Dick Shawn

Dick Shawn (born Richard Schulefand, December 1, 1923 – April 17, 1987) was an American actor. He played a wide variety of supporting roles and was a prolific character actor. During the 1960s, he played small roles in madcap comedies, usually portraying caricatures of counterculture personalities, such as the hedonistic but mother-obsessed Sylvester Marcus in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), and the hippie actor Lorenzo Saint DuBois ("L.S.D.") in The Producers (1967). Besides his film work, he appeared in numerous television shows from the 1960s through the 1980s.

Dick Shawn
Shawn in 1964
Born	Richard Schulefand (1923-12-01)December 1, 1923 Buffalo, New York, U.S.
Died	April 17, 1987(1987-04-17) (aged 63) San Diego, California, U.S.
Resting place	Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery
Other names	Richy Shawn
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1956–1987
Spouse	Rita Bachner ​ (m. 1946)​
Children	4
Relatives	Joey Travolta (son-in-law)

Career

Born in Buffalo, New York to a Jewish family, and raised in nearby Lackawanna,^[1] Shawn performed his stand-up comedy act for over 35 years in nightclubs around the world.^[2] His award-winning one-man stage show, The Second Greatest Entertainer in the Whole Wide World, was sometimes performed with a unique opening. When the audience entered the theater, they saw a bare stage with a pile of bricks in stage center. When the play began, Shawn emerged from the pile of bricks. The startling effect of this required complete concentration and breath control because the slightest movement of the bricks could ruin the surprise appearance.

In addition to roles in more than 30 movies and seven Broadway productions, Shawn made television appearances, toured often, and periodically performed a one-man show that mixed songs, sketches, and pantomime. He was a speaker at the Friars Club Roasts in Los Angeles and New York. At one of the X-rated roasts (a 1986 Playboy roast of Tommy Chong) that had overdosed on tasteless routines by previous speakers, Shawn walked up to the microphone, took a long pause, and "vomited" pea soup onto himself and other speakers at the dais.

In the Mel Brooks 1967 movie The Producers, Shawn won accolades^[3][4][5][6] for his portrayal of Lorenzo St. DuBois, whose "friends call" him LSD, an actor auditioning for and winning the part of Hitler in a theatrical production that was intentionally meant to fail.

Shawn's television appearances included The Ed Sullivan Show, TV movies, sitcoms (including Three's Company on which he played Jack Tripper's father), dramas including St. Elsewhere and Magnum, P.I., and a music video for "Dance" by the hair metal band Ratt (1986). In the UK he appeared in Sunday Night at the London Palladium in 1958.

Amongst his roles in anthology TV series, he starred in an Amazing Stories episode "Miss Stardust", directed by Tobe Hooper, about a bizarre intergalactic beauty pageant, and played the Emperor in The Emperor's New Clothes for Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre. He filled in for vacationing Johnny Carson as guest host on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson on January 1, 1971, which saw the airing of the last cigarette commercial on American television (for Virginia Slims), one minute before the cigarette ads were banned.

Personal life

Shawn married Rita Bachner in 1946, and they had four children: Amy, Wendy, Adam, and Jennifer. His only grandchild, Rachel Travolta, is the daughter of Wendy and her husband, Joey Travolta. He was a longtime resident of Englewood, New Jersey.^[7]

Death

On April 17, 1987, during a performance at University of California, San Diego's Mandeville Hall, Shawn suffered a heart attack and collapsed face-down on the stage. The audience initially assumed that it was part of his act. After he had remained motionless for several minutes, a stage hand examined him and asked if a physician was present.^[8]

After CPR had been initiated, the audience was asked to leave the auditorium. Most in attendance remained, assuming that it was part of Shawn's act, and only began leaving after paramedics arrived.^[8] A notice in the following day's San Diego Union newspaper announced that Shawn had died during the performance at the age of 63.^[9] Shawn was interred at Hillside Memorial Park, a Jewish cemetery in Culver City, California.^[10]

Legacy

Jim Knipfel claims that Andy Kaufman was inspired by Shawn.^[11][12][13]

Actor Matthew Glave portrayed Shawn in Leave 'Em Laughing, a short film surrounding his final moments.^[14]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1956	The Opposite Sex	Psychiatric Patient
1960	Wake Me When It's Over	Gus Brukaber
	The Wizard of Baghdad	Genii-Ali Mahmud
1963	It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World	Sylvester Marcus
1965	A Very Special Favor	Arnold Plum
1966	What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?	Captain Lionel Cash
	Way... Way Out	Igor Valkleinokov
	Penelope	Dr. Gregory Mannix
1967	The Producers	L.S.D. — Lorenzo St. DuBois
1969	The Happy Ending	Harry Bricker
1974	The Year Without a Santa Claus	Snow Miser	Voice
1977	Looking Up	Manny Lander
1979	Love At First Bite	Lieutenant Ferguson
1982	Good-bye Cruel World	Rodney Poinsetter / Ainsley Poinsetter
1983	Rock 'n' Roll Hotel	Weevil King of Evil
	Young Warriors	Professor Hoover
1984	Angel	Mae
	The Secret Diary of Sigmund Freud	The Ultimate Patient
1985	Water	Deke Halliday
	Beer	Talk Show Host
1986	The Check Is in the Mail...	Donald	uncredited
	The Perils of P.K.	The psychiatrist
	Captain EO	Commander Bog	Short Film
1987	Maid to Order	Stan Starkey
1988	Rented Lips	Charlie Slater	Posthumous Release

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1954–55	Max Liebman Spectaculars	unknown role	3 episodes
1955	Max Liebman Presents: Kaleidoscope	Guest	TV movie
1955–58	The Ed Sullivan Show	Himself	8 episodes
1958	The Eddie Fisher Show	Himself	3 episodes
1959	The Dinah Shore Chevy Show	Himself	"Eve Arden / Dick Shawn / Red Norvo"
1961	General Electric Theater	Felix Franklin	"Don't Let It Throw You"
	Checkmate	Danny Whitman	"Laugh Till I Die"
	The DuPont Show with June Allyson	Charlie Wilson	"The Old-Fashioned Way"
	Michael Shayne	Ernie Trask	"The Trouble with Ernie"
1963	The Jimmy Dean Show	Himself	"Dick Shawn / Whitey Ford"
	The Judy Garland Show	Himself	#1.11"
1963–67	The Jerry Lewis Show	Himself	2 episodes
1964	The Price Is Right	Himself	"03.20.1964"
1964–86	The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson	Himself	38 episodes
1965	For the People	Ernie Garatella	"Secure Any Special Privilege or Advantage"
1966	The Andy Williams Show	Himself	2 episodes
	The Bob Hope Show	Himself	"Murder at NBC"
1967	ABC Stage 66	Paul Benderhof	"I'm Getting Married"
	Sheriff Who	Crawford Offwhite	TV movie
	Off to See the Wizard	Tom Thumb	"Who's Afraid of Mother Goose?"
	That Girl	Himself	"The Mailman Cometh"
1968	The Lucy Show	Ace Winthrop	"Lucy and the Pool Hustler"
	What's My Line?	Self – Mystery Guest	"Dick Shawn"
1969	That's Life	unknown role	"Sex and the Married Man"
	The Joan Rivers Show	Himself	"05.04.1969"
	The Liberace Show	Himself	"07.27.1969"
1971	Dames at Sea	The Captain	TV movie
	The Bold Ones: The New Doctors	Nick Sutton	"The Glass Cage"
1971–78	The Hollywood Squares	Himself – Panelist	3 episodes
1972	Evil Roy Slade	Marshal Bing Bell	TV movie
1972–73	Love, American Style	Henry Chadwick / Howard	2 episodes
1973–74	The $10,000 Pyramid	Himself – Celebrity Contestant	18 episodes
1974	CBS Daytime 90	unknown role	"My Little Love"
	The Year Without a Santa Claus	Snow Miser (Voice Role)	TV movie
1975	Medical Center	Pete Rashid	"The Price of a Child"
1975–77	Captain Kangaroo	Doc Grannick the Mechanic / E.J. Fusay	3 episodes
1976	You're Just Like Your Father	Harry Tofler, Sr.	TV movie
1978	Mary	Skit characters	unknown episode(s)
1979	Fast Friends	Deke Edwards	TV movie
	Laverne & Shirley	Gatekeeper/Phone Representative	"Upstairs, Downstairs"
1980	Fantasy Island	Vic Erskine	"Skater's Edge / Concerto of Death / The Last Great Race"
1980–81	Mr. & Mrs. Dracula	Dracula	2 episodes
1981	Aloha Paradise	Cyrus	"Fiona / Engaged to Be Dumped / Fantasie Impromptu"
1981–82	The Love Boat	Harvey Blanchard / David Jackson	3 episodes
1982	Private Benjamin	Drysdale	"You Oughta Be in Pictures"
	Madame's Place	Himself	"Pinky's Shock"
	Slapstick Studios	Sheldon	unknown episode(s)
1983	Magnum, P.I.	Buzz Benoit	"Squeeze Play"
	Three's Company	Jack Tripper, Sr.	"Like Father, Like Son"
1984	Legmen	Casanova	"Knight at Casanova's"
	Steambath	Frankie Melnick	"Madison Avenue Madness"
	The Fall Guy	Edward Seraph	"Losers Weepers: Part 1"
	Body Language	Himself	5 episodes
1985	Tales from the Darkside	Bo Gumbs	"If the Shoes Fit..."
	Hail to the Chief	Ivan Zolotov	series regular (6 episodes)
	Faerie Tale Theatre	Emperor / Guest Interviewee	2 episodes
1986	The Twilight Zone	Nelson Westbrook	"Gramma / Personal Demons / Cold Reading"
	St. Elsewhere	Edgard Eisenberg	"The Equalizer"
1987	Amazing Stories	Joe Willouhby	"Miss Stardust"

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1948	For Heaven's Sake, Mother!	Milton Rubin
1961–62	Come Blow Your Horn	Alan Baker (replacement)	replaced Hal March
1962	The Egg	Emile Magis
1962–64	A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum	Prologus / Pseudolus (replacement)	replaced Zero Mostel
1964–65	Fade Out – Fade In	Byron Prong (replacement)	replaced Jack Cassidy
1965	Peterpat	Peter
1968	I'm Solomon	Yoni, Solomon
1975–76	A Musical Jubilee	Performer

References

1. Obituary, washingtonpost.com. Accessed August 7, 2022.
2. "Dick Shawn--The Wizard of Odd". Los Angeles Times. August 16, 1985.
3. Ebert, Roger (July 23, 2000). "The Producers". Roger Ebert website. Retrieved January 18, 2021. great supporting performance
4. Crick, Robert Alan (2009). The Big Screen Comedies of Mel Brooks. McFarland & Company. p. 29. ISBN 978-0786443260. Dick Shawn is pretty terrific
5. Kashner, Sam (January 6, 2014). "The Making of The Producers". Vanity Fair. Retrieved January 18, 2021. very funny
6. Ferguson, John (2020). "The Producers". Radio Times. Retrieved January 18, 2021. wonderful
7. Lewis, Dan. "Dick Shawn: Mixed-Media Man", The Baltimore Sun, November 28, 1971. Accessed July 24, 2019. "Dick Shawn left the comforts of his 14-room home in Englewood, NJ, one recent Sunday and flew to Hollywood to start work on a movie for television."
8. Scott, Janny; Thackrey, Ted Jr. (April 19, 1987). "Comedian Dick Shawn, 63, Is Stricken on Stage, Dies". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
9. "Dick Shawn". Actors Biographies. All Media Guide. 2009. Retrieved April 22, 2009.
10. "Dick Shawn". Josh Pincus is Crying. Things to do in L.A. When You're Dead. September 2, 2008. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
11. Knipfel, Jim (April 24, 2014). "The Humbly Great Dick Shawn". Ozy. Archived from the original on July 25, 2019. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
12. Knipfel, Jim (May 2, 2018). "Where Andy Kaufman Came From". Den of Geek. Retrieved September 16, 2018.
13. Knipfel, Jim (April 8, 2018). "Jim and Andy and Dick". Electron Press. Retrieved September 16, 2018.
14. Ng, Alan (October 16, 2020). "Leave 'em Laughing | Film Threat". Film Threat. Retrieved July 12, 2022.

External links

• Biography portal

• Dick Shawn at the Internet Broadway Database
• Dick Shawn at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Dick Shawn at IMDb
• Dick Shawn discography at Discogs
• Dick Shawn at Find a Grave
• "Love Power" song clip by Dick Shawn as Lorenzo St. DuBois (LSD) in "The Producers" (1968) on YouTube