Foster Murrell Brooks

(May 11, 1912 – December 20, 2001) was an American actor and comedian best known for his portrayal of a lovable drunk in nightclub performances and television programs.

Early life

Brooks was born in Louisville, Kentucky, on May 11, 1912, to Edna (née Megowan) and Pleasant M. Brooks. He had seven brothers. His career started in radio, notably with station WHAS (AM) in Louisville. He was a staff announcer, and his deep baritone voice was also well-suited for singing. Brooks gained fame for his reporting of the Ohio River flood of 1937, where he was featured on emergency broadcasts by WHAS and also WSM (AM) from Nashville, Tennessee. In 1952, Brooks appeared on local TV in a short-lived spoof of Gene Autry and his "Singing Cowboys".

He later worked in local broadcasting as a radio and TV personality at WHAM (AM) in Rochester, New York and at WGR & WKBW in Buffalo, where he hosted "The Musical Clock" and "Million Dollar Ballroom". In Buffalo, Brooks also performed with a country and western vocal group known as the Hi-Hatters. Moving to the West Coast, he launched a career as a stand-up comic and character actor.

In 1960, Brooks moved with his family to Los Angeles to seek more professional opportunities. During this time, he appeared on television comedies such as The Munsters, The Monkees and Bewitched. Brooks also delivered Christmas mail and phone books, and managed an apartment building in North Hollywood. In addition, he worked as a security guard for the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team.

In 1969, game show icon and television personality Dennis James took his friend Brooks to a North Carolina charity golf tournament to tell some jokes, and then introduced Brooks to good friend, singer Perry Como, who in turn gave the comedian his major break. Como chose Brooks to open for him at a Las Vegas hotel. When the hotel's owners balked at Como's choice due to Brooks' age and lack of fame, Como insisted and the owners acquiesced. Brooks was an instant hit. He made his first appearance soon thereafter on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

Career

Brooks regularly appeared on The Dean Martin Show television program in the 1970s (for which he garnered an Emmy Award nomination in 1974) as well as many situation comedies and talk shows, (including The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson). Mr. Brooks appeared many times on the Bill Cosby variety show in 1972.

His signature routine was the basis of a hit comedy album titled Foster Brooks, The Lovable Lush, released in the early 1970s. As his "Lovable Lush" character, Brooks usually portrayed a conventioneer who had had a few too many drinks—not falling-down drunk, but inebriated enough to mix up his words and burp to comedic delight. Brooks is best remembered for his appearances on The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast during the 1970s, where he roasted other comedians, such as Don Rickles, Johnny Carson and Lucille Ball, and serious public figures such as writer Truman Capote, consumer activist Ralph Nader, and former vice president Hubert Humphrey.

During his period of greatest fame, Brooks rarely drank. Of giving up drinking to win a bet in 1964, Brooks said, "A fellow made me a $10 bet I couldn't quit, and I haven't had a drink since. At the time I needed the $10."

Brooks' last performance was at a celebrity roast in Las Vegas for Zsa Zsa Gabor. He is also referenced on an episode of Get a Life called "Paperboy 2000". On the March 1, 2010, episode of The Daily Show, Jon Stewart referred to Senator Sheldon Whitehouse's mispronunciation of a constituent's name by saying, "It's not supposed to end on a Foster Brooks hiccup." He was mentioned in the lyrics of a Loudon Wainwright song, "Drinks Before Dinner."

Personal life

Brooks was first married to Loretta Brooks, with whom he had a son and three daughters; one daughter died in infancy.<!-- Harder sources are available if you search for "Foster Brooks" in The Courier-Journal in 1940s-50s via Newspapers.com --> Foster and Loretta divorced in 1950. That same year, he married Teri Brooks, with whom he had two daughters.

Death

Brooks died on December 20, 2001, at his home in Encino, California, from heart failure. He was 89 years old.

Filmography

Film

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! Year

! Title

! Role

! Notes

|-

|1971|| The Late Liz || Howard Borman ||

|-

|1976|| Super Seal || Harold ||

|-

|1979|| The Villain || Bank Clerk ||

|-

|1983|| Cracking Up || The Pilot ||

|-

|1984|| Oddballs || Hardy Bassett ||

|-

|1984|| Cannonball Run II || Fisherman #1 ||

|-

|1986|| GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords || Stoneheart / Fossil Lord || Voice

|-

|1991|| The Giant of Thunder Mountain || Doc (Townsman) ||

|}

Television

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! Year

! Title

! Role

! Notes

|-

|1962|| Gunsmoke || Ed || S8:E3, "Quint Asper Comes Home"

|-

|1967|| The Monkees || Conventioneer || S1:E30, "Monkees in Manhattan"

|-

|1969|| The Beverly Hillbillies || Fiddlin Sam Dingle || S6:E25, "The Clampetts Fiddle Around"

|-

|1973|| Here's Lucy || || Episode "Tipsy through the Tulips"

|-

|rowspan=2|1982|| Mork & Mindy || Miles Sternhagen || 3 episodes

|-

| Madame's Place || Self|| Episode: "Who Laughs Last?"

|-

|1987|| Murder, She Wrote || Simon Thane|| Episode: "Simon Says, Color Me Dead"

|}

See also

  • List of people from the Louisville metropolitan area

References

  • video clip