Damn! Always liked David.
David Brenner, whose wry brand of observational humor made him a stand-up comedy star in the early 1970s and kept him in the public eye for more than four decades, died on at his home in Manhattan. He was 78.
His longtime publicist, Jeff Abraham, said the cause was cancer.
There was the one about the time he sat on a newspaper and a fellow subway passenger asked him if he was reading it: “I said yes, stood up, turned the page and sat down again.” There was his reaction to the news that there was a pill to stop people from gambling: “What are the odds?”
On Jan. 8, 1971, he made his first appearance on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,” at the time the goal of every working comic. He went on to become one of the show’s most-frequent guests, making more than 150 appearances, about half of them as substitute host.
In an interview in December on “CBS This Morning,” Mr. Brenner recalled that Mr. Carson once explained why he was asked so frequently to perform stand-up on the show, as opposed to sitting on the couch for an interview: “He said, ‘Because I like to sit back, smoke a cigarette and laugh for six minutes.’ ”
Early, on Carson
Steve Martin tweets:
More tweets from fellow comics and comedy writers
You made us laugh with you, that incessant grin betraying the joy in your heart in seeing us so happy... and we will miss you David Brenner.
— RUTH BUZZI (@Ruth_A_Buzzi) March 16, 2014
David Brenner told me how he taught his friend Sonny Bono how to ski. I like to think they're having an interesting chat now.
— Peter Sagal (@petersagal) March 15, 2014
Just heard about David Brenner's passing. He was such a huge part of why so many of us became comics. This makes me very sad. RIP David.
— Paul Reiser (@PaulReiser) March 15, 2014
David Brenner was very kind to me. I'll miss him. http://t.co/....
— Fred Stoller (@Fred_Stoller) March 15, 2014
R.I.P. David Brenner. I will always remember the laughs and your incredibly generous spirit. It was an honor to have you in my life.
— Alan Zweibel (@AlanZweibel) March 15, 2014