Avery Schreiber
Encyclopedia
Avery Lawrence Schreiber (April 9, 1935 – January 7, 2002) was an American
comedian and actor. He was a veteran of stage, TV, and film.
, Illinois
, the son of Minnie (née
Shear) and George Schreiber. He started his career in Chicago
at the Goodman Theatre. He joined The Second City
and later teamed with Jack Burns
to form the comedy team of Burns and Schreiber. They recorded several comedy albums and appeared on numerous television shows.
Schreiber is remembered for his many Doritos
ads in the 1970s, as well as his appearances in classic television shows. He was easily recognizable for his trademark bushy moustache, curly hair, and comedic reactions. In 1965, Schreiber played the role of Captain Manzini on My Mother the Car
.
In the summer of 1973, he hosted the ABC
comedy show, The Burns and Schreiber Comedy Hour.
Schreiber was a regular guest star on Chico and the Man
. He was also a frequent guest on the game show Match Game
and a guest in a first-season episode of The Muppet Show
(written by former partner Jack Burns, whom he mentioned during a stand-up routine in the episode).
Avery continued to work in film, television and the Theater, as well as teach Improvisational Theater technique to thousands of students up until the time of his death. He taught master classes at The Second City
in Chicago
and Los Angeles
as well as teaching out of his living room.
, a complication of diabetes. Though he survived triple bypass surgery, he never fully recovered. He died of another heart attack on January 7, 2002 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
. He was residing in Los Angeles
at the time of his death. He was cremated
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
comedian and actor. He was a veteran of stage, TV, and film.
Biography
Schreiber was born in ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, the son of Minnie (née
Married and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Shear) and George Schreiber. He started his career in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
at the Goodman Theatre. He joined The Second City
The Second City
The Second City is a improvisational comedy enterprise which originated in Chicago's Old Town neighborhood.The Second City Theatre opened on December 16, 1959 and has since expanded its presence to several other cities, including Toronto and Los Angeles...
and later teamed with Jack Burns
Jack Burns
Jack Burns is an American comedian and voice actor.-Biography:In 1959, he began his career as a comedy team with George Carlin when both were working for radio station KXOL in Fort Worth, Texas...
to form the comedy team of Burns and Schreiber. They recorded several comedy albums and appeared on numerous television shows.
Schreiber is remembered for his many Doritos
Doritos
Doritos is a brand of seasoned tortilla chips created by Arch West and produced since 1964 by the American food company Frito-Lay ....
ads in the 1970s, as well as his appearances in classic television shows. He was easily recognizable for his trademark bushy moustache, curly hair, and comedic reactions. In 1965, Schreiber played the role of Captain Manzini on My Mother the Car
My Mother the Car
My Mother the Car is an American fantasy sitcom which aired for a single season on NBC between September 14, 1965 and September 6, 1966. A total of thirty episodes were produced by United Artists Television....
.
In the summer of 1973, he hosted the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
comedy show, The Burns and Schreiber Comedy Hour.
Schreiber was a regular guest star on Chico and the Man
Chico and the Man
Chico and the Man is an American sitcom which ran on NBC for four seasons, from September 13, 1974 to July 21, 1978. It stars Jack Albertson as Ed Brown , the cantankerous owner of a run down garage in an East Los Angeles barrio, and Freddie Prinze as Chico Rodriguez, an upbeat, optimistic Chicano...
. He was also a frequent guest on the game show Match Game
Match Game
Match Game is an American television game show in which contestants attempted to match celebrities' answers to fill-in-the-blank questions...
and a guest in a first-season episode of The Muppet Show
The Muppet Show
The Muppet Show is a British television programme produced by American puppeteer Jim Henson and featuring Muppets. After two pilot episodes were produced in 1974 and 1975, the show premiered on 5 September 1976 and five series were produced until 15 March 1981, lasting 120 episodes...
(written by former partner Jack Burns, whom he mentioned during a stand-up routine in the episode).
Avery continued to work in film, television and the Theater, as well as teach Improvisational Theater technique to thousands of students up until the time of his death. He taught master classes at The Second City
The Second City
The Second City is a improvisational comedy enterprise which originated in Chicago's Old Town neighborhood.The Second City Theatre opened on December 16, 1959 and has since expanded its presence to several other cities, including Toronto and Los Angeles...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
and Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
as well as teaching out of his living room.
Death
In 1994, Schreiber suffered a heart attackMyocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
, a complication of diabetes. Though he survived triple bypass surgery, he never fully recovered. He died of another heart attack on January 7, 2002 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Originally established as Kaspare Cohn Hospital in 1902, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a non-profit, tertiary 958-bed hospital and multi-specialty academic health science centre located in Los Angeles, California, US. Part of the Cedars-Sinai Health System, the hospital employs a staff of over...
. He was residing in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
at the time of his death. He was cremated
Cremation
Cremation is the process of reducing bodies to basic chemical compounds such as gasses and bone fragments. This is accomplished through high-temperature burning, vaporization and oxidation....
.
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Dying On the Edge | |
| 2000 | Pedestrian | |
| 2000 | Rebel Yell | |
| 1998 | The Russian Room The Russian Room The Russian Room was a short film shot in New York City in 1997 and released in 1998. It starred Avery Schreiber and writer Jeff Casper. Nance McQuigg directed and produced.... |
|
| 1997 | The Lay of the Land The Lay of the Land The Lay of the Land is a 2006 novel by American author Richard Ford. The novel is the third in a trilogy, which began with The Sportswriter and was followed several years later by Independence Day... |
|
| 1995 | Dracula: Dead and Loving It Dracula: Dead and Loving It Dracula: Dead and Loving It is a 1995 comedy film starring Leslie Nielsen, directed by Mel Brooks. It is a parody of the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker, and of some of the films it inspired.... |
|
| 1993 | Animaniacs Animaniacs Steven Spielberg Presents Animaniacs, usually referred to as simply Animaniacs, is an American animated series, distributed by Warner Bros. Television and produced by Amblin Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation. The cartoon was the second animated series produced by the collaboration of Steven... - Beanie the Brain-Dead Bison |
|
| 1993 | Robin Hood: Men in Tights Robin Hood: Men in Tights Robin Hood: Men in Tights is a 1993 French-American adventure comedy film and a parody of the Robin Hood story. Produced and directed by Mel Brooks, the film stars Cary Elwes, Richard Lewis, and Dave Chappelle in his film debut... |
|
| 1993 | Animaniacs Animaniacs Steven Spielberg Presents Animaniacs, usually referred to as simply Animaniacs, is an American animated series, distributed by Warner Bros. Television and produced by Amblin Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation. The cartoon was the second animated series produced by the collaboration of Steven... |
|
| 1990 | Wake, Rattle & Roll | |
| 1988 | Saturday the 14th Strikes Back Saturday the 14th Strikes Back Saturday the 14th Strikes Back is a 1988 comic-horror film, directed by Howard R. Cohen and produced by Julie Corman. It is a sequel to Saturday the 14th.... |
|
| 1987 | Hunk Hunk (film) Hunk is a 1987 comedy film, starring John Allen Nelson, Steve Levitt, James Coco and Deborah Shelton.It is Directed by Lawrence Bassoff.-Plot summary:Bradley Brinkman is a nerd who has a hard time finding true love, but by way of a deal with Dr... |
|
| 1986 | Outlaws Outlaws (1986 TV series) Outlaws is a short-lived action-adventure American television series which aired Saturday nights on CBS. The original series began as a 2-hour pilot movie, and was followed by eleven one-hour episodes.- Origins :... |
|
| 1985 | Shadow Chasers Shadow Chasers Shadow Chasers is a 1985 American mystery television series created by Brian Grazer and Kenneth Johnson. It includes 13 episodes, nine of which were shown on the ABC television network, the remaining four on the Armed Forces Network... |
|
| 1984 | Cannonball Run II Cannonball Run II See also Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy DashCannonball Run II comedy film featuring Burt Reynolds and an all-star cast, released by Warner Bros. and Golden Harvest... |
|
| 1983 | Jimmy the Kid Jimmy the Kid Jimmy the Kid is a 1982 comedy film starring Gary Coleman and Paul Le Mat. It was directed by Gary Nelson, produced by Ronald Jacobs, and released in November 1982 by New World Pictures... |
|
| 1981 | Caveman Caveman (film) Caveman is a 1981 American slapstick comedy film written and directed by Carl Gottlieb and starring Ringo Starr, Dennis Quaid, Shelley Long and Barbara Bach.-Plot:... |
|
| 1980 | Avery Schreiber Live From the Second City | |
| 1980 | More Wild Wild West | |
| 1980 | Steve Martin: All Commercials | |
| 1980 | Loose Shoes Loose Shoes Loose Shoes is a 1980 comedy film directed by Ira Miller and featuring Bill Murray. The film is presented as a series of movie trailers with titles such as The Howard Huge Story, Skate-boarders from Hell and The Invasion of the Penis Snatchers... |
|
| 1980 | Galaxina Galaxina Galaxina is a low-budget 1980 American comedy/science fiction film, best remembered for its lead actress, Playboy Playmate of the Year for 1980 Dorothy Stratten, who was murdered shortly after the movie's release.... |
|
| 1980 | Silent Scream Silent Scream (1980 film) Silent Scream is a 1980 horror film written by Jim and Ken Wheat, and Wallace E. Bennett, directed by Denny Harris and starring Rebecca Balding, Cameron Mitchell, Barbara Steele and Yvonne De Carlo... |
|
| 1979 | Scavenger Hunt Scavenger Hunt Scavenger Hunt is a 1979 comedy film with a large ensemble cast, in the mold of the 1963 comedy It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.-Plot summary:... |
|
| 1979 | The Concorde ... Airport '79 | |
| 1979 | Flatbed Annie & Sweetiepie: Lady Truckers | |
| 1978 | Christmas at Walt Disney World | |
| 1977 | Sha Na Na Sha Na Na Sha Na Na is an American rock and roll group. The name is taken from a part of the long series of nonsense syllables in the doo-wop hit song "Get a Job", originally recorded in 1957 by the Silhouettes.... |
|
| 1977 | Don't Push, I'll Charge When I'm Ready | |
| 1977 | Lindsay Wagner: Another Side of Me | |
| 1977 | The Last Remake of Beau Geste The Last Remake of Beau Geste The Last Remake of Beau Geste is a 1977 American historical comedy film. It starred and was also directed and co-written by Marty Feldman. It is a satire loosely based on the novel Beau Geste, a frequently-filmed story of brothers and their adventures in the French Foreign Legion. The humor is... |
|
| 1976 | Swashbuckler Swashbuckler (film) Swashbuckler is a romantic adventure film produced in the U.S. by Universal Studios and released in 1976. It is a story that takes place in Jamaica in 1718 about a band of buccaneer pirates, led by Captain “Red” Ned Lynch, pitted against a greedy overlord, evil Lord Durant... |
Pulaski |
| 1975 | Sammy and Company | |
| 1975 | Ben Vereen... Comin' at Ya | |
| 1974 | The Harlem Globetrotters Popcorn Machine The Harlem Globetrotters Popcorn Machine The Harlem Globetrotters Popcorn Machine was a Saturday morning variety show featuring players from the basketball team the Harlem Globetrotters singing, dancing, and performing comedy sketches... |
|
| 1973 | Southern Double Cross | |
| 1972 | Deadhead Miles | |
| 1972 | Second Chance | |
| 1971 | Story Theatre | |
| 1971 | Escape | |
| 1969 | Don't Drink the Water Don't Drink the Water (1969 film) Don't Drink the Water is a 1969 comedy film starring Jackie Gleason and directed by Howard Morris. It was based upon a 1966 play of the same name by Woody Allen, who hated this version. In 1994 he remade Water for television, with himself in the Gleason role... |
Sultan |
| 1969 | The Monitors | |
| 1967 | Our Place Our Place (U.S. TV series) Our Place was an hour-long variety show on CBS during the summer of 1967. The official host was one of Jim Henson's early puppets, Rowlf the Muppet Hound. The show's other regulars were comedians Jack Burns and Avery Schreiber and the singing Doodletown Pipers.Our Place, a summer replacement for... |
Television work
| Year | Program | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1988 | A Pup Named Scooby-Doo A Pup Named Scooby-Doo A Pup Named Scooby-Doo is the eighth incarnation of the Hanna-Barbera Saturday morning cartoon Scooby-Doo. This spin-off of the original show was created by Tom Ruegger and premiered on September 10, 1988 and ran for three seasons on ABC as a half-hour program, until August 17, 1991... |
Additional Voices |
| 1987 | Top Cat and the Beverly Hills Cats Top Cat and the Beverly Hills Cats Top Cat and the Beverly Hills Cats is a 1987 animated movie for television and it is part of the Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10 series. The TV film's plot is essentially an extended remake of the original show's episode, "The Missing Heir".- Plot :... |
Benny the ball |
| 1984 | Faerie Tale Theatre Faerie Tale Theatre Faerie Tale Theatre is a live-action children's television anthology series retelling popular fairy tales. Shelley Duvall serves as narrator, host and executive producer of the program, and occasionally stars in episodes... Pinocchio |
Boatman |
| 1981 | The Smurfs | |
| 1979 | The Dukes of Hazzard The Dukes of Hazzard The Dukes of Hazzard is an American television series that aired on the CBS television network from 1979 to 1985.The series was inspired by the 1975 film Moonrunners, which was also created by Gy Waldron and had many identical or similar character names and concepts.- Overview :The Dukes of Hazzard... |
Wendel (Episode 1:13 - Double Sting) |
| 1976 | The Rockford Files The Rockford Files The Rockford Files is an American television drama series which aired on the NBC network between September 13, 1974 and January 10, 1980. It has remained in regular syndication to the present day. The show stars James Garner as Los Angeles-based private investigator Jim Rockford and features Noah... |
Azie Boyajian |
| 1976 | The Muppet Show The Muppet Show The Muppet Show is a British television programme produced by American puppeteer Jim Henson and featuring Muppets. After two pilot episodes were produced in 1974 and 1975, the show premiered on 5 September 1976 and five series were produced until 15 March 1981, lasting 120 episodes... |
|
| 1974 | The Harlem Globetrotters Popcorn Machine The Harlem Globetrotters Popcorn Machine The Harlem Globetrotters Popcorn Machine was a Saturday morning variety show featuring players from the basketball team the Harlem Globetrotters singing, dancing, and performing comedy sketches... |
Mr. Evil |
| 1973 | The Burns and Schreiber Comedy Hour | |
| 1965 | My Mother the Car My Mother the Car My Mother the Car is an American fantasy sitcom which aired for a single season on NBC between September 14, 1965 and September 6, 1966. A total of thirty episodes were produced by United Artists Television.... |
Captain Bernard Manzini |