- The Unknown Comic
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Murray Langston as "The Unknown Comic"
The Unknown Comic is the stage name of Canadian-American actor and stand-up comic Murray Langston (born 1945, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada), best known for his comic performances on The Gong Show, usually appearing with a paper bag over his head.
Langston began his career in 1970 when he appeared on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, doing impressions of a fork, a tube of toothpaste and a grandfather clock. Later, at the suggestion of Redd Foxx, he teamed with comedian Freeman King, and after appearing on several episodes of The Midnight Special, they were spotted by producers and soon became regular performers on The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour.
After over 100 appearances with Sonny and Cher, Langston began to make appearances on many more series, including The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show, The Wolfman Jack Show, and The Bobby Vinton Show.
He worked with Joan Rivers, Red Foxx, Jim Carrey, Ruth Buzzi and many other comedians. Langston also created comedic situations for Candid Camera and appeared in several of his own segments.
Langston also invested in a nightclub restaurant called "SHOW-BIZ", where several now-famous people worked as waiters and waitresses including Debra Winger, Michael Keaton - known as Michael Douglas at the time, David Letterman, Gallagher, Tim Reid, Freddy Prinze and Redd Foxx but the club closed within two years, taking his savings. Strapped for cash, he accepted an offer to appear on The Gong Show. However, he was reportedly embarrassed about appearing on the show, so he put a bag over his head, memorized a few old jokes, and became "The Unknown Comic". The character was a hit, and soon developed a cult following, appearing on more than 150 Gong Shows and also appearing as a celebrity judge on a few shows. He also wrote for "The Gong Show" for a short time. Soon, he was appearing regularly in Las Vegas and made the rounds of many popular talk and variety shows. In the early '80s Langston revealed himself as the Unknown Comic on an episode of Real People (the bag on his head was pulled off by the show's hosts), as well at the conclusion of a match on the celebrity edition of the game show Bullseye.
Langston later produced The Unknown Comedy Hour for Playboy TV, followed by The Sex and Violence Family Hour, starring a very young Jim Carrey. He also wrote the screenplays for the films Night Patrol (1984), Up Your Alley (1988), and Wishful Thinking (1997), and was co-host of "The NEW Truth or Consequences" (1987). He also had a role in the 1989 children's TV series E.M.U-TV as Murray the Technical Director.
Twice divorced by the early 1990s, Langston decided to semi-retire from show business to concentrate on raising his daughters as a single father. His elder daughter Myah Marie is a singer-songwriter who wrote and published more than 50 songs by age 19 and in has recorded with and continues to record with Britney Spears. His younger daughter Mary lives with Langston on a hillside ranch near the mountain town of Tehachapi, California, about 70 miles from Los Angeles.
He most recently reappeared as The Unknown Comic in the film Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, wrote, directed and performed in "Dirty Jokes: The Movie and wrote and performed one man's response to "The Vagina Monologues" called "The Weenie Man-o-logs". Langston occasionally appears doing stand-up in Las Vegas and is writing a book of memoirs. He is active in charity work, particularly for children's advocacy causes.
References
External links
- Murray Langston at the Internet Movie Database
- Murray Langston interviewed by the Onion A.V. Club
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