Dick Shawn
Actor/Actriz
36
Películas
23
Series
Dick Shawn (December 1, 1923 – April 17, 1987) was an American actor. Way ahead of his time most say, it was extremely difficult indeed to know how to properly tap into this man's eclectic talents. Shawn began inching toward the forefront during the be-bop 50s and early 60s with his odd penchant for playing cool cats. During his mild bid for film stardom, he was top-billed as a hip, laid back genie in the thoroughly dismal satire The Wizard of Baghdad (1960), but seemed to have better luck when taken in smaller doses. He fared quite well opposite another "way-out-there" comedian, Ernie Kovacs, in Wake Me When It's Over (1960) as a hustling soldier out to make a buck in the Far East. Also on the plus side, he replaced Zero Mostel in the bawdy musical "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" on Broadway and stole a small scene in the all-star epic comedy It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963). By far, the one role that completely overshadows all of his other hard work is his mock portrayal of a singing Adolf Hitler in the show-within-a-movie The Producers (1968). In the film, which starred Mostel and Gene Wilder as two con artists deliberately producing a stage "bomb" called "Springtime for Hitler," Shawn sang the hammy, absurdly narcissistic song "Love Power." The movie finally captured Shawn in his element, but this stroke of genius of matching actor to role would never happen again for him. For the most part his roles came off slick and smarmy, and were stuck in mediocre material. Shawn won a huge fan base, however, touring in one-man stage shows which contained a weird mix of songs, sketches, satire, philosophy and even pantomime. A bright, innovative wit, one of his best touring shows was called "The Second Greatest Entertainer in the World." During the show's intermission, Shawn would lie visibly on the stage floor absolutely still during the entire time. By freakish coincidence, Shawn was performing at the University of California at San Diego in 1987 when he suddenly fell forward on the stage during one of his spiels about the Holocaust. The audience, of course, laughed, thinking it was just a part of his odd shtick. In actuality, the 63-year-old married actor with four children had suffered a fatal heart attack. A not-surprising end for this thoroughly offbeat and intriguing personality.
Como Actor/Actriz
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self
The Mike Douglas Show
Self - Co-Host
The Love Boat
David Jackson
Magnum, P.I.
Buzz Benoit
The Merv Griffin Show
Self
St. Elsewhere
Edgar Eisenberg
La Dimensión Desconocida
(segment "Cold Reading")
The Dick Cavett Show
Self - Guest
The Lucy Show
Ace Winthrop
Medical Center
Laverne & Shirley
Tales from the Darkside
Bo Gumbs
Show de Ed Sullivan
Self
Historias Asombrosas
Joe Willoughby
That Girl
Faerie Tale Theatre
Guest Interviewee
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
Self
Batman & Robin
Snow Miser (archive sound) (uncredited)
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
Charlie Wilson
ABC Stage 67
Paul Benderhof
Madame's Place
Self
El mundo está loco, loco, loco, loco
Sylvester Marcus
General Electric Theater
Felix Franklin
The Judy Garland Show
Self
The Producers
Lorenzo St. DuBois (L.S.D.)
Angel
Mae
Water
Deke Halliday
Hail to the Chief
Ivan Zolotov
El sexo opuesto
Singer
What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?
Captain Lionel Cash