Authors: William Knoedelseder
See also specific individuals
Sugar Shack club, 27
Van Dyke, Jerry/club, 213, 215–216,
Sullivan, Ed, 10
218–219, 237–238
Sunset Boulevard
(movie), 266
Variety
, 163, 192
Super, Glenn, 266
Velardi, Valerie, 73–74, 145
Sweetzer, Susan, 78, 204, 239, 254, 255
Vernon, Jackie, 22, 33
Swerdloff, Eli, 160
Village Gate, 14
Vincent, Hilda, 78
Taxi
(TV show), 104, 127
Teamsters, 160, 180, 189, 212, 226
Wag the Dog
(movie), 34
Tennis, Craig, 29, 41–42, 43–44, 65–66,
Waits, Tom, 73
69, 90
Walker, Jimmy
Texaco Star Theater
(TV show), 9
Comedy Store, 23, 39, 40, 51, 52, 62,
That Nigger’s Crazy
(Pryor), 20, 87
86, 111
Thaxton, Lloyd, 56, 57
Ebony Genius Management, 55, 74
Theodore’s coffeehouse, 52, 72, 75
Good Times
(TV show), 39, 44
Thomerson, Tim, 60, 85–86, 140,
Improv, 12
147–151
labor dispute, 161, 162
Throw Me a Line
(TV show), 56–57
Walters, Mitch, 73, 197, 240
Tim and Tom
Wanted: Richard Pryor Live in Concert
break up, 45–46
(Pryor), 87
Improv, 28
Warfield, Marsha
See also
Dreesen, Tom; Reid, Tim
after strike, 256
Time
magazine, 105, 130
Chicago, 75
Tiny Tim, 115–116
Comedy Store, 60, 75, 77, 86, 87, 113,
Today Show, The
, 144–145
136, 137, 140
Tomlin, Lily, 101
labor dispute, 158, 159, 186
Tonight Show, The
money problems, 119–120
importance to comedians, 12, 22, 24,
Pryor and, 87, 91
31–32
Washington Post
, 144
launching/making careers, 23, 26, 29
Wayne, Carol, 78
Letterman/Leno and, 2–4, 258
Weinberger, Ed., 103
move/effects, 31–32, 34–35, 38–44
Weinstock, Lotus, 77, 112–113,
See also
Carson, Johnny;
specific
136–137
individuals
Weis, Gary, 141, 142
Town Hall, New York, 103
Weiss, Chuck E., 73
Tramer, Bennett, 141, 142, 144
Weld, Tuesday, 24
Turn of the Century club, 57–58
Wilcox, Larry, 202
Turner, Lana, 34
Wild and Crazy Guy, A
(Martin), 102
20 Grand, Detroit, 27
Wilder, Gene, 101
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280
Index
William Morris Agency, 63, 69–70
Wilson, Flip, 33
Williams, Andy, 35–36
Winger, Debra, 52, 93–94
Williams, Robin
Winters, Jonathan, 10, 88
after strike, 257
Witherspoon, Johnny, 3, 51, 52, 60, 86,
background, 91
91, 119
Boosler and, 73–74
WKRP in Cincinnati
(TV show), 46
borrowing material, 131–133
Wolff, Bud, 227–228
Canter’s, 76
Women comedians
Comedy Store/Shore, 59–60, 76, 91,
Belly Room, 112–113, 114, 115,
111, 118, 266, 267
135–137, 182–183, 200, 218, 229,
drugs, 129, 130, 259, 266
232, 237, 250
Improv fire and, 179
Carson and, 78–79, 90
income/success, 119, 130–131,
overview, 71–79
132–133
Shore and, 72, 77, 79, 112–115, 116,
labor dispute, 120, 122, 161, 162
135–137, 258
Laugh In
(TV show), 91
See also specific individuals
Leno and, 89
Women’s movement (1979), 135
Lewis and, 145–146
Masada and, 264
Ye Olde Treasure Shoppe, 14
Mork, 104–105, 130
Young Comedians
HBO specials, 257
Pryor and, 91
Youngman, Henny, 256
Winters and, 88
Your Show of Shows
(TV show), 9
1586483173 text_rev.qxd:Layout 1 5/19/09 1:55 PM Page 281
William Knoedelseder
has been a jour-
nalist with the
Los Angeles Times
, executive producer of Fox Entertainment
News and of the
Philadelphia Inquirer
’s hour-long nightly television news program “Inquirer News Tonight,” and vice
president of news at USA Broadcasting.
He is the author of
Stiffed: A True Story
of MCA, The Music Business, and the
Mafia
and
In Eddie’s Name: One Family’s Triumph Over Tragedy
. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, he lives near Los Angeles, California.
1586483173 text_rev.qxd:Layout 1 5/19/09 1:55 PM Page 282
PublicAffairs is a publishing house founded in 1997. It is a tribute to the standards, values, and flair of three persons who have served as mentors to countless reporters, writers, editors, and book people of all kinds, including me.
I. F. Stone, proprietor of
I. F. Stone’s Weekly
, combined a commitment to the First Amendment with entrepreneurial zeal and reporting skill and became one of the great independent journal-ists in American history. At the age of eighty, Izzy published
The
Trial of Socrates,
which was a national bestseller. He wrote the book after he taught himself ancient Greek.
Benjamin C. Bradlee was for nearly thirty years the charismatic editorial leader of
The Washington Post.
It was Ben who gave the
Post
the range and courage to pursue such historic issues as Watergate. He supported his reporters with a tenacity that made them fearless and it is no accident that so many became authors of influential, best-selling books.
Robert L. Bernstein, the chief executive of Random House for more than a quarter century, guided one of the nation’s premier publishing houses. Bob was personally responsible for many books of political dissent and argument that challenged tyranny around the globe. He is also the founder and longtime chair of Human Rights Watch, one of the most respected human rights organizations in the world.
• • •
His legacy will endure in the books to come.
Peter Osnos,
Founder and Editor-at-Large