Joey Bishop was born Joseph Abraham Gottlieb on February 3rd, 1918 in the Bronx, New York. When he was an infant, his family moved to South Philadelphia, where his father opened a bicycle shop. There Bishop learned how to tap dance, do imitations and play the mandolin and banjo. Today Bishop is remembered as an American entertainer best known for being a member of the Rat Pack with Frank Sinatra, Peter Lawford, Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin.
Bishop was the youngest of five children. He was born to Anna and Jacob Gottlieb, Jewish immigrants from central Europe. When Bishop dropped out of high school at 18 he started out with comedy on vaudeville circuit as part of a comedy act with his brother Maury. Bishop billed himself as Joey Gottlieb at the time. He later joined a comedy group that called themselves the Bishop Trio. The surname Bishop was originally taken from the last name of a chauffeur-friend. Bishop kept the last name after the team broke up.
In 1941, Bishop went solo. Four years later, his career was interrupted while serving in the Army during WWII, but it quickly resumed things after his discharge in 1945. He was a frequent panelist on What’s My Line in the early 1950s. Prior to Johnny Carson taking over the Tonight Show, he frequently appeared on Steve Allen and Jack Paar’s early versions of the same show. When Carson did take the reigns, Bishop guest-hosted the Tonight Show more times than anyone else, a record 177 times.
In 1952, Bishop was earning $1,000 a week at the Latin Quarter in Manhattan, when he caught the eye of Sinatra who asked Bishop to open for him at a popular New Jersey club. Bishop continued to open for Sinatra in New York and occasionally on the road. His relationship with the powerful singer would soon begin paying back huge returns. While opening for Sinatra at the Copacabana in New York in 1954, Bishop was in the middle of his act when Marilyn Monroe walked in wearing a floor-length, white ermine coat. Bishop waited for her to be seated before saying, “Marilyn, I told you to wait in the truck.” Some years later, Joe DiMaggio would have the entire rat pack, including Bishop, banned from attending Monroe’s funeral. An adept ad libber, Bishop achieved his greatest fame as the master of ceremonies for President Kennedy’s inaugural ball in 1961. During that time, he also joined Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Peter Lawford for the Rat Pack’s historic Summit meetings at the Las Vegas Sands Hotel.
Sammy Davis Jr. was often billed as the “greatest living entertainer in the world”.
He was born in Harlem, Manhattan, the son of dancer Elvera Davis (née Sanchez) and vaudeville star Sammy Davis Sr.. His father was African-American and his mother was of Puerto Rican ancestry. Davis Jr. was known as someone who could do it all–sing, dance, play instruments, act, do stand-up–and he was known for his self-deprecating humor; he once heard someone complaining about discrimination, and he said, “You got it easy. I’m a short, ugly, one-eyed, black Jew. What do you think it’s like for me?” (he had converted to Judaism).
A short stint in the army opened his eyes to the evils of racism–a slight man, he was often beaten up by bigger white soldiers and given the dirtiest and most dangerous assignments by white officers simply because he was black–and he helped break down racial barriers in show business in the 1950s and 1960s, especially in Las Vegas, where he often performed; when he started there in the early 1950s, he was not allowed to stay in the hotels he played in, as they refused to take blacks as customers. He also stirred up a large amount of controversy in the 1960s by openly dating, and ultimately marrying, blonde, blue-eyed, Swedish-born actress May Britt.
He starred in the Broadway musical “Golden Boy” in the 1960s. Initially a success, internal tensions, production problems and bad reviews–many of them directed at Davis for playing a role originally written for a white man–resulted in its closing fairly quickly. His film and nightclub career were in full swing, however, and he became even more famous as one of the “Rat Pack”, a group of free-wheeling entertainers that included Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Joey Bishop and Peter Lawford.
A chain smoker, Davis died from throat cancer at the age of 64. When he died, he was in debt. To pay for Davis’ funeral, most of his memorabilia was sold off.
– IMDb Mini Biography By: rocknrollunderdawg