David Brenner

Biography:

Actor, author, and stand-up comedian David Norris Brenner was born in the United States on February 4, 1936, and died on March 15, 2014. During the 1970s and 1980s, Brenner was the most frequent guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and “was a pioneer of observational comedy.”  Richard Lewis, who is a comedian and his buddy, called Brenner “the king of hip, observational comedy.”

Born in 1936 to Jewish parents, Brenner grew up in Philadelphia’s South and West neighborhoods. In order to appease Brenner’s grandpa, a Jew, who disapproved of his employment on the Sabbath, his father, Louis, a vaudeville comedian, singer, and dancer who went by the stage name Lou Murphy, sacrificed his career and a movie deal.  After achieving prosperity, David began taking his parents on cruises on a regular basis. Brenner’s parents finally passed away at advanced ages while on voyages aboard the Queen Elizabeth 2, roughly two years apart.