David Steinberg

Last updated

David Steinberg
CM
David Steinberg 2009 portrait.jpg
Steinberg in 2009
Born (1942-08-09) August 9, 1942 (age 81)
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
MediumStand-up, television, film, books
Years active1964–present
Genres Observational comedy, satire
Subject(s)Religion, self-deprecation, everyday life
Spouse
Judy Marcione
(m. 1973;div. 1997)
Robyn Todd
(m. 2005)
Website thedavidsteinberg.com

David Steinberg CM (born August 9, 1942) is a Canadian comedian, actor, writer, director, and author. At the height of his popularity, during the late 1960s and mid 1970s, he was one of the best-known comics in the United States. He appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson more than 130 times (second only to Bob Hope in number of appearances) and served as guest host 12 times, the youngest person ever to guest-host. [1] Steinberg directed several films and episodes of television situation comedies, including Seinfeld , Friends , Mad About You , Curb Your Enthusiasm , The Golden Girls , and Designing Women . Steinberg also hosted the interview program Inside Comedy on the Showtime network.

Contents

Early life

Steinberg was born on August 9, 1942, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. His family is Jewish. He is the son of Rabbi Yasha Steinberg (1896-1966), a strict, Romanian-born rabbi, and Ruth Steinberg (c.1904 – 1989). He is the youngest of four children and has three older siblings: two older brothers, Hymie Steinberg (1925-1944) and Fishy Steinberg, and one older sister, Tammy Lazer (née Steinberg). [2] [3] His elder brother Hymie served during World War II and was killed in action when he was 19. [4] David initially studied theology in Israel. [1] [5] Later, while studying English Literature at the University of Chicago, he decided to become a comedian after seeing Lenny Bruce perform. [1] He finished school and was discovered by one of the founders of The Second City in Chicago, which he joined in 1964. There he performed with Robert Klein, Fred Willard, Peter Boyle, and Joe Flaherty. He remained with the group for six years. [1] In 1972, Steinberg was best man at the wedding of his friend, the gangster Crazy Joe Gallo. [6]

Career

One of Steinberg's most notorious performances was in October 1968 on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour , where he gave satirical sermons. The sketch caused CBS to receive a record number of complaints, and, as a result, the network instituted a policy of providing local stations with a closed-circuit telecast of each episode ahead of time so they could choose whether or not to air it. [7] The Smothers Brothers were told by the network that they could have Steinberg on the show again on the condition that he would not repeat the sermons. [8] Nevertheless, Tommy Smothers asked Steinberg to do it again, and he gave a sermon in which he said "The Old Testament scholars say that Jonah was swallowed by a whale. The Gentiles, the New Testament scholars say, 'Hold it, Jews, no.' They literally grabbed the Jews by the Old Testament." This incident contributed to the cancellation of the show. The Jonah sketch was never aired by CBS. [9]

Steinberg appeared in two Broadway flops, Little Murders and Carry Me Back to Morningside Heights , which both closed within one week in 1967 and 1968, respectively.

Steinberg was the most frequent host of the pop and rock music ABC television show, The Music Scene, 1969–1970. The show featured performances by Joe Cocker and CSN&Y. In 1972, Steinberg wrote and starred in The David Steinberg Show in the United States as a five-week summer replacement sketch comedy show. [10] Around the same time, TV Guide labelled Steinberg "offbeat, racy, outrageous, and establishment-baiting – all of which makes him a particular favorite among the young and disenchanted." [1]

In 1975 Steinberg hosted Noonday, a short-lived half-hour midday talk show on NBC.

In 1976, Steinberg returned to Canada to produce a second show called The David Steinberg Show . This series was a hybrid sitcom/variety show, modelled loosely on The Jack Benny Program in that the plots centred on the star (Steinberg) and his cast trying to put together another instalment of their variety show. Amongst the regular cast were future SCTV stars Joe Flaherty, John Candy, Dave Thomas, and Martin Short. SCTV's Andrea Martin also appeared on the show, but not as a regular. SCTV premiered the same week as The David Steinberg Show, and ran for six seasons; The David Steinberg Show lasted only one season.

Steinberg performed some notable stand-up comedy during the 1960s and '70s. He released four comedy LPs, including The Incredible Shrinking God (LP MCA 73013, 1968), which contains ten of his comedic sermons and mini-sermons recorded live during his stand-up routine at Second City. He also hosted the 1977 Juno Awards show. [11] He was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame in 2003. [12]

More recently (2005–2007), Steinberg hosted Sit Down Comedy with David Steinberg , an informal, interview-style show in which he talks with famous comedians and comic actors, for two seasons on TV Land in the U.S. [13] The first season featured Mike Myers, Larry David, Jon Lovitz, Martin Short, Bob Newhart, and George Lopez. The second season featured Jerry Seinfeld, Robin Williams, Roseanne Barr, Jon Stewart, Garry Shandling and Ray Romano. The program was filmed before an audience at UCLA. [14]

His first book, The Book of David ( ISBN   0743272323), was published in June 2007 by Simon & Schuster.

In 2010, he directed and produced the Canadian cable comedy series Living in Your Car . [15]

Personal life

Steinberg has been married twice. He married Judy Marcione in 1973 and they had two daughters. They divorced in 1997 after 24 years of marriage. [16] Steinberg married Robyn Todd in 2005. [17]

Discography

Awards

Steinberg has received five Emmy Award nominations, winning two as one of the writers of Academy Awards programs in 1991 and 1992. He received a CableACE Award in 1992 for his stand-up comedy Cats, Cops and Stuff. He has been nominated for the Directors Guild of America Award (for Outstanding Directing – Comedy Series) twice: first in 1991 for the Seinfeld episode, The Tape , and again in 1996 for the Mad About You episode, The Finale: Parts II and III, and has been nominated for a Canadian Comedy Award (2000) and a Gemini (2001), as well. [18] His parody of the novel Ragtime won him a Playboy Humor Award. [1] In 2003, he was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame.

In December 2016, Steinberg was named a Member of the Order of Canada. [19]

Film

YearTitle Director Writer Producer Actor RoleNotes
1967 Fearless Frank YesThe Rat
1969 The Lost Man YesPhotographer
1978 The End YesMarty Lieberman
1979 Something Short of Paradise YesHarris Sloane
1980 Nothing Personal YesTalk Show Host
1981 Paternity Yes
1983 Going Berserk YesYes
1996 Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy Yes
1997 The Wrong Guy YesYesOutpatient in Neck Brace
1999Judgment Day: The Ellie Nesler StoryYes
2000 The Extreme Adventures of Super Dave YesYes
2003 This Thing of Ours Yes
2005 The Greatest Game Ever Played Yes
2013 When Jews Were Funny HimselfDocumentary
2015 Being Canadian HimselfDocumentary

Television

YearTitle Director Writer Producer Actor RoleNotes
1968–1969 The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour YesYesHimself
1968–1992 The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson Himself / Guest host
1969 NBC Experiment in Television YesEpisode: "This Is Sholom Aleichem"
1969–1970 The Music Scene YesHost14 episodes
1970The Return of the Smothers BrothersYesYesHimselfTelevision special
1971 The Odd Couple YesHimselfEpisode: "The Odd Couple Meet Their Host"
1972,1976–1977 The David Steinberg Show YesHost26 episodes
1973 ABC's Wide World of Entertainment YesPaulEpisode: "Night Train to Terror"
1975 The Smothers Brothers Show YesHimselfEpisode: "A Boarding House Is Not A Home"
1985 The Twilight Zone YesSegment: "The Uncle Devil Show"
1986The Young Comedians All-Star ReunionYesTelevision special
1986 Robin Williams: Live at the Met YesStand-up special
1986 Tall Tales & Legends YesEpisode: "Casey at the Bat"
1986 Billy Crystal: Don't Get Me Started YesTelevision special
1986 The Ellen Burstyn Show YesEpisode: "Reading Between the Lines"
1986 The Golden Girls YesEpisode: "Big Daddy's Little Lady"
1986–1987 One Big Family Yes5 episodes
1986–1990 Newhart Yes15 episodes
1987 The Popcorn Kid Yes2 episodes
1987 Duet Yes3 episodes
1987–1991 Designing Women YesYesYes
1988 Eisenhower and Lutz YesEpisode: "Bud Junior, Junior: Part 1"
1988 Family Man Yes5 episodes
1988 CBS Summer Playhouse YesEpisode: "Baby on Board"
1989Billy Crystal: Midnight Train To MoscowYesTelevision special
1989 I, Martin Short, Goes Home YesTelevision special
1988 Annie McGuire Yes6 episodes
1989 It's Garry Shandling's Show Yes2 episodes
1990 The Earth Day Special YesTelevision special
1990 The Fanelli Boys YesEpisode: "Pursued"
1990 Get a Life YesEpisode: "The Sitting"
1990–1991 Good Grief Yes13 episodes
1990–1991 Evening Shade YesYes8 episodes
1991 63rd Academy Awards YesTelevision special
1991–1998 Seinfeld Yes3 episodes
1992 64th Academy Awards YesTelevision special
1993 Rick Reynolds: Only the Truth Is Funny YesTelevision special
1993 65th Academy Awards YesTelevision special
1993 It Had to Be You YesYes4 episodes
1993 Daddy Dearest Yes2 episodes
1994–1999 Mad About You YesYesDirector / Bad Eulogizer50 episodes
1995–1996 The Parent 'Hood Yes5 episodes
1996Carver's GateYesTelevision film
1997 Lost on Earth Yes6 episodes
1997 69th Academy Awards YesTelevision special
1997 Ink YesEpisode: "Logan's Run"
1998 Friends YesEpisode: "The One with Phoebe's Uterus"
1998 70th Academy Awards YesTelevision special
1998 Living in Captivity Yes2 episodes
1999 The Wonderful World of Disney YesEpisode: "Switching Goals"
2000 72nd Academy Awards YesTelevision special
2000–2001 Big Sound YesYesYesYesGabe MossAlso creator
2000–2001 Even Stevens Yes2 episodes
2000–2017 Curb Your Enthusiasm Yes8 episodes
2002 Robin Williams: Live on Broadway YesStand-up special
2004 Good Girls Don't YesEpisode: "The Big O"
2004 76th Academy Awards YesTelevision special
2005 Wild Card YesEpisode: "A Whisper from Zoe's Sister"
2005 The Comeback Yes2 episodes
2005–2007 Sit Down Comedy with David Steinberg YesYesHostAlso creator
2006 Carlos Mencia: No Strings Attached YesStand-up special
2006 Campus Ladies Yes3 episodes
2006 Sons & Daughters Yes2 episodes
2006 Help Me Help You YesEpisode: "Perseverance"
2007 Jim Norton: Monster Rain YesStand-up special
2008 Weeds YesEpisode: "The Whole Blah Damn Thing"
2008Down and Dirty with Jim NortonYes4 episodes
2008 Little Britain USA Yes6 episodes
2009 Robin Williams: Weapons of Self Destruction YesStand-up special
2010 Living in Your Car YesYes4 episodes
2011 Norm Macdonald: Me Doing Stand-Up YesStand-up special
2011 Single White Spenny YesEpisode: "Circumcision"
2012 84th Academy Awards YesTelevision special
2013 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit YesParty GuestEpisode: "Wonderland Story"
2012–2015 Inside Comedy YesYesHost36 episodes
2015 The Comedians YesBilly's Agent (voice)Episode: "Go for Gad"

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References

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