Pat McCormick (comic)
Encyclopedia
Pat McCormick was an American actor and comedy writer known for playing Big Enos Burdette in Smokey and the Bandit
and its two sequels. He wrote for a number of performers such as Red Skelton
, Phyllis Diller
and Johnny Carson
as well as for shows including Get Smart
. McCormick had a distinctive appearance being six feet, seven inches tall, weighing 250 pounds and having a walrus moustache.
and was a 1945 graduate of Rocky River High School
. He was a high school athlete and served in the Army. He dropped out of Harvard Law School
for a career in advertising but abandoned that career as well when he started writing jokes for television and standup comedians. Eventually, he became a writer for Jack Paar
on The Jack Paar Show. He also wrote for Get Smart, The Danny Kaye Show
and wrote and appeared on Candid Camera
.
McCormick was both the announcer and straight man for Don Rickles
on The Don Rickles Show in 1968. He was a regular on The New Bill Cosby Show
on 1972. Behind the scenes, he was one of the lead writers on The Tonight Show
writing many of its most well-known lines. He wrote the line "Due to today's earthquake, the God is Dead rally has been canceled."
His first screen performance was in The Shaggy D.A.
in 1976. He played President Grover Cleveland
in Robert Altman's
Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson
in the same year. In 1977, he appeared in Smokey and the Bandit and appeared in the sequels in both 1980 and 1983, alongside Paul Williams
as wealthy con men Big and Little Enos Burdette respectively. Pat appeared in the 1982 TV movie Rooster
, which also starred Williams. He appeared as the Ghost of Christmas Present in a TV production in the Bill Murray comedy Scrooged
in 1988, with his final appearance being in Ted & Venus
.
He also made frequent appearances as a panelist on innumerable television game shows including I've Got a Secret
and The Gong Show
. He also enjoyed a successful radio and television voice-over career.
leading to his admission to the Motion Picture and Television Fund's hospital in Woodland Hills, California in that year. He died there seven years later, aged 78. His interment was located in Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery
.
He is survived by a son, Ben, and a grandson. He has a twin brother (who assumed a different surname), Sgt. James McKittrick, of Chicago.
Pat also wrote for Jonathan Winters in the late 50's/early 60's.
Smokey and the Bandit
Smokey and the Bandit is a 1977 American film starring Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jackie Gleason, Jerry Reed, Pat McCormick, Paul Williams, and Mike Henry. It inspired several other trucking films, including two sequels, Smokey and the Bandit II, and Smokey and the Bandit Part 3...
and its two sequels. He wrote for a number of performers such as Red Skelton
Red Skelton
Richard Bernard "Red" Skelton was an American comedian who is best known as a top radio and television star from 1937 to 1971. Skelton's show business career began in his teens as a circus clown and went on to vaudeville, Broadway, films, radio, TV, night clubs and casinos, all while pursuing...
, Phyllis Diller
Phyllis Diller
Phyllis Diller is an American actress and comedian. She created a stage persona of a wild-haired, eccentrically dressed housewife who makes jokes about a husband named "Fang" while pretending to smoke from a long cigarette holder...
and Johnny Carson
Johnny Carson
John William "Johnny" Carson was an American television host and comedian, known as host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for 30 years . Carson received six Emmy Awards including the Governor Award and a 1985 Peabody Award; he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987...
as well as for shows including Get Smart
Get Smart
Get Smart is an American comedy television series that satirizes the secret agent genre. Created by Mel Brooks with Buck Henry, the show starred Don Adams , Barbara Feldon , and Edward Platt...
. McCormick had a distinctive appearance being six feet, seven inches tall, weighing 250 pounds and having a walrus moustache.
Early life & career
McCormick was born in Rocky River, OhioRocky River, Ohio
Rocky River is an affluent western suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, United States located in Cuyahoga County approximately nine miles west of Public Square in downtown Cleveland. The city is named for the river that forms its eastern border...
and was a 1945 graduate of Rocky River High School
Rocky River High School
Rocky River High School is a public high school in Rocky River, Ohio, suburb of Cleveland, Ohio.-Athletics:The school colors are maroon and white. The athletic teams are known as the Pirates...
. He was a high school athlete and served in the Army. He dropped out of Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
for a career in advertising but abandoned that career as well when he started writing jokes for television and standup comedians. Eventually, he became a writer for Jack Paar
Jack Paar
Jack Harold Paar was an author, American radio and television comedian and talk show host, best known for his stint as host of The Tonight Show from 1957 to 1962...
on The Jack Paar Show. He also wrote for Get Smart, The Danny Kaye Show
Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye was a celebrated American actor, singer, dancer, and comedian...
and wrote and appeared on Candid Camera
Candid Camera
Candid Camera is a hidden camera/practical joke reality television series created and produced by Allen Funt, which initially began on radio as Candid Microphone June 28, 1947...
.
McCormick was both the announcer and straight man for Don Rickles
Don Rickles
Donald Jay "Don" Rickles is an American stand-up comedian and actor. A frequent guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Rickles has acted in comedic and dramatic roles, but is best known as an insult comic....
on The Don Rickles Show in 1968. He was a regular on The New Bill Cosby Show
Bill Cosby
William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr. is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, educator, musician and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a starring role in the 1960s action show, I Spy. He later starred in his own series, the...
on 1972. Behind the scenes, he was one of the lead writers on The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. It is the longest currently running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after Meet the Press and Today.The Tonight Show has been hosted by...
writing many of its most well-known lines. He wrote the line "Due to today's earthquake, the God is Dead rally has been canceled."
His first screen performance was in The Shaggy D.A.
The Shaggy D.A.
The Shaggy D.A. is a 1976 film sequel to 1959's The Shaggy Dog by Walt Disney Productions. It was directed by Robert Stevenson and written by Don Tait, based on the original film and inspired by the long out-of-print Felix Salten novel, The Hound of Florence.It starred Dean Jones as the adult...
in 1976. He played President Grover Cleveland
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...
in Robert Altman's
Robert Altman
Robert Bernard Altman was an American film director and screenwriter known for making films that are highly naturalistic, but with a stylized perspective. In 2006, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized his body of work with an Academy Honorary Award.His films MASH , McCabe and...
Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson
Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson
Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson is a 1976 revisionist Western directed by Robert Altman and based on the play Indians by Arthur Kopit. It stars Paul Newman as William F...
in the same year. In 1977, he appeared in Smokey and the Bandit and appeared in the sequels in both 1980 and 1983, alongside Paul Williams
Paul Williams (songwriter)
Paul Hamilton Williams, Jr. is an Academy Award-winning American composer, musician, songwriter, and actor. He is perhaps best known for popular songs performed by a number of acts in the 1970s including Three Dog Night's "An Old Fashioned Love Song", Helen Reddy's "You and Me Against the World",...
as wealthy con men Big and Little Enos Burdette respectively. Pat appeared in the 1982 TV movie Rooster
Rooster (TV film)
Rooster is a 1982 made-for-TV film, starring Paul Williams and Pat McCormick. Rooster is an unsold television pilot written and produced by Glen Larson for 20th Century Fox Television and broadcast as a two hour movie on the ABC Television Network in 1982....
, which also starred Williams. He appeared as the Ghost of Christmas Present in a TV production in the Bill Murray comedy Scrooged
Scrooged
Scrooged is a 1988 American comedy film, a modernization of Charles Dickens' novella, A Christmas Carol. The film was produced and directed by Richard Donner, and the cinematography was by Michael Chapman. The screenplay was written by Mitch Glazer and Michael O'Donoghue...
in 1988, with his final appearance being in Ted & Venus
Ted & Venus
Ted & Venus is a 1991 film directed by Bud Cort. This comedy is written by Bud Cort and Paul Ciotti, and features and all-star cast including Brian Thompson. The original music is composed by David Robbins....
.
He also made frequent appearances as a panelist on innumerable television game shows including I've Got a Secret
I've Got a Secret
I've Got a Secret is a panel game show produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman for CBS television. Created by comedy writers Allan Sherman and Howard Merrill, it was a derivative of Goodson-Todman's own panel show What's My Line?...
and The Gong Show
The Gong Show
The Gong Show is an amateur talent contest franchised by Sony Pictures Television to many countries. It was broadcast on NBC's daytime schedule from June 14, 1976 through July 21, 1978, and in first-run syndication from 1976–1980 and 1988–1989. The show was produced by Chuck Barris, who also served...
. He also enjoyed a successful radio and television voice-over career.
Retirement and death
McCormick retired in 1998 after being left partly paralyzed by a strokeStroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
leading to his admission to the Motion Picture and Television Fund's hospital in Woodland Hills, California in that year. He died there seven years later, aged 78. His interment was located in Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery
Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
Forest Lawn – Hollywood Hills Cemetery is part of the Forest Lawn chain of Southern California cemeteries. It is at 6300 Forest Lawn Drive in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California, on the lower north slope at the far east end of the Santa Monica...
.
He is survived by a son, Ben, and a grandson. He has a twin brother (who assumed a different surname), Sgt. James McKittrick, of Chicago.
Pat also wrote for Jonathan Winters in the late 50's/early 60's.
External links
- http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/filmography.html?p_id=47120&mod=films New York Times filmography for Pat McCormick featuring material from Allmovie.com
- http://www.mtv.com/movies/person/41578/personmain.jhtml MTV movies article
- http://washingtontimes.com/upi/20050730-051235-3348r.htm UPI International report on McCormick's death published in the Washington Times July 30, 2005