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IMDbPro

Shelley Berman(1925-2017)

  • Actor
  • Writer
  • Producer
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Shelley Berman
Trailer 1
Play trailer1:30
Live at Mister Kelly's (2021)
3 Videos
29 Photos
Shelley Berman began studying acting shortly after he was honorably discharged from the US navy. He enrolled as a drama student at Chicago's Goodman Theater, where he met Sarah Herman, another aspiring thespian. They fell in love and were married in 1947. After graduating from the Goodman Theater, Shelley joined the Woodstock Players, a stock theater company in Woodstock, IL. It was here that he had the opportunity to really develop and polish his acting skills, with the support and encouragement of fellow players Geraldine Page, Betsy Palmer and Tom Bosley. Leaving Woodstock in 1949, Shelley and Sarah made their way across the country, with Shelley in search of acting work. When those jobs were scarce, he worked as a social director, a cab driver, a speech teacher, an assistant manager at a drug store and an instructor at Arthur Murray Dance Studios. While in New York Shelley found work as a sketch writer for The Steve Allen Plymouth Show (1956), and was doing well when he received an invitation to join an improvisational troupe known as The Compass Players, which took him back home to Chicago. With Compass (which later evolved into Second City) Shelley worked with soon-to-be famous performers Mike Nichols, Elaine May, Severn Darden and Barbara Harris, among others. While performing improvised sketches with the Compass Players, Shelley began developing solo pieces, employing an imaginary telephone to take the place of an onstage partner. While watching Mort Sahl perform at Mr. Kelly's in Chicago in 1957, Shelley realized he didn't necessarily have to tell traditional jokes, as other comedians of the day did, in order to work in nightclubs and went on to audition at the club, performing his one-man monologues and telephone routines with great success. Those first dates at Mr. Kelly's led to other nightclub engagements around the country, appearances on national television and a recording contract with Verve Records. "Inside Shelley Berman", released in early 1959, became the first comedy album to be awarded a gold record--for selling one million copies--and the first non-musical recording to win a Grammy Award. Shelley would eventually record a total of six albums for Verve, including "Outside Shelley Berman" and "The Edge of Shelley Berman", both of which also went gold. Shelley would go on to appear on numerous TV specials, and all of the major variety shows, including those of Ed Sullivan, Steve Allen, Jack Paar, Dinah Shore, Perry Como, Andy Williams and Dean Martin. Shelley's great success as a comedian enabled him to continue with his first love, acting. He starred on Broadway in "A Family Affair" and would continue to do stage work in productions of "The Odd Couple", "Damn Yankees", "Where's Charley?", "Fiddler On the Roof", "Two by Two", "I'm Not Rappaport", "La Cage aux Folles", "Prisoner of Second Avenue" and "Guys & Dolls", among others. Comedic and dramatic acting roles in what came to be known as "The Golden Age of Television" began to come his way, including memorable appearances on episodes of Peter Gunn (1958), The Twilight Zone (1959), Rawhide (1959), Bewitched (1964), The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964), The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970), Adam-12 (1968), Emergency! (1972), CHiPs (1977), St. Elsewhere (1982), Night Court (1984), MacGyver (1985), L.A. Law (1986), Friends (1994), Arli$$ (1996), Lizzie McGuire (2001), Providence (1999), Walker, Texas Ranger (1993), The King of Queens (1998), "The Bernie Mac Show" (2001)_, "Grey's Anatomy" (2005)_ Entourage (2004) Hannah Montana (2006), CSI: NY (2004) and Boston Legal (2004), the latter of which he made numerous recurring guest -tar appearances as the hilariously semi-senile Judge Robert Sanders. Since 2002 Shelley has appeared as Nat David (Larry David's father) on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000), a role for which he received a 2008 Emmy Award nomination. With dialogue entirely improvised by its cast, "Curb" has given Shelley the opportunity to return to his improv roots, introduced him to a new generation of TV viewers and brought him acclaim from critics and fans alike. Among Shelley's film credits are The Best Man (1964) with Henry Fonda; Divorce American Style (1967) with Dick Van Dyke and Debbie Reynolds; Every Home Should Have One (1970) with Marty Feldman; '80s cult favorite Teen Witch (1989); with 'Burt Reynolds' in The Last Producer (2000); Meet the Fockers (2004) with Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller; The Aristocrats (2005); The Holiday (2006) with Cameron Diaz, and You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008) (with Adam Sandler). Shelley continues to do film and television work and make personal appearances across the country year-round. He has authored three books, two plays, several TV pilot scripts and numerous poems. For over 20 years he taught humor writing in the Master of Professional Writing program at USC, where he is now a Lecturer Emeritus. Shelley spends his (precious little) free time volunteering for various charitable organizations and indulging in his favorite hobby, knife collecting.
BornFebruary 3, 1925
DiedSeptember 1, 2017(92)
BornFebruary 3, 1925
DiedSeptember 1, 2017(92)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
  • Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy
    • 1 win & 3 nominations total

Photos29

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Known for

Adam Sandler in You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008)
You Don't Mess with the Zohan
5.6
  • Zohan's Father
  • 2008
Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Barbra Streisand, Blythe Danner, Teri Polo, and Ben Stiller in Meet the Fockers (2004)
Meet the Fockers
6.3
  • Judge Ira
  • 2004
Larry David in Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000)
Curb Your Enthusiasm
8.8
TV Series
  • Nat David
Cameron Diaz, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, and Jack Black in The Holiday (2006)
The Holiday
7.0
  • Norman
  • 2006

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Actor



  • Scott Caan, Chi McBride, Meaghan Rath, Ian Anthony Dale, Alex O'Loughlin, and Beulah Koale in Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
    Hawaii Five-0
    7.4
    TV Series
    • Morty Sapperstein
    • 2012
  • The Legend of Secret Pass (2010)
    The Legend of Secret Pass
    4.9
    • Ira (voice)
    • 2010
  • Larry David in Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000)
    Curb Your Enthusiasm
    8.8
    TV Series
    • Nat David
    • 2002–2009
  • The Twilight Zone Radio Dramas (2002)
    The Twilight Zone Radio Dramas
    8.5
    Podcast Series
    • Hyder Simpson
    • Somerset Frisby (voice)
    • 2003–2009
  • Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Gloria Reuben, Natalia Cigliuti, Jane Kaczmarek, J. August Richards, Melissa Sagemiller, and Jonathan Scarfe in Raising the Bar (2008)
    Raising the Bar
    7.3
    TV Series
    • Danny Rose
    • 2009
  • Adam Goldberg, Harold Perrineau, Jeremy Renner, and Amber Tamblyn in The Unusuals (2009)
    The Unusuals
    7.9
    TV Series
    • Tom Speigelman
    • 2009
  • Gary Sinise and Sela Ward in CSI: NY (2004)
    CSI: NY
    7.0
    TV Series
    • George Savar
    • 2009
  • Anna Friel and Lee Pace in Pushing Daisies (2007)
    Pushing Daisies
    8.4
    TV Series
    • Gustav Hofer
    • 2008
  • Miley Cyrus in Hannah Montana (2006)
    Hannah Montana
    5.4
    TV Series
    • Dr. Froman
    • 2008
  • Adam Sandler in You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008)
    You Don't Mess with the Zohan
    5.6
    • Zohan's Father
    • 2008
  • Candice Bergen, William Shatner, and James Spader in Boston Legal (2004)
    Boston Legal
    8.5
    TV Series
    • Judge Robert Sanders
    • 2006–2008
  • Lili Taylor in State of Mind (2007)
    State of Mind
    7.3
    TV Series
    • Harvey Fleischman
    • 2007
  • Kevin Dillon, Adrian Grenier, Jeremy Piven, Kevin Connolly, and Jerry Ferrara in Entourage (2004)
    Entourage
    8.4
    TV Series
    • Uncle Shelley
    • 2007
  • Cameron Diaz, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, and Jack Black in The Holiday (2006)
    The Holiday
    7.0
    • Norman
    • 2006
  • James Pickens Jr., Ellen Pompeo, and Chandra Wilson in Grey's Anatomy (2005)
    Grey's Anatomy
    7.6
    TV Series
    • Jed Sorento
    • 2005

Writer



  • Malene Schwartz in Jeg drømte mig ... (1966)
    Jeg drømte mig ...
    TV Special
    • monologue
    • 1966
  • Barney
    TV Movie
    • Writer
    • 1965
  • Judy Garland and Peggy Lee in The Judy Garland Show (1963)
    The Judy Garland Show
    8.9
    TV Series
    • telephone sketch
    • 1964

Producer



  • Comedy Tonight (1970)
    Comedy Tonight
    7.9
    TV Series
    • co-producer
    • associate producer
    • 1970

Videos3

Live at Mister Kelly's
Trailer 1:30
Live at Mister Kelly's
When Jews Were Funny
Trailer 1:07
When Jews Were Funny
When Jews Were Funny
Trailer 1:07
When Jews Were Funny
Monsters: Werewolf Of Hollywood
Trailer 1:38
Monsters: Werewolf Of Hollywood

Personal details

Edit
  • Official site
    • Official Shelley Berman Website
  • Alternative names
    • Sheldon Berman
  • Height
    • 5′ 8½″ (1.74 m)
  • Born
    • February 3, 1925
    • Chicago, Illinois, USA
  • Died
    • September 1, 2017
    • Bell Canyon, California, USA(Alzheimer's disease)
  • Spouse
    • Sarah HermanApril 19, 1947 - September 1, 2017 (his death, 2 children)
  • Other works
    Unsold pilot: Wrote the teleplay for a sitcom pilot called "Barney" about a traveling salesman (Jim Hutton) and his lovely wife (Pat Smith) who spends a lot of time by herself fending off the advances of other men.
  • Publicity listings
    • 1 Interview
    • 4 Articles

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    In the mid-1960s, Berman and wife Sarah adopted two children, son Joshua (1965-October 29, 1977) and daughter Rachel. The Bermans were planning Joshua's bar mitzvah when he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Joshua died on October 29, 1977 at age 12.
  • Quotes
    As much experience, education and awareness as one can attain is important for a comedian.

FAQ12

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