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LOS ANGELES – Norm Crosby, the deadpan English-language mangler who thrived in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s as a TV, nightclub and casino comedian, has passed away. He was 93 years old.
Crosby’s daughter-in-law Maggie Crosby told the New York Times the comic died of heart failure in Los Angeles on Saturday.
Early in his career, Crosby realized he needed a gadget to differentiate himself from the fledgling generation of comedians who were achieving fame on the many variety shows on network television.
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“I was looking for new ideas and I heard people abuse words,” he told an interviewer in 1989. “So I started using it in my issue.”
He called the famous baby doctor Benjamin Spock “Dr. Scare. ”With straightforward sincerity, he said that people“ should have apathy for each other; they should relate to each other. Children today, ”he said. said, “have to cut this umbrella cord and split it”.
FILE – In this April 1, 2002, file photo, comedians Don Rickles, left, and Norm Crosby arrive for a ceremony honoring comedian Milton Berle at Hillside Memorial Park and Mortuary in Los Angeles. Crosby, the staunch English-language eater who thrived in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s as a TV, nightclub and casino comedian, has passed away. He was 93 years old. Crosby’s daughter-in-law Maggie Crosby told the New York Times the comic died Saturday, November 7, 2020 of heart failure in Los Angeles. (AP Photo / Nick Ut, file)
Crosby’s first regular work as a comic book came at Blinstrub’s in his native Boston, which led to an early 1960s engagement in New York’s prestigious Latin Quarter.
In his widely read newspaper column, Walter Winchell praised the comedian and offers from Johnny Carson and other TV shows and club dates poured in. Crosby became a favorite at major casinos in Las Vegas and Atlantic City and performed in the theater, including on several occasions. at the London Palladium and in concert halls. He was also a regular guest on Dean Martin’s Celebrity Roasts.
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Beginning in 1978, he appeared on a syndicated television show, “Norm Crosby’s Comedy Shop”. For many years, he co-hosted with Jerry Lewis of the Labor Day Weekend Muscular Dystrophy Telethon.
As a public artist, Crosby thrived despite poor hearing. During World War II, he served aboard a Coast Guard submarine hunter, and the concussion from the deep charges damaged his ears. He wore a hearing aid on stage.
“I’ve never been shy about my hearing loss, probably because I had it from military service,” he explained in an interview in 1993. “I’ve received thousands of letters from people who had told me they would never get hearing aids but changed their mind after seeing me open about it.
Crosby was a longtime spokesperson for the Better Hearing Institute and organized an annual golf benefit for the cause. In 2009, he was among those honored by the Starkey Hearing Foundation, which raised funds to distribute hearing aids to children in need.
Norman Lawrence Crosby was born in Boston in 1927. “Like most comedians, I was the funny kid in the family and in the neighborhood,” he explained in 1993. “I’ve always been told I should entertain.
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The war intervened, but after his release he saw the practical value of a stable job in show business and enrolled in the Boston School of Art. He worked as a commercial artist and for a time ran a small advertising agency. But he still devoted his evenings and weekends to perfecting his interpreting skills.
In October 2001, Crosby appeared at a Friars Club performance in honor of television producer Aaron Spelling, who suffered from cancer. Instead of his usual pun, the comedian performed a parody of the Gettysburg speech in which he praised the spelling.
Crosby married Joan Crane Foley in 1966. They had two children.
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