George Wallace (comedian)
Encyclopedia
George Henry Wallace is an American
comedian
and actor
. He is number 93 on Comedy Central
's list of the 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time.
, to Mary Lou and George Wallace, Sr. He grew up in a loving, religious family. He was educated at Lynwood Park Elementary School and Lynwood Park High School. Since his early teenage years, Wallace dreamed of becoming a comedian. Wallace's mother died when he was sixteen, prompting him to move to Ohio where he found a job with Firestone Tire. As part of the company's tuition reimbursement program, George enrolled in the University of Akron
, where he studied transportation, marketing and advertising. Upon graduation, Wallace moved to New York City
in pursuit of his childhood dream. At first, success in comedy proved elusive and Wallace worked as a salesman for an advertising agency to pay the bills.
. The club owner was amused by Wallace's natural humor and friendly demeanor and offered him the chance to perform standup comedy. In 1977, Wallace walked on stage for the first time, wearing a preacher's robe and calling himself the Reverend Dr. George Wallace. His routine was completely improvised, yet it included the same imagery and delivery of the spiritual leaders who had influenced him as a child. Wallace was a hit. He stayed in New York for several years, perfecting his craft and living with friend and fellow comedian Jerry Seinfeld
.
In 1978, Wallace moved to the West Coast, where he quickly became recognized as a talented young comedian. After one of his performances, producers from The Redd Foxx Show
asked him to write for the popular series. However, after only one year of writing, Wallace returned to the stage. He became a regular at the famous Comedy Store, which also featured such artists as Richard Pryor
, Rodney Dangerfield
, Roseanne Barr
, Jay Leno
and Robin Williams
. Wallace also took his comedy show on the road, opening for George Benson
, Diana Ross
, Donna Summer
and Smokey Robinson
, among others.
Wallace, who was named the Best Male Standup Comedian during the 1995 American Comedy Awards, says that his routines are inspired by everyday moments of life. His unique brand of social commentary proved popular with radio audiences as well. Wallace was a regular on The Tom Joyner Morning Show
before joining the legendary Isaac Hayes
on a popular radio program on WRKS, New York. He also starred in his own HBO special and appeared on many television shows, such as The Tonight Show, The Oprah Winfrey Show
and Late Night with David Letterman
.
Among his more memorable jokes was the suggestion that African-Americans should not have to pay Social Security
because their average lifespan was only 65 anyway. His best-known bit is People Say Stupid Things, in which he points out the folly of many popularly used phrases. For example, in response to the term untimely death, he asks "When is a GOOD time to die?" He follows this question with, "I wanna hear something on the news like, 'Senator Jesse Helms
died today, and it's about doggone time!!!'" Wallace also pokes fun at himself for having the same name as a famous segregationist
.
Currently, Wallace has a running show at The Flamingo Resort and Casino
in Las Vegas
, Nevada
. Additionally, he calls the Flamingo home and regularly spends time walking the hotel casino floor mingling with hotel guests.
film, The Ladykillers
(as Sheriff Wyner). Wallace also appeared in Batman Forever
as the Mayor of Gotham City
. Other motion picture credits include A Rage in Harlem, The Wash
, Punchline
, Things Are Tough All Over
and Postcards from the Edge
. He also made a brief appearance in the sitcom Scrubs
episode "My Long Goodbye
", and on Seinfeld (The Checks),where he played the doctor that was distracted by the song "Witchy Woman."
. As mayor, Wallace hopes to update the Las Vegas Strip
, which is not in the city, with an easy to use monorail
, close the strip to vehicles, and expand the road system behind the Strip hotels.
Wallace was the best man at the wedding
of Jerry Seinfeld
.
His nephew, Steve Wallace
, played professional football with the San Francisco 49ers
and Kansas City Chiefs
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
and 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...
. He is number 93 on Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
's list of the 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time.
Early life
Wallace was born in Atlanta, GeorgiaAtlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
, to Mary Lou and George Wallace, Sr. He grew up in a loving, religious family. He was educated at Lynwood Park Elementary School and Lynwood Park High School. Since his early teenage years, Wallace dreamed of becoming a comedian. Wallace's mother died when he was sixteen, prompting him to move to Ohio where he found a job with Firestone Tire. As part of the company's tuition reimbursement program, George enrolled in the University of Akron
University of Akron
The University of Akron is a coeducational public research university located in Akron, Ohio, United States. The university is part of the University System of Ohio. It was founded in 1870 as a small college affiliated with the Universalist Church. In 1913 ownership was transferred to the City of...
, where he studied transportation, marketing and advertising. Upon graduation, Wallace moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in pursuit of his childhood dream. At first, success in comedy proved elusive and Wallace worked as a salesman for an advertising agency to pay the bills.
Career highlights
Wallace's break came when one of his clients opened a comedy clubComedy club
A comedy club is a venue, typically a nightclub, bar, or restaurant where people watch or listen to performances, including stand-up comedians, improvisational comedians, impersonators, magicians, ventriloquists and other comedy acts...
. The club owner was amused by Wallace's natural humor and friendly demeanor and offered him the chance to perform standup comedy. In 1977, Wallace walked on stage for the first time, wearing a preacher's robe and calling himself the Reverend Dr. George Wallace. His routine was completely improvised, yet it included the same imagery and delivery of the spiritual leaders who had influenced him as a child. Wallace was a hit. He stayed in New York for several years, perfecting his craft and living with friend and fellow comedian Jerry Seinfeld
Jerry Seinfeld
Jerome Allen "Jerry" Seinfeld is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and television and film producer, known for playing a semi-fictional version of himself in the situation comedy Seinfeld , which he co-created and co-wrote with Larry David, and, in the show's final two seasons,...
.
In 1978, Wallace moved to the West Coast, where he quickly became recognized as a talented young comedian. After one of his performances, producers from The Redd Foxx Show
The Redd Foxx Show
The Redd Foxx Show is a short-lived sitcom that premiered January 18, 1986 on ABC. The show ended after four months on air.-Overview:It followed the life of Al Hughes , a New York City newsstand owner who adopted a "street-wise" teenager named Toni...
asked him to write for the popular series. However, after only one year of writing, Wallace returned to the stage. He became a regular at the famous Comedy Store, which also featured such artists as Richard Pryor
Richard Pryor
Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor was an American stand-up comedian, actor, social critic, writer and MC. Pryor was known for uncompromising examinations of racism and topical contemporary issues, which employed colorful vulgarities, and profanity, as well as racial epithets...
, Rodney Dangerfield
Rodney Dangerfield
Rodney Dangerfield , was an American comedian, and actor, known for the catchphrases "I don't get no respect!," "No respect, no respect at all... that's the story of my life" or "I get no respect, I tell ya" and his monologues on that theme...
, Roseanne Barr
Roseanne Barr
Roseanne Cherrie Barr is an American actress, comedian, writer, television producer and director. Barr began her career in stand-up comedy at clubs before gaining fame for her role in the sitcom Roseanne. The show was a hit and lasted nine seasons, from 1988 to 1997...
, Jay Leno
Jay Leno
James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno is an American stand-up comedian and television host.From 1992 to 2009, Leno was the host of NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ,...
and Robin Williams
Robin Williams
Robin McLaurin Williams is an American actor and comedian. Rising to fame with his role as the alien Mork in the TV series Mork and Mindy, and later stand-up comedy work, Williams has performed in many feature films since 1980. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance...
. Wallace also took his comedy show on the road, opening for George Benson
George Benson
George Benson is a ten Grammy Award winning American musician, whose production career began at the age of twenty-one as a jazz guitarist....
, 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...
, Donna Summer
Donna Summer
LaDonna Adrian Gaines , known by her stage name, Donna Summer, is an American singer/songwriter who gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s. She has a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Summer is a five-time Grammy winner and was the first artist to have three consecutive double albums reach...
and Smokey Robinson
Smokey Robinson
William "Smokey" Robinson, Jr. is an American R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. Robinson is one of the primary figures associated with Motown, second only to the company's founder, Berry Gordy...
, among others.
Wallace, who was named the Best Male Standup Comedian during the 1995 American Comedy Awards, says that his routines are inspired by everyday moments of life. His unique brand of social commentary proved popular with radio audiences as well. Wallace was a regular on The Tom Joyner Morning Show
Tom Joyner Morning Show
The Tom Joyner Morning Show is a nationally-syndicated program, featuring host Tom Joyner and a team of comedians and commentators reporting and discussing the latest news and sports of the day, playing popular R&B songs from the 1970s through the 1990s as well as contemporary R&B hits, and an...
before joining the legendary Isaac Hayes
Isaac Hayes
Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. was an American songwriter, musician, singer and actor. Hayes was one of the creative influences behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the...
on a popular radio program on WRKS, New York. He also starred in his own HBO special and appeared on many television shows, such as The Tonight Show, The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....
and Late Night with David Letterman
Late Night with David Letterman
Late Night with David Letterman is a nightly hour-long comedy talk show on NBC that was created and hosted by David Letterman. It premiered in 1982 as the first incarnation of the Late Night franchise and went off the air in 1993, after Letterman left NBC and moved to Late Show on CBS. Late Night...
.
Among his more memorable jokes was the suggestion that African-Americans should not have to pay Social Security
Social Security (United States)
In the United States, Social Security refers to the federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program.The original Social Security Act and the current version of the Act, as amended encompass several social welfare and social insurance programs...
because their average lifespan was only 65 anyway. His best-known bit is People Say Stupid Things, in which he points out the folly of many popularly used phrases. For example, in response to the term untimely death, he asks "When is a GOOD time to die?" He follows this question with, "I wanna hear something on the news like, 'Senator Jesse Helms
Jesse Helms
Jesse Alexander Helms, Jr. was a five-term Republican United States Senator from North Carolina who served as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 1995 to 2001...
died today, and it's about doggone time!!!'" Wallace also pokes fun at himself for having the same name as a famous segregationist
George Wallace
George Corley Wallace, Jr. was the 45th Governor of Alabama, serving four terms: 1963–1967, 1971–1979 and 1983–1987. "The most influential loser" in 20th-century U.S. politics, according to biographers Dan T. Carter and Stephan Lesher, he ran for U.S...
.
Currently, Wallace has a running show at The Flamingo Resort and Casino
Flamingo Las Vegas
The Flamingo Las Vegas is a hotel casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada and is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment Corp.. The property offers a casino along with 3,626 hotel rooms...
in Las Vegas
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
, Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
. Additionally, he calls the Flamingo home and regularly spends time walking the hotel casino floor mingling with hotel guests.
Filmography
Wallace has had supporting roles in a number of movies, including the Coen BrothersCoen Brothers
Joel David Coen and Ethan Jesse Coen known together professionally as the Coen brothers, are American filmmakers...
film, The Ladykillers
The Ladykillers (2004 film)
The Ladykillers is a 2004 dark comedy film directed, written and produced by the Coen brothers and stars Tom Hanks, with a supporting cast that includes J. K. Simmons, Marlon Wayans, Tzi Ma, Ryan Hurst and Irma P. Hall...
(as Sheriff Wyner). Wallace also appeared in Batman Forever
Batman Forever
Batman Forever is a 1995 American superhero film directed by Joel Schumacher and produced by Tim Burton. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, the film is a sequel to Batman Returns , with Val Kilmer replacing Michael Keaton as Batman...
as the Mayor of Gotham City
Gotham City
Gotham City is a fictional U.S. city appearing in DC Comics, best known as the home of Batman. Batman's place of residence was first identified as Gotham City in Batman #4 . Gotham City is strongly inspired by Trenton, Ontario's history, location, atmosphere, and various architectural styles...
. Other motion picture credits include A Rage in Harlem, The Wash
The Wash (film)
The Wash is a hip hop-styled film written and directed by DJ Pooh and starring Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and DJ Pooh, with appearances by Eminem and Ludacris. The film was released on November 16, 2001.-Plot:...
, Punchline
Punchline (film)
Punchline is a 1988 American film written and directed by David Seltzer and stars Tom Hanks as a very talented young comic who helps a housewife, played by Sally Field who wants to break into stand-up comedy.-Synopsis:...
, Things Are Tough All Over
Things Are Tough All Over
Things are Tough All Over is the fourth Cheech and Chong movie. Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong are featured as the two hippies, and additionally as Arab businessmen Mr. Slyman and Prince Habib...
and Postcards from the Edge
Postcards from the Edge (film)
Postcards from the Edge is a 1990 American comedy-drama film directed by Mike Nichols. The screenplay by Carrie Fisher is based on her 1987 semi-autobiographical novel of the same title.-Plot:...
. He also made a brief appearance in the sitcom Scrubs
Scrubs (TV series)
Scrubs is an American medical comedy-drama television series created in 2001 by Bill Lawrence and produced by ABC Studios. The show follows the lives of several employees of the fictional Sacred Heart, a teaching hospital. It features fast-paced screenplay, slapstick, and surreal vignettes...
episode "My Long Goodbye
My Long Goodbye
"My Long Goodbye" is the 15th episode of season six of the American comedy-drama Scrubs. It was written by Dave Tennant and directed by Victor Nelli, Jr....
", and on Seinfeld (The Checks),where he played the doctor that was distracted by the song "Witchy Woman."
Personal life
Wallace has political ambitions; he is considering running for mayor of Las Vegas, NevadaLas 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...
. As mayor, Wallace hopes to update the Las Vegas Strip
Las Vegas Strip
The Las Vegas Strip is an approximately stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada; adjacent to, but outside the city limits of Las Vegas proper. The Strip lies within the unincorporated townships of Paradise and Winchester...
, which is not in the city, with an easy to use monorail
Monorail
A monorail is a rail-based transportation system based on a single rail, which acts as its sole support and its guideway. The term is also used variously to describe the beam of the system, or the vehicles traveling on such a beam or track...
, close the strip to vehicles, and expand the road system behind the Strip hotels.
Wallace was the best man at the wedding
Wedding
A wedding is the ceremony in which two people are united in marriage or a similar institution. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes...
of Jerry Seinfeld
Jerry Seinfeld
Jerome Allen "Jerry" Seinfeld is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and television and film producer, known for playing a semi-fictional version of himself in the situation comedy Seinfeld , which he co-created and co-wrote with Larry David, and, in the show's final two seasons,...
.
His nephew, Steve Wallace
Steve Wallace (NFL)
Barron Steven Wallace is a former professional American football player in the National Football League. Wallace played offensive tackle, and spent the bulk of his career in a San Francisco 49ers uniform, 11 years; 1 year with the K.C. Chiefs total of 12 years in the NFL.-College career:Wallace...
, played professional football with the San Francisco 49ers
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and...
and Kansas City Chiefs
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...
.