Chris Bearde
Encyclopedia
Chris Bearde is a comedy
writer
, producer
and director
best known for his work as a writer on the '60s zeitgeist hit Laugh In and for co-writing and producing TV specials for Elvis Presley
, Bob Hope
, Sonny and Cher, Bill Cosby
, Steve Martin
, Jim Carrey
, Andy Williams
, The Jackson Five, The Osmonds
, Dinah Shore
, Diana Ross
, and Lucille Ball
. He also created the format for the original Gong Show and a number of network and pay-cable comedy series including That's My Mama
and Sherman Oaks.
, Australia
. After working in radio and serving two years in the Australian Army
, at 23 he became host of the children's television series Smalltime. His appearances in this show and his writing for other Australian comedy shows was recognised by visiting Canadian and American
producers, and Bearde was contracted by the Canadian commercial network CTV
to write a comedy series in the early 1960s, titled Network. He created two shows for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
, Front and Centre and Canada's first late night political satire
show Nightcap.
and moved to Hollywood. There he created formats for several specials for NBC
and ABC
. Bearde's method of combining slapstick
and political satire made him a resident writer on the original Laugh In.
While working with the producer of Laugh In, George Schlatter, Bearde created the formats for specials, including Like Hep with Dinah Shore
and The Grammy Awards
. In 1968, he formed a partnership with Canadian producer Allan Blye and they created the format for the 1968 TV special Singer Presents Elvis for producer Bob Finkel and director Steve Binder. Bearde and Blye co-produced several specials for Andy Williams
and produced two years of The Andy Williams Show
from 1969 to 1971. Blye and Bearde also created a summer series, The Who Is Ray Stevens Show, which featured the first appearance of Steve Martin
.
Blye and Bearde also created and produced one of the first black situation comedies, That's My Mama
, for ABC.
After splitting with Allan Blye, Bearde created the format and produced with Chuck Barris
The Bobby Vinton Show
and the first major breakthrough talent reality television
show, The Gong Show
. Although Bearde later sold his interest in the '70s version of the program to Barris, Bearde's company produced a one-season revival of the show in 1988. He also produced The Bob Hope Christmas Show and returned to Australia to produce Texaco Presents Bob Hope in Australia.
Bearde formed a partnership with ex-CBS president Robert Wood and created pilots and a children's series, The W.A.C.K.O. Show, for CBS. Bearde directed a comedy film called Hysterical, released in 1983, starring The Hudson Brothers.
Bearde formed a long-term partnership with Dick Clark and produced The Half Hour Comedy Hour, which featured the first national appearance of Arsenio Hall
as a host. Clark and Bearde co-produced Bearde's lip sync
hit series Puttin' on the Hits in 1985.
Bearde formed a co-production partnership with Vin Di Bona, the producer of America's Funniest Home Videos
. He created and produced HBO's cult series satirizing TV news Night Rap http://www.tv.com/chris-bearde/person/122706/summary.html and Showtime's comedy hit Sherman Oaks. Di Bona and Bearde also produced several specials for CBS.
and created and trademarked "Chris Bearde's International Comedy Hall of Fame", a 30000 sq ft (2,787.1 m²) entertainment retail restaurant and comedy tribute exhibition complex, currently in the design and planning stages. Each year there are several Comedy Awards and Induction Ceremony TV specials included in the package.
Bearde has received an Emmy Award
, a Golden Globe Award
, and a Writers Guild of America Award
.
The Chris Bearde School of Comedy was created in Las Vegas in 2007 and moved to Los Angeles in 2008. The school is currently
in operation and has just completed its first LA class with a graduation showcase at the Comedy Central Stage at the Hudson in Hollywood. New classes begin each month.
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, producer
Television producer
The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
and director
Television director
A television director directs the activities involved in making a television program and is part of a television crew.-Duties:The duties of a television director vary depending on whether the production is live or recorded to video tape or video server .In both types of productions, the...
best known for his work as a writer on the '60s zeitgeist hit Laugh In and for co-writing and producing TV specials for Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
, Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
, Sonny and Cher, Bill Cosby
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...
, Steve Martin
Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer....
, 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...
, Andy Williams
Andy Williams
Howard Andrew "Andy" Williams is an American singer who has recorded 18 Gold- and three Platinum-certified albums. He hosted The Andy Williams Show, a TV variety show, from 1962 to 1971, as well as numerous television specials, and owns his own theater, the Moon River Theatre in Branson, Missouri,...
, The Jackson Five, The Osmonds
The Osmonds
The Osmonds are an American family music group with a long and varied career—a career that took them from singing barbershop music as children, to achieving success as teen-music idols, to producing a hit television show, and to continued success as solo and group performers...
, Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore was an American singer, actress, and television personality...
, Diana Ross
Diana Ross
Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...
, and Lucille Ball
Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy...
. He also created the format for the original Gong Show and a number of network and pay-cable comedy series including That's My Mama
That's My Mama
That's My Mama is an American television sitcom that was originally broadcast on the ABC network from September 1974 until December 1975. There are 39 episodes of this series.-Synopsis:...
and Sherman Oaks.
Early career
Chris Bearde's career started in the 1950s in SydneySydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. After working in radio and serving two years in the Australian Army
Australian Army
The Australian Army is Australia's military land force. It is part of the Australian Defence Force along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. While the Chief of Defence commands the Australian Defence Force , the Army is commanded by the Chief of Army...
, at 23 he became host of the children's television series Smalltime. His appearances in this show and his writing for other Australian comedy shows was recognised by visiting Canadian and American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
producers, and Bearde was contracted by the Canadian commercial network CTV
CTV television network
CTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...
to write a comedy series in the early 1960s, titled Network. He created two shows for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
, Front and Centre and Canada's first late night political satire
Political satire
Political satire is a significant part of satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics; it has also been used with subversive intent where political speech and dissent are forbidden by a regime, as a method of advancing political arguments where such arguments are expressly...
show Nightcap.
Move to Hollywood
After four years of working in Canadian radio and television, Bearde was signed by the William Morris AgencyWilliam Morris Agency
WME is the largest talent agency in the world, with offices in Beverly Hills, New York City, Nashville, London, and Miami. WME represents elite artists from all facets of the entertainment industry, including motion pictures, television, music, theatre, publishing, and physical production...
and moved to Hollywood. There he created formats for several specials for NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
and 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...
. Bearde's method of combining slapstick
Slapstick
Slapstick is a type of comedy involving exaggerated violence and activities which may exceed the boundaries of common sense.- Origins :The phrase comes from the batacchio or bataccio — called the 'slap stick' in English — a club-like object composed of two wooden slats used in Commedia dell'arte...
and political satire made him a resident writer on the original Laugh In.
While working with the producer of Laugh In, George Schlatter, Bearde created the formats for specials, including Like Hep with Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore was an American singer, actress, and television personality...
and The Grammy Awards
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
. In 1968, he formed a partnership with Canadian producer Allan Blye and they created the format for the 1968 TV special Singer Presents Elvis for producer Bob Finkel and director Steve Binder. Bearde and Blye co-produced several specials for Andy Williams
Andy Williams
Howard Andrew "Andy" Williams is an American singer who has recorded 18 Gold- and three Platinum-certified albums. He hosted The Andy Williams Show, a TV variety show, from 1962 to 1971, as well as numerous television specials, and owns his own theater, the Moon River Theatre in Branson, Missouri,...
and produced two years of The Andy Williams Show
The Andy Williams Show
The Andy Williams Show is a television variety show which ran from 1959 to 1971 , and a short-lived run in syndication, beginning in the fall of 1976...
from 1969 to 1971. Blye and Bearde also created a summer series, The Who Is Ray Stevens Show, which featured the first appearance of Steve Martin
Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer....
.
Blye and Bearde also created and produced one of the first black situation comedies, That's My Mama
That's My Mama
That's My Mama is an American television sitcom that was originally broadcast on the ABC network from September 1974 until December 1975. There are 39 episodes of this series.-Synopsis:...
, for ABC.
After splitting with Allan Blye, Bearde created the format and produced with Chuck Barris
Chuck Barris
Charles Hirsch "Chuck" Barris is an American game show producer, film director and presenter best known for hosting The Gong Show and creating The Dating Game. Barris, a survivor of lung cancer, is also an author and claims to have worked for the CIA.-Early career:Barris was born in Oakland, New...
The Bobby Vinton Show
The Bobby Vinton Show
The Bobby Vinton Show was a Canadian musical variety television series produced for the CTV Television Network between 1975 and 1978, with a total of 52 episodes broadcast. Starring Bobby Vinton, a best selling pop singer since the early 1960s, the series mixed comedy skits with musical interludes....
and the first major breakthrough talent reality television
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
show, 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...
. Although Bearde later sold his interest in the '70s version of the program to Barris, Bearde's company produced a one-season revival of the show in 1988. He also produced The Bob Hope Christmas Show and returned to Australia to produce Texaco Presents Bob Hope in Australia.
Bearde formed a partnership with ex-CBS president Robert Wood and created pilots and a children's series, The W.A.C.K.O. Show, for CBS. Bearde directed a comedy film called Hysterical, released in 1983, starring The Hudson Brothers.
Bearde formed a long-term partnership with Dick Clark and produced The Half Hour Comedy Hour, which featured the first national appearance of Arsenio Hall
Arsenio Hall
Arsenio Hall is an American actor, comedian, and former talk show host. He is best known for his talk show The Arsenio Hall Show, which ran between 1989 and 1994, and his roles in the films Coming to America and Harlem Nights.Hall is also known for his appearance as Alan Thicke's sidekick on the...
as a host. Clark and Bearde co-produced Bearde's lip sync
Lip sync
Lip sync, lip-sync, lip-synch is a technical term for matching lip movements with sung or spoken vocals...
hit series Puttin' on the Hits in 1985.
Bearde formed a co-production partnership with Vin Di Bona, the producer of America's Funniest Home Videos
America's Funniest Home Videos
America's Funniest Home Videos is an American reality television program on ABC in which viewers are able to send in humorous homemade videotapes. The most common videos usually feature slapstick physical comedy arising from incidents, accidents and mishaps...
. He created and produced HBO's cult series satirizing TV news Night Rap http://www.tv.com/chris-bearde/person/122706/summary.html and Showtime's comedy hit Sherman Oaks. Di Bona and Bearde also produced several specials for CBS.
Move to Las Vegas
In 2005, Bearde moved his operation to Las VegasLas Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
and created and trademarked "Chris Bearde's International Comedy Hall of Fame", a 30000 sq ft (2,787.1 m²) entertainment retail restaurant and comedy tribute exhibition complex, currently in the design and planning stages. Each year there are several Comedy Awards and Induction Ceremony TV specials included in the package.
Bearde has received an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
, a Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
, and a Writers Guild of America Award
Writers Guild of America Award
The Writers Guild of America Award for outstanding achievements in film, television, and radio has been presented annually by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America, West since 1949...
.
The Chris Bearde School of Comedy was created in Las Vegas in 2007 and moved to Los Angeles in 2008. The school is currently
in operation and has just completed its first LA class with a graduation showcase at the Comedy Central Stage at the Hudson in Hollywood. New classes begin each month.