Pat McCormick, 78. Comedy Writer
Sacred...@aol.com
at the Motion Picture & Television Hospital at Woodland Hills, CA.
Best remember for his contributions to "The Tonight Show" and his
perforance in "Smokey and the Bandit" movies.
James Neibaur
Brad Ferguson
<Sacred...@aol.com> wrote:
Sorry to hear this. He'd had a stroke years ago, and hadn't been heard
from much since. I remember that he was doing standup with Chuck
McCann for awhile.
McCormick played straight man to Don Rickles in a 1966 ABC series that
was one of the funniest shows I can remember. Rickles did a cleaned-up
version of his Vegas lounge act for a half-hour every week, and the
series didn't last nearly long enough for it to get old.
--
FREE JUDITH MILLER
James Neibaur
> McCormick played straight man to Don Rickles in a 1966 ABC series that
> was one of the funniest shows I can remember. Rickles did a cleaned-up
> version of his Vegas lounge act for a half-hour every week, and the
> series didn't last nearly long enough for it to get old.
I remember this too, only it seems later like maybe 1968 or so, and agree
McCormick was a fun second banana and the show was cancelled too quickly. I
also remember Rickles would get pretty good guests (one per show).
JN
mpoco...@aol.com
Mahatma.
Cher
Cher
Bianca
disabled. Didn't a bunch of comics do a tribute to him just recently?
He was "Big Enos Burdette" in "Smokey & the Bandit" (the first one),
alongside Paul Williams as "Little Enos Burdette."
Brad Ferguson
<jnei...@wi.rr.com> wrote:
You're right. It was 1968. For some reason I thought it was on after
"The Time Tunnel."
Pat McCormick was only 41 when he did that show?!? At the time, I
thought he was older than God.
--
FREE JUDITH MILLER
deb...@comcast.net
By Jon Thurber, Times Staff Writer
Pat McCormick, a veteran comedian and comedy writer who made scores of
appearances on "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson, was a regular
guest on "The Gong Show" and appeared in three "Smokey and the Bandit"
movies, died Friday at the Motion Picture & Television Hospital in
Woodland Hills. He was 78.
McCormick entered the facility in 1998 after suffering a stroke that
left him partially paralyzed and also affected his speech.
"Few, very few, will ever be able to craft a joke as beautifully as
Pat," comedian Shelley Berman, a longtime friend, told The Times on
Friday. "He was able to just make it all happen. I don't think he was
great at telling them, but he was sure great at putting them down."
The walrus-mustachioed McCormick was known to have a gift for wacky and
sometimes warped humor. Some of his tamer lines went like this:
On the television writers strike in 1988:
We writers will know we're missed when we see our pictures on milk
cartons.
On going on the wagon:
I gave up drinking booze when my liver started showing up on airport
metal detectors.
And a classic joke that Carson delivered after a big temblor hit the
Southland:
Due to today's earthquake, the God is Dead rally has been canceled.
In sketches on Carson's show, McCormick played several human characters
but dressed in costume to play a variety of wildlife, including
turkeys, peacocks, squirrels and the shark from "Jaws."
In one memorable 1974 "Tonight Show," a naked 6-foot-7, 270-pound
McCormick streaked across the stage behind Carson during the opening
monologue.
McCormick was born June 30, 1927, in Lakewood, Ohio. He was a champion
hurdler in high school and served in the Army from 1946 to 1948. After
military service, he graduated from Harvard University. A year into
Harvard Law School, he dropped out to work in advertising in New York
City.
But his advertising career was short-lived after he began making money
writing comedy material for television and nightclub performers,
including Jonathan Winters, Henny Youngman and Phyllis Diller. He also
briefly did a stand-up act with Marc London, whom he had known from
Harvard.
Eventually, he became a full-time writer for "The Jack Paar Show," the
start of a comedy writing career that spanned five decades. He wrote
for Merv Griffin, Red Skelton and Danny Kaye. He also wrote and
appeared on "Candid Camera."
He served as announcer and straight man on Don Rickles' short-lived TV
variety show in 1968, and was a regular on "The New Bill Cosby Show"
1972. He also was a key player in the legendary Friars Club roasts for
several years. McCormick was also a popular fixture on TV talk shows.
On radio, he voiced and wrote hundreds of commercials.
In addition to his role as Big Enos Burdette opposite Burt Reynolds in
the "Smokey and the Bandit" films, McCormick was in two Robert Altman
movies: "Buffalo Bill and the Indians," in which he played President
Grover Cleveland, and "A Wedding," in which he played wealthy
industrialist Mackenzie "Mac" Goddard, husband of the character played
by Dina Merrill.
Comedic actor Jack Riley, who played the part of Elliot Carlin on "The
Bob Newhart Show," commented Friday on his friend's career.
"Pat's life was enhanced by a never-failing comedic spirit, contagious
to all around him," Riley said in a statement released by the Motion
Picture & Television Hospital.
"I was walking with Pat one night outside of the Braille Institute on
Ventura Boulevard. Pat looked to the second floor and noticed five or
six totally darkened windows, 'Ah," he said, 'I see they're working
late.'
"His mind went to places that most people's don't.... truly original
places where poets are found."
McCormick is survived by his son, Ben McCormick, and a grandson.
Charlene
Yes, I know the IMDb isn't terribly accurate, but still, eight
years....
wd41
Brad Ferguson
<deb...@comcast.net> wrote:
> McCormick is survived by his son, Ben McCormick, and a grandson.
Reminds me of a story somebody told once. Pat and his wife threw a big
party for his son Ben's baptism. All the McCormick friends and family
showed up. There was a long, precisely set banquet table, and on it
were all the trimmings of a major feast. Out from the kitchen came Pat
carrying a large domed platter, which he proudly set in the middle of
the table. Pat took the dome off -- and there was Ben, naked,
surrounded by carrots and lettuce.
--
FREE JUDITH MILLER
GS
"Charlene" <charlene...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1122742962.9...@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>I take it the IMDb is wrong in listing his birth as July 17, 1934?
>
> Yes, I know the IMDb isn't terribly accurate, but still, eight
> years....
>
I think this is just a case where a wrong birth date was in general
circulation... Do a Google search, and you'll find most sources listing that
same date.
Kent
> circulation... Do a Google search, and you'll find most sources listing
that
> same date.
Yes, that does seem to be the date that has been associated with him for a
long time. It's in Wikipedia, IMDb, all the entertainment sites, etc.
However, here's an article regarding his recent birthday celebration (his
birthday was two weeks ago on July 17) specifically mentioning his age as
78.
http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200%257E21377%257E2946646,00.html
Kent
Dead or Alive?
http://www.deadoraliveinfo.com
AndrewJ
he was pretty devastated when his mom died, and at the wake several
comedian friends went up to console him. After several seconds they
realized that he'd dropped his pants and was mooning everyone in the
chapel.
Another time, he was walking in Manhattan when he passed by a man on
crutches... and then a lady in a wheelchair... and then a man in leg
braces. Coming up to the next disabled person, he said, "Excuse me,
which way to the FDR tribute??"
King Daevid MacKenzie
>>Reminds me of a story somebody told once. Pat and his wife threw a big
>>party for his son Ben's baptism. All the McCormick friends and family
>>showed up. There was a long, precisely set banquet table, and on it
>>were all the trimmings of a major feast. Out from the kitchen came Pat
>>carrying a large domed platter, which he proudly set in the middle of
>>the table. Pat took the dome off -- and there was Ben, naked,
>>surrounded by carrots and lettuce.
>>
>
> Hilarious tastelessness was second nature to him. The story goes that
> he was pretty devastated when his mom died, and at the wake several
> comedian friends went up to console him. After several seconds they
> realized that he'd dropped his pants and was mooning everyone in the
> chapel.
>
> Another time, he was walking in Manhattan when he passed by a man on
> crutches... and then a lady in a wheelchair... and then a man in leg
> braces. Coming up to the next disabled person, he said, "Excuse me,
> which way to the FDR tribute??"
...McCormick had a scene in HOT STUFF, a 1979 comedy directed by Dom
DeLuise. It was set in a pawn shop, and the story I heard was that
DeLuise simply told McCormick to improvise for five minutes. Tho some of
the gags were corny, it was one of the more memorable items in the
picture...
--
--
King Daevid MacKenzie, WLSU-FM 88.9 La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA
heard weekdays at http://whiterosesociety.org
"There is Christian and there is Elvis-from-the-waist-up Christian."
JAMES NEIBAUR
King Daevid MacKenzie
> Eventually, he became a full-time writer for "The Jack Paar Show," the
> start of a comedy writing career that spanned five decades. He wrote
> for Merv Griffin, Red Skelton and Danny Kaye. He also wrote and
> appeared on "Candid Camera."
...kinda surprised that this obit didn't mention his stretch as
production assistant on "I've Got a Secret." As I understand it, he
joined that staff as a direct result of creator Allan Sherman's departure...
GS
"Kent" <ke...@ixnayontheamspay-deadoraliveinfo.com> wrote in message
news:6fudnQK9gpn...@comcast.com...
The article is dated Friday July 1, and says McCormick's birthday was "on
Thursday", which makes it June 30. The L.A. Times obit gives his birth date
as June 30, 1927.
mpoco...@aol.com
a radio talk show, was about a time he and Pat appeared on a 70's game
show, Celebrity Sweepstakes. At the time when they did game shows
where the celebs would often make witty unscripted comments, they had
to have a lawyer from Standards and Practices on hand to make sure the
celebs didn't say something too risque, and if they did, they would
have to stop taping and start the game over. One time they were near
the end of taping the episode, and there was a question along the lines
of "In which sport can you get a scratched ball?", and Pat replied
"Bullfighting". The answer they were looking for was billiards, and
the lawyer stopped the show and made them start all over.
Mark
of Buckingham Palace and while he was smoking a pipe he dropped his
pants and continued smoking as if nothing out of the ordinary was going
on. A guard from the palace came over to him and had to tell him that he
wasn't allowed to smoke.
Mark
with the bottom half open as well. Pat laying with his trousers down at
his ankles.
doc
3252.bay.webtv.net:
> What would be a fitting tribute to him is if there was an open casket
> with the bottom half open as well. Pat laying with his trousers down at
> his ankles.
>
>
>
>
>
Thirty years later I still chuckle when I recall when, dressed in a peacock
costume, he zinged the NBC censors by telling Johnny Carson that he was the
"NBC cock"!
King Daevid MacKenzie
want to say it was as a direct result of David Niven's Oscar
presentation segment getting streaked that same year, but it may in fact
have been prior to the Niven incident...
Tim Dunleavy
making my day - and God bless Pat McCormick!
-Tim
Mark
saying wasn't that streaker something. (Don't exactly recall how he put
it) But anyway it was mentioned before the awards took place. I guess he
sort of played the odds that there would be on at the awards.