Dick Shawn1923 - 1987

usually

Actor

Popularity

0.8

Famous

Biography

Dick Shawn (December 1, 1923 – April 17, 1987) was an American actor. Way ahead of his time most say, it was extremely difficult indeed to know how to properly tap into this man's eclectic talents. Shawn began inching toward the forefront during the be-bop 50s and early 60s with his odd penchant for playing cool cats. During his mild bid for film stardom, he was top-billed as a hip, laid back genie in the thoroughly dismal satire The Wizard of Baghdad (1960), but seemed to have better luck when taken in smaller doses. He fared quite well opposite another "way-out-there" comedian, Ernie Kovacs, in Wake Me When It's Over (1960) as a hustling soldier out to make a buck in the Far East. Also on the plus side, he replaced Zero Mostel in the bawdy musical "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" on Broadway and stole a small scene in the all-star epic comedy It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963). By far, the one role that completely overshadows all of his other hard work is his mock portrayal of a singing Adolf Hitler in the show-within-a-movie The Producers (1968). In the film, which starred Mostel and Gene Wilder as two con artists deliberately producing a stage "bomb" called "Springtime for Hitler," Shawn sang the hammy, absurdly narcissistic song "Love Power." The movie finally captured Shawn in his element, but this stroke of genius of matching actor to role would never happen again for him. For the most part his roles came off slick and smarmy, and were stuck in mediocre material. Shawn won a huge fan base, however, touring in one-man stage shows which contained a weird mix of songs, sketches, satire, philosophy and even pantomime. A bright, innovative wit, one of his best touring shows was called "The Second Greatest Entertainer in the World." During the show's intermission, Shawn would lie visibly on the stage floor absolutely still during the entire time. By freakish coincidence, Shawn was performing at the University of California at San Diego in 1987 when he suddenly fell forward on the stage during one of his spiels about the Holocaust. The audience, of course, laughed, thinking it was just a part of his odd shtick. In actuality, the 63-year-old married actor with four children had suffered a fatal heart attack. A not-surprising end for this thoroughly offbeat and intriguing personality.

Credits

Leave 'em Laughing
Leave 'em Laughing

2020

Drama

as Self (archive footage)

0.2
Mel Brooks: Unwrapped
Mel Brooks: Unwrapped

2018

Comedy • Documentary

as Self (archive footage)

6.4
0.3
Batman & Robin
Batman & Robin

1997

Action • Adventure • Science Fiction

as Snow Miser (archive sound) (uncredited)

4.4
6.1
Something a Little Less Serious: A Tribute to 'It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World'
Something a Little Less Serious: A Tribute to 'It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World'

1991

Comedy • Documentary

as Self (archive footage)

0.1
Rented Lips
Rented Lips

1987

Comedy

as Charlie Slater

3.7
0.4
Maid to Order
Maid to Order

1987

Comedy • Fantasy

as Stan Starkey

5.6
0.6
The Making of Captain EO
The Making of Captain EO

1986

Documentary

as Self

6.7
0.5
Captain EO
Captain EO

1986

as Commander Bog

0.2
The Perils of P.K
The Perils of P.K

1986

Comedy

as The Psychiatrist

10
0.2
The Check is in the Mail...
The Check is in the Mail...

1986

Comedy

as Donald

6
0.6
The Tommy Chong Roast
The Tommy Chong Roast

1986

Comedy • TV Movie

5.5
0.3
The Emperor's New Clothes
The Emperor's New Clothes

1985

Comedy • Fantasy • TV Movie

as Emperor

4
0.3
If the Shoes Fit...
If the Shoes Fit...

1985

Comedy

as Bo Gumbs

0.2
Water
Water

1985

Adventure • Comedy

as Deke Halliday

5.9
0.9
Angel
Angel

1984

Action • Crime • Thriller

as Mae

6
2.1
Best Chest in the West
Best Chest in the West

1984

Comedy

as Self - Host

5
0.2
The Secret Diary of Sigmund Freud
The Secret Diary of Sigmund Freud

1984

Comedy • Drama

as The Ultimate Patient

4
0.2
Young Warriors
Young Warriors

1983

Action • Drama

as Professor Hoover

3.7
0.2
Good-bye Cruel World
Good-bye Cruel World

1983

Comedy

as Rodney Pointsetter / Ainsley Pointsetter

2.8
0.3
Playboy's 25th Anniversary Celebration
1
0.2
Love at First Bite
Love at First Bite

1979

Comedy • Horror • Romance

as Lieutenant Ferguson NYPD

5.9
0.9
Fast Friends
Fast Friends

1979

Drama

as Deke Edwards

0.4
Looking Up
Looking Up

1977

as Manny Lander

0
The Year Without a Santa Claus
The Year Without a Santa Claus

1974

Animation • Family • TV Movie

as Snow Miser (voice)

7.2
1.2
Evil Roy Slade
Evil Roy Slade

1972

Comedy • TV Movie • Western

as Marshal Bing Bell

6.2
0.5
Dames at Sea
Dames at Sea

1971

Comedy • Music • TV Movie

as Lucky

6
0.2
Annie: the Women in the Life of a Man
Annie: the Women in the Life of a Man

1970

Comedy • Music

as Himself

0.3
The Happy Ending
The Happy Ending

1969

Drama

as Harry Bricker

6
0.5
The Producers
The Producers

1968

Comedy

as Lorenzo St. DuBois (L.S.D.)

7.1
2.4
Penelope
Penelope

1966

Comedy • Crime

as Dr. Gregory Mannix

5.6
1.1
Way... Way Out
Way... Way Out

1966

Comedy • Science Fiction

as Igor Valkleinokov

5.7
0.4
What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?
What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?

1966

Comedy • War

as Captain Lionel Cash

6
1
A Very Special Favor
A Very Special Favor

1965

Comedy • Romance

as Arnold Plum

5.7
0.4
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

1963

Action • Adventure • Comedy • Crime

as Sylvester Marcus

7
4.8
The Wizard of Baghdad
The Wizard of Baghdad

1961

Comedy

as Genii-Ali Mahmud

6
0.2
Wake Me When It's Over
Wake Me When It's Over

1960

Comedy

as Gus Brubaker

6
0.2
The Opposite Sex
The Opposite Sex

1956

Comedy • Music • Romance

as Singer

5.2
1.3

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