Professor Irwin Corey, "The World's Foremost Authority," was born on
July 29, 1914, in Brooklyn, New York. He and his five siblings were
wards of the Brooklyn Hebrew Orphan Asylum, and during the Great
Depression, he worked for the Civilian Conservation Corp. Possessing
brawn as well as brains, Professor Irwin Corey is proud to tell anyone
who will listen that he was the C.C.C.'s boxing champ in the 112-pound
weight class.
Before becoming certified (as a professor purveying the surreal), the
young Irwin caught the performing bug by appearing in a borscht belt
show, "Pots and Pans," in a bit part. He made his debut in a musical
comedy in a U.S.O. presentation of "Oklahoma" in Europe, in which he
played the part of the Arab peddler Ali Hakim.
Perfecting his crazy professor shtick, who always appeared in an
old-fashioned tuxedo with tails like
Groucho Marx, Corey broke through as a
stand-up comic at San Francisco's "hungry i" and New York City's
Copacabana and Village Vanguard nightclubs. His lectures, characterized
by a constant barrage of non-sequitur and double-talk, were rooted in
the word-play epitomized by Groucho Marx
and Chico Marx in such classic routines as
"Why a Duck?" However, whatever "logic"
The Marx Brothers might display (at
least in exasperated double takes by Groucho) was missing in the
Professor's shtick. Before the Talking Heads ever sang about it,
Professor Irwin Corey made an art form out of "Stop Making Sense."
Theater critic Kenneth Tynan said of the
Professor, "[Corey is] a cultural clown, a parody of literacy, a
travesty of all that our civilization holds dear and one of the
funniest grotesques in America. He is Chaplin's clown with a college
education."
Corey thrived on the radio, memorably appearing on
Edgar Bergen's radio show as a tutor to
Charlie McCarthy. Television was another natural medium for the
professor, and he appeared as a regular on
The Jackie Gleason Show (1952)
and also made the rounds of the talk show circuit of the 1950s,
'60s and '70s, appearing with
'Steve Allen',
Jack Paar,
Johnny Carson,
Dick Cavett,
Merv Griffin, and
Mike Douglas. He also was on "The
Ed Sullivan Show" (aka
Toast of the Town (1948))
as well as appeared with the new lessor of the Ed Sullivan Theater,
David Letterman.
Irwin Corey also has appeared on Broadway, in "Heaven on Earth," "Happy
as Larry," "Fla-hooley," and "Mrs. McThing," as well as recent
productions of "The Taming of the Shrew" and "Hamlet." Off-Broadway, he
appeared as the eponymous lead in "The Good Soldier Schweik" and as
Marlo Thomas' father in
Herb Gardner's play "Thieves," reprising
the role in the film (Thieves (1977)). He
also appeared in numerous episodes of series television, including
The Andy Griffith Show (1960),
"Doc" (with Barnard Hughes),
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (1967),
and
Pat Paulsen's Half a Comedy Hour (1970).
The Professor's last film was Woody Allen's
Im Bann des Jade Skorpions (2001).
At 91, and still going strong, Professor Irwin Corey truly is the dean
of stand-up comedians, if not quite at the head of his class.
