Shecky Greene
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Shecky Greene, the legendary Las Vegas headliner and stand-up comedian who entertained audiences for years while battling demons such as stage fright, alcoholism, prescription drug abuse and gambling, died Sunday. He was 97.
Greene died of natural causes at his home in Las Vegas, his wife of 41 years, Marie Musso Greene, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
He was also known for his dozens of appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, where he occasionally appeared as a guest host.
Greene's garrulous demeanor in the 1950s and 1960s helped transform the hotel lounge into another place to entertain guests and turn Las Vegas into a 24-hour party city. His specialty was improvisation, and he could make practically any situation funny.
The burly Chicago native sang, did impressions, told stories, and often took on wild comedians, and his brand of comedy was quite physical (once he performed his act while hanging from the stage curtain; another time, he suffered a knee injury afterwards). a backflip).
But all the while, Greene struggled with crippling stage fright, which kept him from performing for years.
“I was manic-depressive,” he told the Review-Journal in 2009. “Then I started having panic attacks and working with people who didn’t know.” I got a standing ovation and burst into tears as soon as I left the stage. At that time I really wanted to get out of show business. But when you’re making $100,000 a week and supporting 12 bookies and a woman, it’s difficult.”
Greene also had a drinking problem. In an infamous 1968 episode, he crashed his Oldsmobile convertible off a lamppost and into the famous fountains outside Caesars Palace. With water spraying everywhere, he rolled down his car's window, turned on the wipers and said he told the police officers, “What, no spray wax?” He also pointed out that he didn't even get a ticket (at the time they were other times).
Erratic behavior and a bad attitude got him fired, but because his act made so much money, Las Vegas hotels kept bringing him back. When he stopped drinking, he became addicted to prescription drugs, but he told the Los Angeles Times in 1994 that he had managed to overcome that addiction.
He once lost his voice due to throat surgery and was unable to perform for a year.
Greene starred as resident hustler Pvt. Braddock on the first season of Combat! but ended the 1962-67 ABC war drama after eight episodes. He also appeared in films such as Tony Rome (1968), The Love Machine (1971), Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976), as Marcus Vindictus in History of the World: Part One (1981) and as Supermarket Owner Mr. Buyrite in Splash (1984).
Greene appeared many times on The Ed Sullivan Show and at Hollywood Palace, although it was difficult to limit his appearance to a few minutes. He also appeared in “The Love Boat,” “Laverne & Shirley,” “The Fall Guy,” “The A-Team,” “Roseanne” and as Paul Reiser's great-uncle in “Mad About You.”
Fred Sheldon Greenfield was born on April 8, 1926 on the north side of Chicago. During World War II, he spent three years aboard a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, at one point managing an ice cream stand on the ship. When asked what was the most difficult part of this service, he often replied, “Butter pecan.”
In 1944, he enrolled at Wright Junior College back home with the goal of becoming a physical education teacher. One summer he took a $20-a-week job at a resort outside of Milwaukee, where he became one half of a comedy act with Sammy Shore, future co-founder of The Comedy Store in Los Angeles.
That led to a three-year stint in New Orleans at the Prevue Lounge, where trumpet legend Al Hirt served as his bandleader. Greene acquired a share in the Prevue, but after the property burned down, he returned to the Wright School.
However, Greene quickly returned to show business when he accepted comedian Martha Raye's offer to perform at her Miami nightclub for six weeks for $500 a week. He later opened for Ann Sothern at Chicago's Chez Paree before heading to the Golden Hotel in Reno, Nevada to headline more than double the bill.
He came to Las Vegas in 1953 to open at the Last Frontier for Dorothy Shay, the recording star known as The Park Avenue Hillbillie, and was eventually extended for 18 weeks.
“That was the origin of my career,” he recalled in a 1996 interview. “They kept me with Patty Andrews after she left her sisters and then put me up [bandleader] Xavier Cugat.” He introduced Elvis Presley, the opening act who made his Vegas debut in April 1956.
Greene signed with Riviera, but there was no room in the showroom for him, so he suggested working in the lounge next to the bar. At the Tropicana, the new owner didn't want to put a stage in that area, but the comic asked the owner, 'What if I put a sheet of plywood over the bar, that area?' Would that make you happy?'” Greene said. He agreed and Greene stayed at the hotel for five years.
“I got very hot. The place was getting busier and people were coming in because there had never been comedy like this in the lounge,” he said. He paved the way for other lounge acts like Don Rickles.
When the MGM Grand Hotel opened in 1975, Greene was its second headliner (after Dean Martin). At the time, he was reportedly making $150,000 a week.
He married for the third time in the 1980s and, after long periods of inactivity, continued to perform stand-up until recently.
Greene loved playing ponies, and a fast Thoroughbred named after him led the 1973 Kentucky Derby until Secretariat ran away to win that race en route to a Triple Crown victory. There was once a Shecky Greene Handicap at Arlington Park Race Course.
In addition to his wife, survivors include his adopted daughters Dorian and Alison. Donations in his memory may be made to St. Jude's Children's Ranch in Las Vegas.