Showing posts with label Smothers Brothers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Smothers Brothers. Show all posts

So long, veteran comic Bob Einstein

Bob Einstein, best-known for his appearances as "Super Dave" and Marty Funkheiser on "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and as Officer Judy on the Smothers Brothers show, died today at age 76. You can read an obituary here.

Einstein first made his name as a writer. His career dates to the 1960s, when he won his first Emmy as part of the writing team for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, whose staff also included Steve Martin. Einstein, who also appeared on the show, went on to earn Emmy noms as a writer for The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour in 1972 and 1974 and two more for writing on Dick Van Dyke’s mid-’70s series Van Dyke and Company. Einstein won his other Emmy as a producer for the series, sharing the 1977 award for Outstanding Comedy Series.

... Perhaps his greatest stunt, however, was having a case against him nearly make it to the U.S. Supreme Court. A Polish group objected to an appearance on The Dick Cavett Show in 1972, when Einstein posed as the president of a fake Polish Defamation League and told a series of offensive jokes. Four years later, the high court refused to hear the case, denying the request for an on-air rebuttal.