Comedian Joey Bishop, last of the 'Rat Pack,' dead at 89
Comedian Joey Bishop, last of the 'Rat Pack,' dead at 89
#1Comedian Joey Bishop, last of the 'Rat Pack,' dead at 89
Posted: 10/18/07 at 1:23pm
Wow, Kerr and Bishop on the same day. Sad.
By JEFF WILSON, Associated Press Writer
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Joey Bishop, the stone-faced comedian who found success in night clubs, television and movies but became most famous as a member of Frank Sinatra's boisterous Rat Pack, has died at his home, his publicist said Thursday. He was 89.
Bishop was the group's last surviving member. Peter Lawford died in 1984, Sammy Davis Jr. in 1990, Dean Martin in 1995, and Sinatra in 1998.
Bishop died Wednesday night of multiple causes at his home in Newport Beach, publicist and longtime friend Warren Cowen said.
The Rat Packers became a show business sensation in the late 1960s when they appeared together at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas in shows that combined music and comedy in a seemingly chaotic manner.
Reviewers often claimed that Bishop played a minor role, but Sinatra knew otherwise. He termed the comedian "the hub of the big wheel."
The quintet continued their hilarity whenever members were free of their own commitments. They appeared together in such films as "Ocean's Eleven" and "Sergeants 3" and even at a special performance for President Kennedy.
The late 1990s brought a renaissance of the Rat Pack, with the group depicted in an HBO movie and portrayed by imitators in Las Vegas and elsewhere. The movie "Ocean's Eleven" was even remade in 2003 with George Clooney and Brad Pitt in the lead roles.
Before the renaissance, Bishop defended his fellow performers' rowdy reputations in a 1998 interview.
"Are we remembered as being drunk and chasing broads?" he asked. "I never saw Frank, Dean, Sammy or Peter drunk during performances. That was only a gag. And do you believe these guys had to chase broads? They had to chase 'em away."
Away from the Rat Pack, Bishop starred in two television series, both called "The Joey Bishop Show."
The first, an NBC sitcom, got off to a rocky start in 1961. Critical and audience response was generally negative, and the second season brought a change in format. The third season brought a change in network, with the show moving to ABC, but nothing seemed to help and it was canceled in 1965.
In the first series, Bishop played a TV talk show host.
In his next series, he really was a TV talk show host. The program, which aired on ABC, was launched in 1967 as a challenge to Johnny Carson's immensely popular "The Tonight Show."
Like Carson, Bishop sat behind a desk and bantered with a sidekick, TV newcomer Regis Philbin.
But despite an impressive guest list and outrageous stunts, Bishop couldn't dent Carson's ratings, and "The Joey Bishop Show" was canceled after two seasons.
TheatreDiva90016
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/10/04
#2re: Comedian Joey Bishop, last of the 'Rat Pack,' dead at 89
Posted: 10/18/07 at 1:25pmI can't send you a PM
#2re: Comedian Joey Bishop, last of the 'Rat Pack,' dead at 89
Posted: 10/18/07 at 1:25pm
Updated On: 10/18/07 at 01:25 PM
JohnBoy2
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/21/06
#3re: Comedian Joey Bishop, last of the 'Rat Pack,' dead at 89
Posted: 10/18/07 at 1:26pmI loved Joey Bishop. He is the 3rd. Teresa Brewer has also died.
TheatreDiva90016
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/10/04
#4re: Comedian Joey Bishop, last of the 'Rat Pack,' dead at 89
Posted: 10/18/07 at 1:27pmThen never mind the ****ing complimemt I was sending you...
#5re: Comedian Joey Bishop, last of the 'Rat Pack,' dead at 89
Posted: 10/18/07 at 1:48pmTeresa Brewer died yesterday.
#6re: Comedian Joey Bishop, last of the 'Rat Pack,' dead at 89
Posted: 10/18/07 at 2:00pm
Ugh - Pab, I had not heard that. I loved Brewer. Sad to say, I believe there is currently an entire generation of artists that are leaving us now. Hopefully they all know how much joy they have brought many of us, and how loved they are/were.
Mamie
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/26/04
#7re: Comedian Joey Bishop, last of the 'Rat Pack,' dead at 89
Posted: 10/18/07 at 2:26pm
I never realized until seeing that photo how much younger Joey B. looked (and probably was) than the other guys. I remember his first TV show very well. Didn't Abby Dalton play his wife? Goodness knows why that image is so clear in my head. I feel like major chunks of my youth are slipping away every day.
(Did you notice that Frank and Dean look like they're wearing name tags. I guess that was in case someone in LV didn't recognize them....)
A click for life.
mamie4 5/14/03
wexy
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/19/05
#8re: Comedian Joey Bishop, last of the 'Rat Pack,' dead at 89
Posted: 10/18/07 at 2:46pm
I read about Teresa Brewer this morning. I liked Joey Bishop.
May they all rest in peace.
Jon
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/20/04
#9re: Comedian Joey Bishop, last of the 'Rat Pack,' dead at 89
Posted: 10/18/07 at 3:04pm
I remember seeing a movie caled "Texas Across the River" in the late 1960's. It was a comedy Western with Dean Martin as a gunslinger and Joey Bishop as his fathful Indian sidekick with a somewhat Jewish accent - predating Mel Brook's Yiddish Indian in Blazing Saddles.
And here's the trailer!
Updated On: 10/18/07 at 03:04 PM
Mamie
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/26/04
#10re: Comedian Joey Bishop, last of the 'Rat Pack,' dead at 89
Posted: 10/18/07 at 4:24pmI remember that movie! That was so funny. Joey's dead-pan expression was hysterical.
A click for life.
mamie4 5/14/03
#11re: Comedian Joey Bishop, last of the 'Rat Pack,' dead at 89
Posted: 10/18/07 at 5:50pmwow, all the great ones leaving us
Mr Roxy
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
#12re: Comedian Joey Bishop, last of the 'Rat Pack,' dead at 89
Posted: 10/18/07 at 5:57pm
The Rat Pack era is now officially over
We need his talk show on DVD with his sidekick Regis
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