Dennis Wolfberg

Dennis Wolfberg (March 29, 1946 – October 3, 1994) was an American stand up comedian and actor.

Wolfberg became a fixture on "The Tonight Show" and starred in an HBO special in early 1992. He also had a recurring role as Gooshie on NBC's Quantum Leap, and in April 1993 "Entertainment Tonight" aired "A Day in the Life of Dennis Wolfberg," focusing on his relentless touring schedule.

He appeared at clubs in Washington, Denver, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, Florida and New York, and a representative said he was twice named America's top male comic in votes by clubgoers and owners nationwide. In 1990 he won an American Comedy Award as best male standup.

Born in Long Island, New York, Wolfberg taught sixth-grade students for 12 years in the South Bronx before leaving for a full-time comedy career in 1979. He died of cancer on October 3, 1994. Though he battled cancer for at least two years, he continued to work through the end of August 1994. At the time of his death from melanoma, he was negotiating a deal for his own TV show.

Filmography

• Comedy Club Greats (2007)
• Best of the Improv Volume 4 (2002)
• Comic Strip Live!
• The Clairvoyant - Comedian (1982) - aka The Killing Hour (1985) (USA: video title), aka The Killing Kind (1985) (USA: video title)
• Late Night With David Letterman - Guest - 860428 (1986)
• Quantum Leap
  • - Gooshie - "Genesis" - (1989)
  • - Gooshie - "The Leap Back" (1991)
  • - Gooshie - "Lee Harvey Oswald" (1992)
  • - Gooshie - "Killin' Time" (1992)
  • - Gooshie - "Mirror Image" (1993)
• The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson - Guest - Show #4488 (1992)
• Teacher Teacher (1990) (TV short), Plot Outline: Wolfberg relived some of his finest moments as a teacher, and proves that in a tough classroom, a good sense of humor is the most essential weapon.
• Frank Chindamo's Shorts - A collection of Frank Chindamo's comic short subjects, which explore modern mishaps related to such subjects as phone sex, radio psychology, jelly donuts, styling mousse, angry cats, blind dates, bondage, and Gilbert Gottfried with x-ray vision.

References

• Gooshie's Legacy: A Tribute to Dennis Wolfberg of Quantum Leap
• Variety obituary

External links

Biography portal

• Dennis Wolfberg at Find a Grave
• Dennis Wolfberg at the Internet Movie Database

Persondata
Name	Wolfberg
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	March 29, 1946
Place of birth
Date of death	October 3, 1994
Place of death