The Unknown Comic is the stage name of Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

-American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 actor

Actor

An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

 and stand-up comic

Stand-up comedy

Stand-up comedy is a comedic art form. Usually, a comedian performs in front of a live audience, speaking directly to them. Their performances are sometimes filmed for later release via DVD, the internet, and television...

 Murray Langston (born 1945, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia

Dartmouth, Nova Scotia

Dartmouth founded in 1750, is a community and planning area of the Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia. Located on the eastern shore of Halifax Harbour, Dartmouth has been nicknamed the City of Lakes after the large number of lakes located in the city.On April 1, 1996, the provincial...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

), best known for his comic performances on 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...

, usually appearing with a paper bag over his head.

Langston began his career in 1970 when he appeared on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In

Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In

Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In is an American sketch comedy television program which ran for 140 episodes from January 22, 1968, to May 14, 1973. It was hosted by comedians Dan Rowan and Dick Martin and was broadcast over NBC...

, doing impressions of a fork, a tube of toothpaste and a grandfather clock. Later, at the suggestion of Redd Foxx

Redd Foxx

John Elroy Sanford , better known by his stage name Redd Foxx, was an American comedian and actor, best known for his starring role on the sitcom Sanford and Son.-Early life:...

, he teamed with comedian Freeman King, and after appearing on several episodes of The Midnight Special

The Midnight Special (TV series)

The Midnight Special is an American musical variety series that aired on NBC during the 1970s and early 1980s, created and produced by Burt Sugarman. It premiered as a special on August 19, 1972, then began its run as a regular series on February 2, 1973; its last episode was on May 1, 1981...

, they were spotted by producers and soon became regular performers on The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour

The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour

The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour is an American variety show based on the married couple of American pop-singer Cher and her husband, Sonny Bono. The show ran on CBS in the United States, when it premiered in August 1971...

.

After over 100 appearances with Sonny and Cher, Langston began to make appearances on many more series, including The Hudson Brothers

Hudson Brothers

The Hudson Brothers are an American music group formed in Portland, Oregon in the 1970s and consisting of Bill Hudson, Brett Hudson and Mark Hudson...

 Razzle Dazzle Show, The Wolfman Jack

Wolfman Jack

Robert Weston Smith, known commonly as Wolfman Jack was a gravelly voiced US disc jockey who became famous in the 1960s and 1970s.-Early career:...

 Show, and The Bobby Vinton

Bobby Vinton

Bobby Vinton is an American pop music singer of Polish origin. In pop music circles, he became known as "The Polish Prince".-Early life:...

 Show.

He worked with Joan Rivers

Joan Rivers

Joan Rivers is an American comedian, television personality and actress. She is known for her brash manner; her loud, raspy voice with a heavy New York accent; and her numerous cosmetic surgeries...

, Red Foxx, Jim Carrey

Jim Carrey

James Eugene "Jim" Carrey is a Canadian-American actor and comedian. He has received two Golden Globe Awards and has also been nominated on four occasions. Carrey began comedy in 1979, performing at Yuk Yuk's in Toronto, Ontario...

, Ruth Buzzi

Ruth Buzzi

Ruth Ann Buzzi is an American comedienne and actress of theatre, film, and television. She is especially known for her performances on the comedy-variety show Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In from 1968 to 1973.-Early life:...

 and many other comedians. Langston also created comedic situations for 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...

 and appeared in several of his own segments.

Langston also invested in a nightclub restaurant called "SHOW-BIZ", where several now-famous people worked as waiters and waitresses including Debra Winger

Debra Winger

Mary Debra Winger is an American actress. Three-times an Oscar nominee, she received awards for acting in Terms of Endearment, for which she won the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress in 1983, and in A Dangerous Woman, for which she won the Tokyo International Film Festival...

, Michael Keaton

Michael Keaton

Michael John Douglas , better known by the stage name Michael Keaton, is an American actor known for his early comedic roles, most notably his performance as the title character of Tim Burton's Beetlejuice . Keaton is also famous for his dramatic portrayal of Bruce Wayne/Batman in Tim Burton's...

 - known as Michael Douglas

Michael Douglas (disambiguation)

Michael Douglas is an American actor.Michael Douglas may also refer to:*Mike Douglas , stage name of Michael Delaney Dowd, Jr., an American talk show host*Michael Keaton , actor whose birth name is Michael Douglas...

 at the time, David Letterman

David Letterman

David Michael Letterman is an American television host and comedian. He hosts the late night television talk show, Late Show with David Letterman, broadcast on CBS. Letterman has been a fixture on late night television since the 1982 debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC...

, Gallagher

Gallagher

-Sport:*Bob Gallagher, baseball player*Dave Gallagher, American baseball player*David Gallagher , , a former Australian rules footballer.*Charlie Gallagher , Celtic F.C. & Irish footballer...

, Tim Reid

Tim Reid

Timothy L. "Tim" Reid is an American actor, comedian and film director best known for his roles in prime time American television programs, such as Venus Flytrap on WKRP in Cincinnati , Marcel "Downtown" Brown on Simon & Simon , Ray Campbell on Sister, Sister and William Barnett on That 70's Show...

, Freddy Prinze and Redd Foxx

Redd Foxx

John Elroy Sanford , better known by his stage name Redd Foxx, was an American comedian and actor, best known for his starring role on the sitcom Sanford and Son.-Early life:...

 but the club closed within two years, taking his savings. Strapped for cash, he accepted an offer to appear on The Gong Show. However, he was reportedly embarrassed about appearing on the show, so he put a bag over his head, memorized a few old jokes, and became "The Unknown Comic". The character was a hit, and soon developed a cult following, appearing on more than 150 Gong Shows and also appearing as a celebrity judge on a few shows. He also wrote for "The Gong Show" for a short time. Soon, he was appearing regularly in Las Vegas and made the rounds of many popular talk and variety shows. In the early '80s Langston revealed himself as the Unknown Comic on an episode of Real People

Real People

Real People is an NBC reality television series that aired from 1979 to 1984, on Wednesday and then Sunday nights. Its initial episodes aired live in the Eastern and Central Time Zones.-Synopsis:...

 (the bag on his head was pulled off by the show's hosts), as well at the conclusion of a match on the celebrity edition of the game show Bullseye.

Langston later produced The Unknown Comedy Hour for Playboy TV

Playboy TV

Playboy TV is a premium monthly subscription television channel. Since its launch in 1982 in partnership with Cablevision which eventually sold their share back to Playboy, Playboy TV has become a leading entertainment channel for adult entertainment...

, followed by The Sex and Violence Family Hour, starring a very young Jim Carrey

Jim Carrey

James Eugene "Jim" Carrey is a Canadian-American actor and comedian. He has received two Golden Globe Awards and has also been nominated on four occasions. Carrey began comedy in 1979, performing at Yuk Yuk's in Toronto, Ontario...

. He also wrote the screenplays for the films Night Patrol (1984), Up Your Alley

Up Your Alley (film)

Up Your Alley is a 1989 romantic comedy film starring Linda Blair and directed by Bob Logan. The screenplay was by Logan and Murray Langston , who also co-stars.- Synopsis :...

(1988), and Wishful Thinking (1997), and was co-host of "The NEW Truth or Consequences"

Truth or Consequences

Truth or Consequences is an American quiz show originally hosted on NBC radio by Ralph Edwards and later on television by Edwards , Jack Bailey , Bob Barker , Bob Hilton and Larry Anderson . The television show ran on CBS, NBC and also in syndication...

(1987). He also had a role in the 1989 children's TV series E.M.U-TV as Murray the Technical Director.

Twice divorced by the early 1990s, Langston decided to semi-retire from show business to concentrate on raising his daughters as a single father. His elder daughter Myah Marie is a singer-songwriter who wrote and published more than 50 songs by age 19 and in has recorded with and continues to record with Britney Spears

Britney Spears

Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...

. His younger daughter Mary lives with Langston on a hillside ranch near the mountain town of Tehachapi, California, about 70 miles from Los Angeles.

He most recently reappeared as The Unknown Comic in the film Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind is a 2002 biographical spy film depicting the life of popular game show host and producer Chuck Barris, who claimed to have also been an assassin for the Central Intelligence Agency...

, wrote, directed and performed in "Dirty Jokes: The Movie and wrote and performed one man's response to "The Vagina Monologues

The Vagina Monologues

The Vagina Monologues is an episodic play written by Eve Ensler which ran at the Off Broadway Westside Theatre after a limited run at AFRICA in 1996. Ensler originally starred in the production which was produced by David Stone, Nina Essman, Dan Markley, The Araca Group, Willa Shalit, Mike Skipper...

" called "The Weenie Man-o-logs". Langston occasionally appears doing stand-up in Las Vegas and is writing a book of memoirs. He is active in charity work, particularly for children's advocacy causes.

External links

• Murray Langston interviewed by the Onion A.V. Club
  The A.V. Club
  The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...