Rip Taylor

Charles Elmer Taylor Jr. was born in Washington, D.C., on January 13, 1931, the son of Elizabeth Sue Evans (1911–2000),{{Cite web|url=https://lasvegassun.com/news/2000/jan/28/comedian-mourns-his-mother-but-the-show-goes-on/|title = Comedian mourns his mother but the show goes on - Las Vegas Sun Newspaper|date = January 28, 2000}} a waitress and former government clerk, and Charles Elmer Taylor (died 1933), a musician.{{Cite web |title=Rip Taylor Biography (1934?-) |publisher=Filmreference |url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/87/Rip-Taylor.html |access-date=October 18, 2010}} His father died when he was two years old. As described in his 2010 one-man show It Ain't All Confetti, Taylor had a tough childhood, which included being molested while in foster care and having to deal with bullies in school. As a teenager he attended Capitol Page School. Taylor worked as a congressional page before serving in the Korean War; he was in the U.S. Army Signal Corps.{{Cite news|url=https://ktla.com/2019/10/06/comedian-rip-taylor-dies-at-84/|title=Comedian Rip Taylor dies|agency=Associated Press|publisher=KTLA|location=Los Angeles|date=October 6, 2019|access-date=October 6, 2019|archive-date=October 7, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191007040048/https://ktla.com/2019/10/06/comedian-rip-taylor-dies-at-84/|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web |url=https://metro.co.uk/2019/10/07/comedian-rip-taylor-dead-84-10872992/|title=Comedian Rip Taylor dead|first=Eliza |last=Berlage |work=Metro |location=London |date=October 6, 2019 |access-date=October 6, 2019}} Although assigned to the Corps, he was sent to Special Services, the entertainment wing of the military, where he performed for the troops in Tokyo and Korea.

Taylor's career in show business began when he joined the U.S. Army, where he started performing stand-up in clubs and restaurants abroad while also performing for the troops. After his military service, and back in the U.S., he focused on a nightclub career. His mainstay material was "pantomiming records"; his favorites were Yiddish folk songs and Spike Jones tunes. He said that ended one day when the record player broke, "I haven't shut up since." In the mid-1950s he worked the strip clubs all along the Eastern coast of the U.S. Although much of his material included jokes stolen from acts he saw in USO shows, his first signature piece would be to pretend to cry while begging the audience for laughs. He found he could get a bigger response that way. His bookings started to get more upscale and he played all over Miami Beach, Florida, which had become a winter destination for the wealthy. Taylor was also a mainstay in the summer playground of the wealthy in the Catskills Mountains. A booking agent from The Ed Sullivan Show attended his show one night. Taylor would spend a week's salary on champagne to get the audience boisterous. He first appeared on the show in 1961 and made about twenty appearances. Sullivan would forget his name, saying "Get me the crying comedian."{{Cite web |url=http://www.upi.com/Archives/1992/08/26/Rip-Taylor-the-carefree-be-wigged-and-maniacal-confetti-tossing-comedian/5025714801600 |title=Rip Taylor, the carefree, be-wigged and maniacal confetti-tossing comedian |first=Vernon |last=Scott |date=August 26, 1992 |access-date=September 23, 2016}}

In addition to the Ed Sullivan Show, Taylor appeared on The Jackie Gleason Show in several guest appearances during the 1963–1964 season as "the crying comedian".{{sfn|Erickson|2007|page=[{{google books|plainurl=yes|id=8uUyBwAAQBAJ|page=99|text=Rip Taylor}} 99]}}{{sfn|Inman|2005|page=[{{google books|plainurl=yes|id=ZOmoBQAAQBAJ|page=53|text=Rip Taylor}} 53]}} Taylor's signature confetti tossing gag came from an appearance in the 1960s The Merv Griffin Show where he was bombing as a stand-up comedian. "I did props and I was 'The Prop comedian.' I was dying like hell on Merv Griffin's show. The jokes were dumb, and I tore the five by eight cards, threw them up in the air and it became confetti," he recalled. "I knocked over his desk, walked up the aisle, went to Sardi's and said, 'Well, that's the end of my television career.' I went home that night. Their switchboard had lit up. They said, 'Get the guy that went crazy!'"

Taylor became somewhat of a fixture in Las Vegas. He was the opener for Eleanor Powell's dance-focused revue, and would go on to warm up audiences for headliners Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Ann-Margret, Debbie Reynolds, Frankie Laine, Judy Garland and The Kingston Trio. In the 1970s he won Las Vegas Entertainer of the Year three times.

He appeared in two 1968 episodes of The Monkees as well as having a cameo in their 1969 special {{Frac|33|1|3}} Revolutions per Monkee.{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/monkeesdaybydays00andr|title=The Monkees : the day-by-day story of the '60s TV pop sensation|last=Sandoval|first= Andrew|date=2005|publisher=Thunder Bay Press|isbn=1592233724|location=San Diego|oclc=60692579|url-access=registration}} He continued to work as a voice performer in the 1970s cartoon series Here Comes the Grump, as the title character,{{Cite book|url={{google books|plainurl=yes|id=PJmeDwAAQBAJ|pg=PT250|text=Rip Taylor}}|title=Think Pink: The Story of DePatie-Freleng|last=Arnold|first=Mark|publisher=BearManor Media|language=en|author-link=Mark Arnold (historian)}} and in the second edition of The Addams Family cartoon series in 1992, as the voice of Uncle Fester.{{Cite magazine|url=https://deadline.com/2019/10/rip-tayler-dead-hollywood-comedy-icon-obituary-1202753636/|title=Rip Taylor Dies: Hollywood Icon Of Comedy And Camp|last=Ramos|first=Dino-Ray|date=October 6, 2019|magazine=Deadline Hollywood|location=United States|language=en|access-date=October 8, 2019}}

Throughout the 1970s, Taylor was a frequent celebrity guest panelist on television game shows such as Hollywood Squares, To Tell the Truth, and The Gong Show, and substituted for Charles Nelson Reilly on Match Game. He became a regular on Sid and Marty Krofft's Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, playing Sheldon, a sea-genie who lived in a conch shell. In addition, Taylor was also a regular on The Brady Bunch Hour, playing the role of neighbor/performer Jack Merrill. He also hosted a short-lived send-up of beauty pageants titled The $1.98 Beauty Show, created by Chuck Barris, producer/host of The Gong Show, in 1978.{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/rip-taylor-dead-flamboyant-comic-host-198-beauty-show-was-84-1196673|title=Rip Taylor, Flamboyant Comic and Host of 'The $1.98 Beauty Show,' Dies at 88|last=Koseluk|first=Chris|date=October 6, 2019|magazine=The Hollywood Reporter|language=en|access-date=October 11, 2019|archive-date=January 13, 2021|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210113025058/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/rip-taylor-dead-flamboyant-comic-host-198-beauty-show-was-84-1196673|url-status=live}} Taylor appeared as a celebrity on the 1990 version of Match Game.{{Citation needed|date=October 2019}} In 1979, he was the voice of C.J. from the Hanna-Barbera television movie Scooby Goes Hollywood.{{Citation needed|date=October 2019}} Taylor's other appearances also include The Kids in the Hall, where he was referred to as Uncle Rip by Buddy Cole, the show's most flamboyantly gay character.{{Citation needed|date=October 2019}} He also appeared as himself in the movie Wayne's World 2, one of the special guests invited to "WayneStock" after being visited in a dream by Jim Morrison. Taylor made "dozens of mayhem-filled appearances" on both The Tonight Show and The Mike Douglas Show.

In 1990, he voiced the genie in DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp. Taylor appeared uncredited on a December 1994 edition of WWF Monday Night Raw. He assisted another wrestler and they pushed Jeff Jarrett.{{Cite web |url=http://prowrestling.net/site/2015/12/21/wwe-raw-retro-coverage-december-19-1994-lex-luger-vs-irs-the-smoking-gunns-jim-neidhart-bob-holly-the-bushwhackers/ |title=WWE Raw Retro Coverage – December 19, 1994: Lex Luger vs. IRS, The Smoking Gunns, Jim Neidhart, Bob Holly, The Bushwhackers |website=Pro Wrestling Dot Net |date=December 21, 2015}}

In 1997, Taylor appeared in a segment on the show Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction. He played the role of Elmo Middleton in the segment "The Man in the Model T". Also in 1997, he appeared as himself on the sitcom Brotherly Love in the episode "Easy Come Easy Go". He also portrayed Chief Undersecretary Wartle in the graphical adventure game Zork: Grand Inquisitor in 1997.{{Cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0132641/ |title=Zork: Grand Inquisitor (Video Game 1997) |publisher=IMDb}} In 2003, Taylor also appeared as himself on Will & Grace. In 2005, he appeared as himself on an episode of George Lopez.{{Citation needed|date=October 2019}} Taylor guest-starred as chef "Rappin' Rip" in four episodes of Life with Bonnie. He guest starred in The Suite Life of Zack & Cody episode "Loosely Ballroom" as Leo.{{Cite web|url=https://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/the-suite-life-of-zack-cody/episode-25-season-2/loosely-ballroom/194675|title=The Suite Life of Zack & Cody – Season 2 Episode 25: Loosely Ballroom Online (2007)|magazine=TV Guide|language=en|access-date=October 8, 2019}} He is also in some episodes of The Emperor's New School as the voice of the Royal Record Keeper.{{Citation needed|date=October 2019}} He was also in the Jetix animated series Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!.{{Citation needed|date=October 2019}} He made a special guest appearance at the end of the 1,000th episode of G4's video game review show X-Play.{{Citation needed|date=October 2019}} He made a guest appearance on a 2012 episode of The Aquabats! Super Show!, where he played a genie reminiscent of his character on Sigmund and the Sea Monsters.{{Citation needed|date=October 2019}}

File:RipTaylorDorisRobertsNov10.jpg in 2010]]

In 1995, Taylor performed the intro for the Bloodhound Gang's Use Your Fingers album. In the early 2000s, Johnny Knoxville asked Taylor to be in the film Jackass: The Movie (2002){{sfn|Duralde|2012|page=[{{google books|plainurl=yes|id=BWUEAAAAMBAJ|pg=PA66|text=Rip Taylor}} 66]}}{{sfn|Cliver|2002|pages=[{{google books|plainurl=yes|id=cmKgj1olctcC|pg=PA18|text=Rip Taylor}} 18–19]}} and in the final scene, he wielded a pistol that, when fired, released a sign that read "The End."{{Citation needed|date=October 2019}}{{Efn|Taylor's section of the film Jackass: The Movie was originally considerably longer, and ended with him complaining about the heat, and fanning himself with his toupée. This footage was included on the DVD of the film.{{Citation needed|date=October 2019}}}} He did the same thing at the ending of Jackass Number Two, and Jackass 3D.{{Citation needed|date=October 2019}} In the credits of the 2005 remake of The Dukes of Hazzard, Taylor shows up in the blooper reel.{{Citation needed|date=October 2019}}

Taylor made occasional appearances in movies, usually in broad comedies like The Happy Hooker Goes to Washington (1977){{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gst2nfKxeYAC&q=%22Rip+Taylor%22+-wikipedia&pg=PT242|title=Washington DC's Most Wanted™: The Top 10 Book of Tourist Treasures, Powerful Politicians, and Capital Wonders|first1=Brigette|last1=Polmar|first2=Norman|last2=Polmar|author-link2=Norman Polmar|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|location=Lincoln, Nebraska|year=2010|isbn=978-1597971508|edition=1st}} and the R-rated Deep Throat parody Chatterbox (1977).{{Cite web |url=http://dailygrindhouse.com/thewire/yes-real-movie-chatterbox-1977/ |title=Yes, It's a Real Movie!: Chatterbox (1977) |website=dailygrindhouse.com}} In Cheech & Chong's Things Are Tough All Over (1982), he picks them up in the middle of nowhere driving a convertible full of props.{{Citation needed|date=October 2019}} He then proceeds to drive them to Las Vegas and telling jokes the whole way and moving Chong to tears from laughter (and, later, tears because he won't stop).{{Citation needed|date=October 2019}} In Amazon Women on the Moon (1987) a funeral service turns into a celebrity roast when guest Rip Taylor shows up to "honor" the deceased.{{Citation needed|date=October 2019}} In 1992, Taylor voiced Captain Kiddie in Tom and Jerry: The Movie. {{Citation needed|date=October 2019}} In 1993's Indecent Proposal, he appeared as Demi Moore's boss, Mr. Langford.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8G-_BAAAQBAJ&q=Rip+Taylor+as+Mr.+Langford&pg=PT146|title=Demi Moore - The Most Powerful Woman in Hollywood|first=Nigel|last=Goodall|publisher=Mainstream Publishing|location=Edinburgh|year=2000|isbn=978-1840182699}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RwJubSLM60EC&q=Rip+Taylor+as+Mr.+Langford&pg=PT63|title=Screen World 1993|volume=44|first=John A.|last=Willis|author-link=John A. Willis|publisher=Applause Theatre & Cinema Books|location=Lanham, Maryland|edition=1st|year=2000|isbn=978-1557831750}}

In 1981, Taylor appeared on Broadway when he replaced Mickey Rooney in the burlesque-themed musical comedy Sugar Babies.{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/06/29/theater/rip-taylor-barges-in-for-rooney.html |title=Rip Taylor barges in for Rooney |first=Jennifer |last=Dunning |newspaper=The New York Times |date=June 29, 1981 |access-date=August 23, 2015}} He was a frequent co-star with Debbie Reynolds in her live shows in Las Vegas; Reno, Nevada; and Lake Tahoe. Taylor performed frequently in Atlantic City as well. In 2010, he appeared in the one-man show It Ain't All Confetti in North Hollywood, where he shared personal stories about his life and career.

In 2005, Taylor appeared as the grand marshal of the Washington, D.C., Capital Pride parade.{{Cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051216052450/http://www.washblade.com/blog/index.cfm?blog_id=1080 |date=June 12, 2005 |archive-date=December 16, 2005 |url=http://www.washblade.com/blog/index.cfm?blog_id=1080 |title=Getting 'Ripped' at D.C. Pride |work=Washington Blade |first=Steve |last=Koval}} When Taylor had been referred to as "openly gay"{{Cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161114165357/http://www.newnownext.com/ask-the-flying-monkey-may-20-2009/05/2009/ |archive-date=November 14, 2016 |url=http://www.newnownext.com/ask-the-flying-monkey-may-20-2009/05/2009/ |title=Ask the Flying Monkey |author=Hartinger, Brent |date=May 20, 2009 |website=newnownext.com |publisher=NewNowNext |access-date=November 13, 2016}} in a 2009 interview for "Ask the Flying Monkey", Brent Hartinger recalled receiving an email from Taylor stating, "You don't know me to surmise I am openly gay. I don't know you're not an open heroin user. You see how that works? Think before you write." Taylor was married for a number of years to Las Vegas showgirl Rusty Rowe, whom he divorced in the early 1960s.{{Cite web |url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/87/Rip-Taylor.html |title=Rip Taylor Biography |date=November 13, 2016 |website=filmreference.com |publisher=Film Reference |access-date=November 13, 2016}}{{Cite web |url=http://thisstage.la/2010/05/it-aint-all-confetti-rip-taylor-lets-it-rip/ |title=It Ain't All Confetti: Rip Taylor lets it rip |first=Camille |last=Saviola |date=May 20, 2010 |work=This Stage Magazine |access-date=November 13, 2016}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/144138344/ |title=It ain't all confetti: Rip Taylor finds zaniness the key to a long career |date=February 22, 1987 |via=Newspapers.com |publisher=Asbury Park Press |access-date=November 13, 2016}}

Taylor was a close friend of entertainer Liberace.{{Cite web |url=https://www.closerweekly.com/posts/liberace-life-131991/ |title=Liberace's life: His friends reveal the humble, generous man behind the glitz and glamour |date=May 10, 2017}} Taylor cut the ribbon at the Las Vegas estate auction of Liberace's belongings and personal effects in 1988.{{Cite web |url=https://www.mcall.com/news/mc-xpm-1988-04-10-2636666-story.html |title=Rip Taylor says he's hot and happy Atlantic City |first=Jeffrey |last=Michelson |website=themorningcall.com|date=April 10, 1988 }}

According to his publicist, at the time of Taylor's death he was in a long-term relationship with Robert Fortney.{{Cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/06/entertainment/rip-taylor-death/index.html|title=Rip Taylor, the confetti-tossing actor and comedian, is dead|first=Hollie|last=Silverman|publisher=CNN|location=Atlanta|date=October 6, 2019 |access-date=October 6, 2019}}

Taylor died on October 6, 2019, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, having been hospitalized for an epileptic seizure the week prior.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/06/arts/rip-taylor-dead.html|title=Rip Taylor, Flamboyant Comedian, Is Dead at 88|work=The New York Times|location=New York City|date=October 6, 2019 |access-date=October 7, 2019 |last=Vigdor |first=Neil}}{{cite news |url=https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/rip-taylor-dead-dies-1203360814/|title=Rip Taylor, 'King of Camp and Confetti' comedy host, dies|first=Nate|last=Nickolai|work=Variety|location=United States|date=October 6, 2019|access-date=October 6, 2019}} His death certificate listed heart failure as a contributing cause.{{cite web|title=Certificate of Death – Charles E. Taylor|publisher=County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health|date=November 7, 2019|via=TMZ|url=https://dam.tmz.com/document/5c/o/2019/11/08/5c2d7ea6efc64c19a00e2a52f2c29d73.pdf}} While Taylor often gave his birth year as 1934 or 1935, his death certificate and census records confirm he was born in 1931.{{cite news|last=Behr|first=Lindsey|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=October 7, 2019|title=Rip Taylor, madcap comic personality, dies at 88|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/rip-taylor-madcap-comic-personality-dies/2019/10/07/65982d1e-e900-11e9-85c0-85a098e47b37_story.html|access-date=July 1, 2021}}{{cite web|website=AP News|title=Correction: Obit-Rip Taylor|date=October 7, 2019|url=https://apnews.com/article/753764d8d2be40eeb54021d4680b124f|access-date=June 30, 2021}} His ashes were scattered at sea in Hawaii.

{{Notelist|1}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{Cite book|last=Erickson|first=Hal|url={{google books|plainurl=yes|id=8uUyBwAAQBAJ}}|title=Sid and Marty Krofft: A critical study of Saturday morning children's television, 1969-1993|publisher=McFarland & Company|location=New York City|year=2007|isbn=978-0786430932|page=99}}
• {{cite book|url={{google books|plainurl=yes|id=ZOmoBQAAQBAJ}}|title=Television Variety Shows: Histories and Episode Guides to 57 Programs|first=David M.|last=Inman|publisher=McFarland & Company|location=New York City|year=2005|isbn=978-0786421985|page=53}}
• {{cite magazine|url={{google books|plainurl=yes|id=BWUEAAAAMBAJ}}|title=Kicking with Johnny Knoxville|first=Alonso|last=Duralde|magazine=The Advocate|publisher=Here Media|location=United States|date=October 12, 2012|issn=0001-8996|access-date=October 9, 2019|page=66}}
• {{cite book|url={{google books|plainurl=yes|id=cmKgj1olctcC}}|title=Jackass|first=Sean|last=Cliver|publisher=MTV Books|location=New York City|edition=Original|year=2002|isbn=978-0743431118|pages=18–19}}

{{Commons category}}

• {{IMDb name|nm0853067}}
• {{TCMDb name|id=189711|name=Rip Taylor}}
• [http://classicshowbiz.blogspot.com/2011/05/interview-with-rip-taylor.html An interview with Rip Taylor] at Classic Showbiz blog, May 2011

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Category:1931 births

Category:2019 deaths

Category:20th-century American comedians

Category:20th-century American male actors

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Category:21st-century American male actors

Category:American actors with disabilities

Category:American bisexual male actors

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Category:American male comedians

Category:American male film actors

Category:American male television actors

Category:American male voice actors

Category:Bisexual comedians

Category:Comedians from Washington, D.C.

Category:Deaths from epilepsy

Category:LGBTQ people from Washington, D.C.

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Category:Military personnel from Washington, D.C.

Category:Neurological disease deaths in California

Category:People with epilepsy

Category:Prop comics

Category:United States Army personnel of the Korean War

Category:United States Army Signal Corps personnel