TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

With A Straight Face, Bishop Kept The Rat Pack Laughing

ADVERTISEMENT

Los Angeles Times

Published: October 19, 2007

LOS ANGELES - Joey Bishop, 89, the deadpan comedian who was ABC's answer to NBC's late-night talk show king Johnny Carson in the late 1960s and was the last surviving member of Frank Sinatra's Rat Pack, died Wednesday at his home in Newport Beach, Calif.

An adept ad-libber with a dry, underplayed sense of humor, Bishop achieved his greatest fame in the 1960s. He was master of ceremonies for President Kennedy's inaugural gala and joined Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Peter Lawford for the Rat Pack's historic 'summit' meetings on stage at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas.

Time magazine referred to Bishop as that swinging, fun-loving group's 'top banana.'

For four years, 1961 to '65, Bishop starred in the situation comedy 'The Joey Bishop Show,' whose character, Joey Barnes, was changed from a low-level public relations man living with his mother the first season to being a married, late-night talk show host.

It was a fitting fictional occupation for the quick-witted Bishop, who had become nationally known in the late '50s for his regular late-night appearances on 'The Jack Paar Show.' Paar once likened Bishop's dour demeanor to that of 'an untipped waiter.'

Bishop frequently substituted as host for Paar and later for Carson. In 1967, ABC signed him to host his own 90-minute late-night talk-fest.

'The Joey Bishop Show,' with Regis Philbin as Bishop's announcer-sidekick, ran for 2 1/2 years.

In November 1969, with 'The Joey Bishop Show' third in the ratings behind Carson and Merv Griffin's late-night talk show on CBS, ABC told Bishop it was canceling his show at the end of December.

A day later, Bishop shocked his Hollywood studio audience during his opening monologue by saying that he and the network had decided to end the show. After praising his staff, he announced that he was going home to have dinner with his wife. Then he walked off the stage, leaving Philbin to preside over the remainder of the show.

Born Joseph Abraham Gottlieb in the Bronx, N.Y., on Feb. 3, 1918, Bishop was the youngest of five children of Jewish immigrant parents from central Europe.

Bishop appeared in 14 films, joining Sinatra and fellow Rat Packers in 'Ocean's 11' in 1960 and 'Sergeants 3.'

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT