30 p.m. Monday, May 1, at Mount Sinai, 5950 Forest Lawn Drive, in Los Angeles. Shapiro (@ElSmoocho on Twitter) had just performed at the beginning of the week at the monthly Top Tune showcase for singer/songwriters. At @thehotelcafe last night for #TopTune (L-R): hilarious host @Henlips groove master…

CHARLIE MURPHY (1959-2017)

Charlie Murphy, a Navy vet and comedian who broke out from his younger brother’s shadow by telling outrageously true stories on Comedy Central’s Chappelle’s Show, died today from leukemia. He was 57. The last time I saw Charlie Murphy performing live was in October 2015, while he toured with The Black & Brown Comedy Get Down crew that also included George Lopez, Eddie Griffin, D.L. Hughley and Cedric the Entertainer. Murphy looked frailer then. His most recent messages to fans on Twitter carried inspirational tones under the headings “Rise & Grind” and “One to Sleep On,” and fittingly concluded…

DOROTHY HOFERT LETTERMAN MENGERING, AKA “DAVE’S MOM”

Dorothy Hofert Letterman Mengering was 72 when she first began appearing on her son’s late-night television show, and delighted millions in the 1990s with her reports from the Olympics, her pies from the kitchen and her advice for her son. Mengering died Tuesday peacefully at home, a day before David Letterman’s 70th birthday. Dave’s Mom was 95. Her three children, Jan, Gretchen and David, wrote her obituary in the local paper, The Indianapolis Star. Here’s an excerpt about her experiences in public that we saw: Perhaps the Mengerings’ most memorable travels were the result of “Dave’s Mom” becoming a huge…

LASHONDA LESTER

Lashonda Lester, a Detroit native named 2016’s Funniest Person in Austin, was supposed to record her first half-hour comedy special for Comedy Central two weeks from tonight in New Orleans. Instead, Lester has died. From Martha Kelly, Austin resident and co-star on FX’s Baskets: “Lashonda was one of the most naturally talented comics I’ve ever seen and a pleasure to know off stage as well. She was truly beloved by the Austin comedy community and will be terribly missed. RIP Shondee.” I just learned Lashonda Lester passed away. She opened for me last week in Austin. Very sad. Very…

DON RICKLES (1926-2017)

Don Rickles, the legendary comedian and actor who could roast President Ronald Reagan, Frank Sinatra and just about everyone else, has died. Rickles was 90. Rickles died Thursday at his home in Los Angeles from kidney failure, his publicist confirmed. He hadn’t stopped performing even in old age. Just a couple of weeks ago, AARP had announced Rickles would star in his own sit-down interview series for their new digital platform. No word if any of the segments for “Dinner With Don” already had been produced. But Rickles, a quick wit and master of insults for decades, entertained audiences…

GARY AUSTIN, FOUNDER OF THE GROUNDLINGS (1941-2017)

Growing up in the 1970s and 1980s, there were two places to go to find the best sketch comedians and improvising funny people in America: The Second City in Chicago and The Groundlings in Los Angeles. Gary Austin put The Groundlings on the map, founding the sketch and improv troupe and nonprofit school in Los Angeles in 1974. Within a year, he already was sending students and performers to the then-fledgling Saturday Night Live. The list of Groundlings alumni is long and illustrious. Austin died Saturday, April Fool’s Day, at 75, from cancer. If the late Del Close was…

ALAN COLMES (1950-2017)

He may be remembered today as the one man who kept Sean Hannity in check for 13 years, or even as a radio talk-show giant before and after that, but Alan Colmes was at heart a stand-up comedian. Colmes died today, after recently taking a hiatus at the end of January to deal with lymphoma. He was 66. “As I previously mentioned on the show last year, there would be times I would be taking off from the show to deal with a medical issue. This is why I’ve been out recently and will be out this week as…

“PROFESSOR” IRWIN COREY (1914-2017)

The “World’s Foremost Authority” and oldest living stand-up comedian, Professor Irwin Corey, has died. Corey was 102. Praised by Lenny Bruce as one of the brightest voices in comedy, Corey was born July 29, 1914, in Brooklyn. Eight decades before the “World Champion” Judah Friedlander took on any audience member’s questions and the absurd doublespeak of Reggie Watts, Corey was dazzling and confusing audiences with his own colorful explanations about anything and everything, seemingly saying nothing. A teen during the Great Depression, Corey left the orphan asylum in NYC where he’d grown up (despite both of his parents still living),…

TONY ROSATO (1954-2017)

Tony Rosato, one of only three comedians to perform on TV as a cast member of both SCTV and Saturday Night Live, has died of an apparent heart attack. Rosato was 62. Born in Naples, Italy, on Dec. 26, 1954, Rosato immigrated to Canada with his parents when he was 4. He could have become a chiropractor but dropped out of the University of Toronto instead to pursue improvisational comedy at The Second City. That decision worked out well for him. Rosato joined the cast of SCTV for its third season, and first on the CBC in 1980 —…

Sean L. McCarthy

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