|
| FILE - In this Thursday, Feb. 24, 2005 file photo, comedian David Brenner and Olympic ice skater Tai Babilonia walk the red carpet during the opening night of Barry Manilow's new Las Vegas show at the Las Vegas Hilton. On Saturday, March 15, 2014, publicist Jeff Abraham announced Brenner had died at the age of 78. |
LOS ANGELES
(AP) -- David Brenner, the lanky, toothy-grinned "Tonight Show" favorite
whose brand of observational comedy became a staple for other standups,
including Jerry Seinfeld and Paul Reiser, died Saturday. He was 78.
Brenner,
who had been fighting cancer, died peacefully at his home in New York
City with his family at his side, according to Jeff Abraham, his friend
and publicist.
"David Brenner was a huge star
when I met him and he took me under his wing. To me, historically, he
was the godfather of hip, observational comedy," comedian Richard Lewis
said in a statement. "He mentored me from day one. ... His passing
leaves a hole in my life that can never be replaced."
The
tall, thin and always sharply dressed Brenner became one of the most
frequent visitors to Johnny Carson's "Tonight" in the 1970s and `80s.
His
150-plus appearances as guest and substitute host turned the former
documentary filmmaker into a hot comedian, one who was ubiquitous on
other talk shows and game shows.
He also briefly hosted his own syndicated talk show in 1987 and starred in four HBO specials.
Brenner
moved with the times, trading routines about the humor of everyday life
for jokes about social and political issues, and appearing on MSNBC and
Fox News Channel cable programs.
Although his
career faltered, he worked steadily through 2013 doing standup. A
four-day gig last December included a New Year's Eve show at a
Pennsylvania casino-resort in which he showcased young comedians.
Brenner,
who was raised in working-class south Philadelphia and graduated with
honors from Temple University, was "always there helping a bright young
comedian, whether it be Richard Lewis, Freddie Prinze or Jimmie Walker,
and he was still doing it until the very end," Abraham said.
In a statement, Walker called Brenner "a true comic genius" who was "my mentor and taught me about life and comedy."
Although
Brenner took a brief stabs at TV fame, with the 1976 sitcom "Snip" and
the talk show "Nightlife" he hosted in 1987, he didn't achieve the
success of Seinfeld's self-titled NBC sitcom or Reiser's "Mad About
You," and he saw Jay Leno follow Carson as "Tonight" host.
Brenner's
take on his career path, as he described it in a 2000 interview with
The Associated Press, was that he put family before stardom.
He
said a long custody battle with a girlfriend over their son, Cole,
forced him to curtail his TV appearances and visibility beginning in the
mid-1980s, when Brenner lived in Aspen, Colo.
"In
a nutshell, I couldn't work more than 50 nights a year (out of town) or
I'd be an absentee father," he said.
"That was when they were giving
out the talk shows, the sitcoms."
He was asked if he regretted his decision.
"I
didn't even make a decision. I didn't even think about it. How could
you not do it? I don't mean to sound noble," Brenner said. "Besides, I
come from the slums of Philadelphia and everything in my life is profit.
My downside is what most people would strive a lifetime to get to."
Decades
ago, he had burned out on filmmaking - "You don't change the world by
doing documentaries," he told "CBS This Morning" in 2013 - and decided
to give comedy a try. He was on the verge of quitting when his effort to
impress talent bookers at "Tonight" worked.
His
career soared after his first appearance in January 1971. He went from
being nearly broke to overwhelmed by a then-hefty $10,000 in job offers
the day after he was on the show.
"I never thought this was going to turn my life upside down and give me my whole future," he told "This Morning."
He
also recalled how hard Carson made him work on "Tonight," asking
Brenner to do a monologue each time he appeared. Other veteran comics
headed straight for the couch to banter with the host.
Carson's explanation was "I like to sit back, smoke a cigarette and laugh for six minutes," Brenner recalled.
In a 1995 interview with the AP, Brenner imagined a different path with "Tonight."
"I
really believe that had ... Johnny Carson retired in the early `80s,
then I would be sitting behind that desk," he said. "I don't think
there's any doubt."
Brenner wrote five books,
including the post-9/11 "I Think There's a Terrorist in My Soup,"
published in 2003. His last HBO special, "David Brenner: Back with a
Vengeance," debuted live in 2000.
In a
statement, his family said he left a last laugh: A final request that
$100 in small bills be placed in his left sock "just in case tipping is
recommended where I'm going."
Besides son
Cole, Brenner is survived by his wife, Ruth, sons Wyatt and Slade and a
grandson, Wesley. Funeral plans were not immediately announced.
