Shelley Berman, 'Sit-Down' Comedy Pioneer & 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' Dad, Has Died
By Stephen Gossett in Arts & Entertainment on Sep 1, 2017 5:10PM
Shelley Berman (left) with Larry David / Getty Images / Photo: Stephen Shugerman
Shelley Berman, one of the standup (or in his case, "sit-down") comedians who helped pioneer the neurotic, observational modern comedy mode and starred in Curb Your Enthusiasm as Larry David's father, has died at 92.
Berman died peacefully early on Friday morning at his home in Bell Canyon, California from Alzheimer's complications, according to a post on his official fan group page.
Berman's Inside Shelley Berman, one of the classic LPs of the golden age of comedy, was released in1959 and would go on to become the first comedy album to be certified gold. It was also the first non-musical record to win a Grammy. The record featured perhaps Berman's most famous routine, "Department Store." It featured his trademark style of an improvised, harried phone call, which Berman delivered while seated on a stool. Rather than relying on a litany one-liners, the bit is given room to stretch out for several minutes—emblematic of Berman's aesthetic.
Berman told the New York Times of the LP, in 2003, “I was nervous about that record, because I thought no one would want to see me anymore if they could just play it. Then, after it came out, I went to play a show on Sunset Boulevard, and there was a line around the block! I told my wife, ‘I can buy two suits now.’ ”
As his star rose, Berman became the first standup comic to perform at Carnegie Hall.
The record also featured the much-loved-in-comedy-circles "The Morning After the Night Before."
Berman's anxious, Mort Sahl-inspired observational style proved profoundly influential on later generations of comedians, including Larry David, who cast Berman, then in his '80s, as David's father on Curb Your Enthusiasm. Berman played the role from 2002 to 2009 and earned an Emmy nomination for his work.
Berman, a Chicago native, got his start in the local theatre, training at Goodman Theatre in dramatic acting. After later working for a time writing freelance jokes for Steve Allen’s Tonight Show in New York, Berman returned to Chicago, where he teamed up with talents like Mike Nichols and Elaine May to form the Compass Players—a comedy troupe launched out of a bar near the University of Chicago that would eventually morph into The Second City. Here he is at Second City's 50th anniversary celebration, in 2009:
Throughout his career, Berman would star in dozens of roles in TV, film and theatre, including a memorable turn in Gore Vidal’s The Best Man (1964) and as a short-tempered judge on Boston Legal. He released six albums in total for Verve Records, three of which went gold.