Singer Perry Como discovered Brooks in 1969, giving the comedian his major break.
BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS
Description: Comedian, USA
Known For: Role as Mr. Sternhagen, Mindy
Music Styles: Comedy
Location: United States of America
Date Born: 11th May 1912
Location Born: Louisville, Kentucky, United States of America
Date Died: 20th January 2001
Location Died: Encino, California, United States of America
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BIOGRAPHICAL PROFILE
Foster Brooks
An American actor and comedian most famous for his portrayal of a lovable drunken man in nightclub performances and television programs.
He was one of eight sons. His career started in radio, most notably with station WHAS (AM) in Louisville.
Brooks was a staff announcer, but his deep baritone voice was well-suited for singing as well.
Brooks gained some measure of fame for his reporting of the Ohio River flood of 1937, where he was featured on emergency broadcasts by WHAS and also WSM (AM) out of Nashville, Tennessee.
In 1952, Brooks appeared on local television in a short-lived spoof of Gene Autry and his “Singing Cowboys.”
He later worked in local broadcasting as a radio and TV personality in Buffalo and Rochester, New York before moving to the west coast to launch a career as a standup comic and character actor.
On the syndicated Steve Allen show of the 1960s, Allen introduced Brooks as an important movie producer.
Brooks stumbled on stage doing his drunk act, fooling some of the other guests. Brooks claimed to be the executive in charge of editing movies for television. His biggest success, he said, was the famous movie The Three Commandments.
Singer Perry Como discovered Brooks in 1969, giving the comedian his major break. Como chose Brooks to open for him, and when a manager balked at the newcomer, Como refused to perform. The manager acquiesced, and Brooks was an instant hit.
Brooks regularly appeared on The Dean Martin Show (Celebrity Roast) television program in the 1970s, as well as many situation comedies, talk shows, and a few films.
Although he had only one basic signature character, he exhibited such extraordinary timing and subtlety that he was instantly recognized as one of the great comic performers of the time. His signature routine was the basis of a hit comedy album entitled “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 that he would mix up his words to comedic delight.
Brooks drew upon his own battles with alcohol for his act, but during his period of greatest fame, Brooks rarely drank. Of giving up drinking to win a bet in 1964, Brooks said, “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.”
In character, Brooks asked Dean Martin to join his group “Alcoholics Unanimous,” a play on Alcoholics Anonymous.
He had a recurring role as Mr. Sternhagen, Mindy’s boss on Mork & Mindy.
Brooks died on December 20, 2001, at his home in Encino, California.
He was 89 and had been suffering from heart trouble.