Jack Carter | Comedian, 93
Jack Carter, 93, whose brash comedy made him a star in early television and helped him sustain a career of more than half a century, died of respiratory failure at his Beverly Hills, Calif., home Sunday.
Jack Carter, 93, whose brash comedy made him a star in early television and helped him sustain a career of more than half a century, died of respiratory failure at his Beverly Hills, Calif., home Sunday.
In 1948, when network television was beginning, Mr. Carter starred in a series of variety shows on ABC. In 1950, Pat Weaver, the visionary NBC programmer who fostered the Today and Tonight shows and other innovations, scheduled two hours of programming called Saturday Night Revue.
The Jack Carter Show, broadcast from Chicago, filled the first hour, and the comedian opened it with a stand-up routine that poked fun at the day's news, a device late-night comics still use. From there, the show moved on to music and skits.
The second hour was taken up by Your Show of Shows, starring Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca. Their sophisticated comedy became a sensation, and after the first season, The Jack Carter Show was canceled.
"Maybe I come on too strong," he mused in 1963, though he was a regular in the years after on countless shows, from Ed Sullivan's to five Bobe Hope specials.
Mr. Carter, who had begun his career as a dramatic stage actor, also appeared in nearly three dozen movies, including Elvis Presley's Viva Las Vegas.
On Broadway, he starred in 1956 with Sammy Davis Jr. in the musical Mr. Wonderful.
In recent years, he appeared on New Girl and voiced various parts on Family Guy. Last year, he also showed up in an episode of Shameless on Showtime. - From Wire Reports