Norm Crosby

Norman Lawrence Crosby (born September 15, 1927) is an American comedian sometimes associated with the Borscht Belt who often appeared on television in the 1970s. He is known for his use of malapropisms and is often called "The Master of Malaprop".

Norm Crosby
Crosby in 1965
Born
Norman Lawrence Crosby[1]

(1927-09-15) September 15, 1927
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
OccupationComedian
Spouse(s)
Joan Crane Foley
(
m. 1966)
Children2

Career

Crosby was born in Boston. He went solo as a standup comedian, adopting a friendly, blue collar, guy-next-door persona in the 1950s. Crosby refined his standup monologues by interpolating malapropisms. He first appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in December 1964. In the fall of 1968, he co-starred on The Beautiful Phyllis Diller Show, an NBC twelve week series.[2]

In 1974, he co-hosted a Canadian variety television series, Everything Goes.[3] From 1974-84 he was on over half a dozen Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts including George Burns and two separate roasts of Redd Foxx. From 1978-81, he hosted a nationally syndicated series, The Comedy Shop, in which a mix of up-and-coming stand-up comics and vaudeville legends presented their material.[4]

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Crosby became a commercial pitchman for Anheuser-Busch Natural Light beer. During this time, he also appeared as a celebrity guest on a number of game shows, including Celebrity Bowling, Liar's Club, Tattletales and Hollywood Squares. From 1983 until the program's disassociation with Jerry Lewis, Crosby co-hosted and contributed to the annual Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6560 Hollywood Boulevard.

Personal life

Crosby has been married to Joan Crane Foley since 1966. They have two children. He has been a Freemason since 1956, having served as Master of at least one lodge and participated in many charitable activities. As of September 2005, he was a member of Ionic Composite Lodge #520 in Los Angeles, California.[5][6]

Crosby was born to a Jewish family[7] and was raised in Dorchester, Boston,[8] the son of Ann (née Lansky) and John Crosby.[1]

gollark: No.
gollark: Proof of work mining but a central transaction log.
gollark: Yes.
gollark: OC can do HTTP, yes.
gollark: It's a centralised pseudocryptocurrency.

References
  1. Profile, filmreference.com; accessed April 3, 2017.
  2. "Barbara Feldon Guest on Phyllis Diller Show". Schenectady Gazette. 1968-10-05. p. TV 8. Retrieved 2012-08-17.
  3. "From the Music Capitals of the World". Billboard. 1974-03-09. p. 54. Retrieved 2012-08-17.
  4. The Comedy Shop videos at MeTV
  5. Profile, MSANA.com (October 2007); accessed April 3, 2017.
  6. Ionic Composite Lodge #520 Trestle Board Archived 2011-07-17 at the Wayback Machine, calodges.org; accessed April 3, 2017.
  7. Epstein, Lawrence J. (December 6, 2001). "The story of Jewish comedians". Cleveland Jewish News. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
  8. Vennochi, Joan (April 20, 1983). "Langone Announces Entry Into Boston's Mayoral Race". The Boston Globe. Retrieved June 8, 2011.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.