My Favorite Comedians
by jb71a | created - 10 Jan 2015 | updated - 4 months ago | Public1. Klaus Schwab
Self | Nelson Mandela Redrawn
Klaus Schwab was born on March 30, 1938 in Ravensburg, Württemberg, Nazi Germany [now Baden-Württemberg, Germany].
2. Karl Valentin
Actor | Donner, Blitz und Sonnenschein
Karl Valentin, whose real name is Valentin Ludwig Fey, began an apprenticeship as a carpenter in 1897 after attending a private school. Two years later he met Gisela Royes, his future wife. Two daughters were born from this union. Between 1899 and 1901, Valentin worked as a journeyman carpenter. ...
3. Rowan Atkinson
Actor | Johnny English
Rowan Sebastian Atkinson was born on 6 January, 1955, in Consett, Co. Durham, UK, to Ella May (Bainbridge) and Eric Atkinson. His father owned a farm, where Rowan grew up with his two older brothers, Rupert and Rodney. He attended Newcastle University and Oxford University where he earned degrees ...
4. John Cleese
Actor | A Fish Called Wanda
John Cleese was born on October 27, 1939, in Weston-Super-Mare, England, to Muriel Evelyn (Cross) and Reginald Francis Cleese. He was born into a family of modest means, his father being an insurance salesman; but he was nonetheless sent off to private schools to obtain a good education. Here he ...
5. Michael Palin
Writer | Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Michael Palin is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter. He was one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python.
After the Monty Python television series ended in 1974, the Palin/Jones team worked on Ripping Yarns, an intermittent television comedy series broadcast over ...
6. Eric Idle
Actor | Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Eric Idle is an English comedian, actor, author, singer, playwright, director, and songwriter. co-creator of Monty Python on TV, stage, and five films, including The Life of Brian and The Holy Grail, which he later adapted for the stage with John Du Prez as Monty Python's Spamalot, winning the Tony...
7. Benny Hill
Soundtrack | The Benny Hill Show
He was born Alfred Hawthorn Hill. It was his grandfather who introduced him to Burlesque Shows and the theatre from where the young Benny Hill was to draw much of his comic inspiration. After his national service with the army during WW2, Benny came to London, adopted the stage name Benny Hill (in ...
8. Alf Poier
Soundtrack | Alf Poier: Mitsubischi
Alf Poier was born on February 22, 1967 in Judenburg, Styria, Austria. He is an actor and writer, known for Alf Poier: Mitsubischi (2003), Alf Poier: Kill Eulenspiegel (2007) and Alfs Welt (2008).
9. Michael Niavarani
Actor | Novotny und Maroudi
Michael Niavarani was born on April 29, 1968 in Vienna, Austria. He is an actor and writer, known for Novotny und Maroudi (2005), Ex - Eine romantische Komödie (2008) and Kaisermühlen Blues (1992).
10. Gerhard Polt
Actor | Kehraus
Gerhard Polt was born on May 7, 1942 in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. He is an actor and writer, known for Kehraus (1983), Fast wia im richtigen Leben (1979) and Germanikus (2004). He has been married to Christine Polt since 1971.
11. Stan Laurel
Actor | Saps at Sea
Stan Laurel came from a theatrical family, his father was an actor and theatre manager, and he made his stage debut at the age of 16 at Pickard's Museum, Glasgow. He traveled with Fred Karno's vaudeville company to the United States in 1910 and again in 1913. While with that company he was Charles ...
12. Oliver Hardy
Actor | Saps at Sea
Although his parents were never in show business, as a young boy Oliver Hardy was a gifted singer and, by age eight, was performing with minstrel shows. In 1910 he ran a movie theatre, which he preferred to studying law. In 1913 he became a comedy actor with the Lubin Company in Florida and began ...
13. Charles Chaplin
Writer | The Great Dictator
Considered to be one of the most pivotal stars of the early days of Hollywood, Charlie Chaplin lived an interesting life both in his films and behind the camera. He is most recognized as an icon of the silent film era, often associated with his popular character, the Little Tramp; the man with the ...
14. Vicco von Bülow
Writer | Ödipussi
Loriot was once best known as a cartoonist, with the distinguishing feature that all his characters had potato-shaped noses. In the 1960s, he presented the TV series "Cartoon" which featured short animated cartoons from all over the world. In between the clips he acted in little funny sketches. ...
15. Jack Lemmon
Actor | The Apartment
Jack Lemmon was born in Newton, Massachusetts, to Mildred Lankford Noel and John Uhler Lemmon, Jr., the president of a doughnut company. His ancestry included Irish (from his paternal grandmother) and English. Jack attended Ward Elementary near his Newton, MA home. At age 9 he was sent to Rivers ...
16. Jerry Lewis
Actor | The Nutty Professor
Jerry Lewis (born March 16, 1926 - August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, film producer, screenwriter and film director. He is known for his slapstick humor in film, television, stage and radio. He was originally paired up with Dean Martin in 1946, forming the famed comedy team ...
17. Paul Löwinger
Actor | Paradies der flotten Sünder, Das
Paul Löwinger was born on November 10, 1904 in Laa an der Thaya, Lower Austria, Austria. He was an actor and director, known for Paradies der flotten Sünder, Das (1968), Wiener Schnitzel (1967) and Die fünf Karnickel (1953). He was married to Liesl Löwinger. He died on December 17, 1988 ...
18. Hans Moser
Actor | 7 Jahre Pech
Hans Moser, whose real name is Jean Juliet, was trained in theater by the court actor Josef Moser. He later took his last name and combined it with the German translation of his first name. In 1897 he had his first engagement in Bohemia. He later took part in a traveling theater that took him ...
19. Jennifer Saunders
Actress | Absolutely Fabulous
Jennifer Saunders was born July 6, 1958 in Sleaford, Lincolnshire, to Jane, a biology teacher, and Robert Thomas Saunders, an RAF pilot. She attended Central School of Speech and Drama where she met her comedy partner Dawn French. Like many of the early 80s groundbreaking "alternative" comedians ...
20. Helge Schneider
Actor | 00 Schneider - Jagd auf Nihil Baxter
Helge Schneider was born on August 30, 1955 in Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany. He is an actor and composer, known for 00 Schneider - Jagd auf Nihil Baxter (1994), 00 Schneider - Im Wendekreis der Eidechse (2013) and Texas - Doc Snyder hält die Welt in Atem (1993).
21. Louis de Funès
Actor | Les aventures de Rabbi Jacob
Louis Germain David de Funès de Galarza was born on July 31, 1914, in Courbevoie, France. His father, named Carlos Luis de Funes de Galarza, was a former lawyer of Seville, Spain, who became a diamond cutter. His mother, named Leonor Soto Reguera, was of Spanish and Portugese extraction.
Young Louis...
22. Dieter Hallervorden
Actor | Nonstop Nonsens
He grew up in middle-class circumstances with two sisters. Before his hometown was 90 percent destroyed by air raids, his parents brought him to Quedlinburg. After the war, Didi Hallervorden returned to Dessau, where he completed primary school as one of the best in the district. The SED leadership...
23. Bill Cosby
Actor | The Cosby Show
Bill Cosby is one of the world's most well-known entertainers and comedians. William Henry Cosby, Jr. was born on July 12, 1937, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Anna Pearl (Hite), a maid and William Henry Cosby, Sr., a U.S. Navy sailor. After 10th grade, Cosby joined the Navy and completed high ...
24. Elfriede Ott
Actress | Die unabsichtliche Entführung der Frau Elfriede Ott
Elfriede Ott was born on June 11, 1925 in Vienna, Austria. She was an actress and writer, known for The Unintentional Kidnapping of Mrs. Elfriede Ott (2010), Herr im Haus bin ich (1970) and Was ihr wollt (1968). She was married to Hans Weigel and Ernst Waldbrunn. She died on June 12, 2019 in Vienna...
25. Otto Schenk
Actor | Die Fledermaus
Otto Schenk was born on June 12, 1930 in Vienna, Austria. He is an actor and director, known for Die Fledermaus (1972), Arabella (1977) and Merry-Go-Round (1973). He was previously married to Renée Michaelis.
26. Krissie Illing
Actress | Ladies Night
Krissie Illing is known for Ladies Night (2007), Das große Kleinkunstfestival (2001) and Small Triptych (1998). She is married to Chris Adams. They have two children.
27. Heinz Erhardt
Actor | Ohne Krimi geht die Mimi nie ins Bett
The multi-talented comedian, pianist, singer and home-spun poet Heinz Erhardt was born in Riga, the son of a successful bandmaster. After his parents split up, he had a somewhat unsettled upbringing, spent, alternately, with his mother in St. Petersburg, with his grandparents in Riga and with his ...
28. Ernst Waldbrunn
Actor | Die Zirkusprinzessin
Ernst Waldbrunn was born on August 14, 1907 in Krumau, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary [now Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic]. He was an actor and writer, known for Die Zirkusprinzessin (1970), Der keusche Lebemann (1968) and Irene in Nöten (1953). He was married to Elfriede Ott. He died on December 22,...
29. Tom Mullica
Actor | Finding Forrester
Tom Mullica was born on August 19, 1948 in Waupun, Wisconsin, USA. He was an actor, known for Finding Forrester (2000), Julien Donkey-Boy (1999) and Viva Variety (1997). He died on February 18, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
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