Zoneboy
01-28-2011, 07:52 AM
Link (http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2011/01/28/12655/charlie_callas_dies_at_86)
American comedian Charlie Callas, who worked with Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin –– as well as opening several of Frank Sinatra’s Vegas shows – has reportedly died at the age of 86.
A professional drummer before becoming a stand-up, Brooklyn-born Callas was most famous for his comic stutter and sound effects. Patton Oswalt paid tribute to that talent this morning, tweeting: ‘Can't believe Charlie Callas is hrrrrn...is hwagooooo...is frrrrppp...is dead. RIP.’
Callas, who died in care centre in Las Vegas yesterday according to the Review-Journal newspaper, provided the voice of dragon Elliot in Seventies family film Pete’s Dragon, while his other movie credits include Mel Brooks’ High Anxiety and Silent Movie. He also had a string of TV guest appearances to his name, but when a 2002 episode of The Simpsons, The Old Man And The Key portrayed him as a washed-up entertainer, it was Dan Castellaneta who provided his voice.
Callas was a chat-show regular – once appearing on the Des O’Connor Show – and was a regular on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show in the Seventies until he upset the notoriously demanding host. Failing to get laughs from the studio audience, Callas deliberately gave Carson a shove – and he never appeared on the show again.
Here he is performing probably his most famous routine on the Jackie Gleason Show in the early Sixties:
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American comedian Charlie Callas, who worked with Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin –– as well as opening several of Frank Sinatra’s Vegas shows – has reportedly died at the age of 86.
A professional drummer before becoming a stand-up, Brooklyn-born Callas was most famous for his comic stutter and sound effects. Patton Oswalt paid tribute to that talent this morning, tweeting: ‘Can't believe Charlie Callas is hrrrrn...is hwagooooo...is frrrrppp...is dead. RIP.’
Callas, who died in care centre in Las Vegas yesterday according to the Review-Journal newspaper, provided the voice of dragon Elliot in Seventies family film Pete’s Dragon, while his other movie credits include Mel Brooks’ High Anxiety and Silent Movie. He also had a string of TV guest appearances to his name, but when a 2002 episode of The Simpsons, The Old Man And The Key portrayed him as a washed-up entertainer, it was Dan Castellaneta who provided his voice.
Callas was a chat-show regular – once appearing on the Des O’Connor Show – and was a regular on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show in the Seventies until he upset the notoriously demanding host. Failing to get laughs from the studio audience, Callas deliberately gave Carson a shove – and he never appeared on the show again.
Here he is performing probably his most famous routine on the Jackie Gleason Show in the early Sixties:
y5-3eNiv2fc