© Copyright Harutyunyan 2024

sunfilm-logo
Home/George Kirby
George Kirby‌

Gender

Male

Birthday

calendar1923-06-08

Popularity

star0.8

George Kirby

Chicago, Illinois, USA

George Kirby

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Gender

Male

Birthday

calendar1923-06-08

Popularity

star0.8

Biography

George Kirby (June 8, 1923 – September 30, 1995) 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 "Funky 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 bargained 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. Description above from the Wikipedia article George Kirby, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Movie Credits

Trouble in Mind

Trouble in Mind‌
star5.7
calendar 1985

Cameo by Night

Cameo by Night‌
star0.0
calendar 1987

Beverly Hills Brats

Beverly Hills Brats‌
star5.5
calendar 1989

Leonard Part 6

Leonard Part 6‌
star2.9
calendar 1987

Amos 'n' Andy: Anatomy of a Controversy

Amos 'n' Andy: Anatomy of a Controversy‌
star6.0
calendar 1983

The Special London Bridge Special

The Special London Bridge Special‌
star0.0
calendar 1972

Joys

Joys‌
star4.0
calendar 1976

The Temptations Show

The Temptations Show‌
star0.0
calendar 1969

Puss in Boots

Puss in Boots‌
star5.0
calendar 1985

Sunset Limousine

Sunset Limousine‌
star4.0
calendar 1983

Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feeling So Sad

Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feeling So Sad‌
star4.5
calendar 1967

Saga of Sonora

Saga of Sonora‌
star0.0
calendar 1973

A Man Called Adam

A Man Called Adam‌
star6.3
calendar 1966

On Location with George Kirby

On Location with George Kirby‌
star0.0
calendar 1978

Dionne Warwick: Souled Out

Dionne Warwick: Souled Out‌
star0.0
calendar 1969

Tv Credits

Fame

Fame‌
star6.7
calendar 1982

227

227‌
star6.8
calendar 1985

The Ed Sullivan Show

The Ed Sullivan Show‌
star6.5
calendar 1948

Gimme a Break!

Gimme a Break!‌
star6.7
calendar 1981

Crazy like a Fox

Crazy like a Fox‌
star7.1
calendar 1984

Baby Talk

Baby Talk‌
star6.8
calendar 1991

Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In

Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In‌
star6.4
calendar 1967

ABC Stage 67

ABC Stage 67‌
star5.7
calendar 1966

The ABC Comedy Hour

The ABC Comedy Hour‌
star5.0
calendar 1972

Tonight Starring Jack Paar

Tonight Starring Jack Paar‌
star5.7
calendar 1957

The Mike Douglas Show

The Mike Douglas Show‌
star4.8
calendar 1961

The Ed Sullivan Show

The Ed Sullivan Show‌
star6.5
calendar 1948

The Pearl Bailey Show

The Pearl Bailey Show‌
star0.0
calendar 1971

The Ed Sullivan Show

The Ed Sullivan Show‌
star6.5
calendar 1948

Faerie Tale Theatre

Faerie Tale Theatre‌
star8.4
calendar 1982

Love, American Style

Love, American Style‌
star5.8
calendar 1969

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson‌
star7.4
calendar 1962

The Mike Douglas Show

The Mike Douglas Show‌
star4.8
calendar 1961

Murder, She Wrote

Murder, She Wrote‌
star7.6
calendar 1984

Kraft Music Hall

Kraft Music Hall‌
star4.0
calendar 1958