Perpetually glum standup comedian Joey Bishop was born
Joseph Abraham Gottlieb on February 3, 1918, in the Bronx, New York. He was the youngest of five
children of Chana "Anna" (Siegel) and Jacob Gottlieb, a bicycle repairman. His father was an Austrian Jewish immigrant and his mother was a Romanian Jew. He was raised in
Philadelphia and learned while growing up how to tap dance, do
imitations and play the mandolin and banjo. Dropping out of high school
at 18, he started out in the humor business in vaudeville as part of a
comedy act with his brother. Billed as "Joey Gottlieb" at the time, he
later joined a comedy group that called themselves "The Bishop Trio"
and kept the last name for himself after the team broke up. His nascent
career was interrupted while serving in the Army during WWII, but
quickly resumed things after his discharge in 1945. He appeared on
television as early as 1948, but it took a while before he caught on. A
master ad-libber, he became a nitery specialist at such establishments
as the Latin Quarter, and served as an opening act for a number of
stars, including Frank Sinatra, in the
mid-50s. As his reputation increased, he became a steadfast cog on the
talk show, sitcom and game show circuits. A frequent and amusing guest
panelist on
What's My Line? (1950), the
jug-eared jokester went on to guest-host on the
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962)
a record 177 times. He also frequently appeared as a guest for
Steve Allen and
Jack Paar in their earlier late-nite formats.
Bishop entered the sitcom venue in the early 1960s. On his first show,
The Joey Bishop Show (1961),
he played Joey Barnes, the host of a TV talk show in New York.
Abby Dalton came on board in the second
season as wife Ellie. Among his co-stars were up-and-coming stars
Bill Bixby and
Marlo Thomas and such character veterans as
Joe Besser, of
The Three Stooges fame, and
Mary Treen were brought aboard for stronger
support. This popular show lasted four seasons. Life imitated art
several years later when Bishop went on to compete against Carson for
the late-night viewing audience with his own talk show
The Joey Bishop Show (1967)
for ABC. The show was no match for Carson, however, and quickly
dwindled in ratings, fading away after two years. His
co-host/sidekick/foil was none other than
Regis Philbin.
Dick Cavett eventually replaced him to fill
the ABC midnight void.
Relatively overlooked for his work on film, Bishop did show some
promise early in the game with occasional straight roles that veered
away from his sarcastic comedy demeanor with such roles in
Durchbruch bei Morgenrot (1958),
Die Nackten und die Toten (1958)
and Der Zwiebelkopf (1958). He would also
generate public interest as the less-than-slick member of Hollywood's
"Rat Pack", which was comprised of ultra-hip pals
Frank Sinatra,
Dean Martin,
Sammy Davis Jr. and
Peter Lawford. Known as "Sinatra's comic"
at one time (for having frequently opened for the star), Bishop wrote
material and serving as the emcee for many of the clan's Las Vegas
shows in the 1960s. In addition he appeared in the "Rat Pack"-oriented
movies Frankie und seine Spießgesellen (1960) and
Die siegreichen Drei (1962), but the
straight-laced comedian later butted heads with the party-hearty
Sinatra and split while the next film
Sieben gegen Chicago (1964)
was in preparation. Elsewhere, he appeared as either a foil, sidekick,
or guest cameos in such standard movies as
Die Rache des Johnny Cool (1963),
Zwei tolle Kerle in Texas (1966)
with Dean Martin,
Was kümmert uns die Bank? (1967)
and even
Das Tal der Puppen (1967).
Once his late night TV show folded he returned to night clubs for a
time but gradually withdrew more and more from the show-biz limelight
in the 1970s. He appeared in only three films after this point --
Delta Force (1986),
Familienehre (1990) and
Bullet Point (1996) -- and showing
up on a rare occasion as a TV guest. Married to Sylvia Ruzga since
1941, their son Larry Bishop is an
actor-turned-director and producer. Long retired and the last surviving
"Rat Pack" member after Sinatra's death in 1998, his wife Sylvia of 58
years died of cancer in 1999. Joey, in failing health for some time,
died of multiple organ failure on October 17, 2007, at his Newport
Beach, California home.
