Pat McCormick (comic)

::"For other, similarly named persons, see Pat McCormick (disambiguation)"

Pat McCormick (June 30 1927 – July 29 2005)(1) was an American comic actor and writer known for playing Big Enos Burdette in "Smokey and the Bandit" and its two sequels. He wrote for a number of performers such as Red Skelton, Phyllis Diller and Johnny Carson as well as shows such as "Get Smart".

Career

McCormick was born in Rocky River, Ohio. He was a high school athlete and served in the Army. He dropped out of Harvard Law School for a career in advertising but abandoned that career as well when he started writing jokes for television and standup comedians. Eventually, he became a writer for Jack Paar on "The Jack Paar Show". He also wrote for "Get Smart", "The Danny Kaye Show" and wrote and appeared on "Candid Camera".

McCormick was both the announcer and straight man for Don Rickles on "The Don Rickles Show" in 1968. He was a regular on "The New Bill Cosby Show" on 1972. Behind the scenes, he was one of the lead writers on "The Tonight Show" writing many of its most well-known lines. He wrote the line "Due to today's earthquake, the God is Dead rally has been canceled." McCormick had a distinctive appearance being six feet, eight inches tall, weighing 250 pounds and having a walrus moustache.

His first screen performance was in "The Shaggy D.A" in 1976. He played Grover Cleveland in Robert Altman's "Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson" in the same year. In 1977, he appeared in "Smokey and the Bandit" and appeared in both sequels in 1980 and 1983. He appeared as The Ghost of TV Christmas Past in "Scrooged" in 1988 with his final appearance being in "Ted and Venus".

He also made frequent appearances as a panellist on innumerable television game shows including I've Got a Secret and The Gong Show.

McCormick retired in 1998 after being left partly paralysed by a stroke leading to his admission to the Motion Picture and Television Fund's hospital in Woodland Hills, California in that year. He died there 7 years later, aged 78.

He is survived by a son, Ben, and a grandson. He has a twin brother (who assumed a different surname), Sgt. James McKittrick, of Chicago.

Footnotes

(1) Although media reports of his death state he was 78, Allmovie.com states that he was born on July 17, 1934 in Rocky River, Ohio. The Social Security Death Index lists a Patrick B. McCormick born June 30, 1927 who died July 29, 2005.

(2) Cited in United Press International report published in "the Washington Times" on July 30, 2005.

References

Filmographies

* [http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/filmography.html?p_id=47120&mod=films] "New York Times" filmography for Pat McCormick featuring material from Allmovie.com
* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0566588] Internet Movie Database
* [http://www.mtv.com/movies/person/41578/personmain.jhtml] MTV movies article

Obituaries

* [http://washingtontimes.com/upi/20050730-051235-3348r.htm] UPI International report on McCormick's death published in the "Washington Times" July 30 2005