Sam Kinison
Samuel Burl “Sam” Kinison (December 8, 1953 – April 10, 1992) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. Kinison was known for his intense, harsh humor. A former revival-style preacher, he performed stand-up routines that were most often characterized by an intense style, similar to revival preachers, punctuated by his trademark scream.
Born in Yakima, Washington, Kinison was the son of Marie and Samuel Kinison, Pentecostal preachers. His father pastored several churches around the country, receiving little income. Sam later attended high school in East Peoria, Illinois. He also lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma for a while with his parents. He followed in his father’s footsteps as a Pentecostal preacher before becoming a comedian. Recordings of his sermons reveal that he used a “fire and brimstone” style, punctuated with shouts similar to the ones he would later use in his stand-up routines. He attended Pinecrest Bible Training Center in Salisbury Center, New York. After he and his first wife were divorced, he abandoned preaching and took up comedy as a profession.
Sam Kinison began his career in Houston, Texas, where he performed in small clubs. It wasn’t until his appearance on HBO’s Rodney Dangerfield’s Ninth Annual Young Comedians Special in the summer of 1984 that he became a well known comic. His appearance on the special is widely considered to be his breakthrough performance. Later, during Kinison’s appearance on Late Night with David Letterman, Letterman’s introduction of Kinison warned his audience: “Brace yourselves. I’m not kidding. Please welcome Sam Kinison.”
During one notable The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson performance, he delivered what began as a straightforward version of Elvis Presley’s “Are You Lonesome Tonight”, which descended into angry ranting during the spoken breakdown, and then segueing back into a straightforward sung ending.
Some of Kinison’s most spontaneous moments came during his frequent appearances on The Howard Stern Show. He made an angry phone call on-air to Bobcat Goldthwait, and he embarrassed comedienne Judy Tenuta to the point of driving her off the show. His most notorious stunt resulted in an on-air feud with Stern: he made an on-air promise to bring to the show members of the band Bon Jovi, with whom Stern was feuding, but they did not show up, nor did Kinison. Stern’s reaction was swift and vindictive, and Kinison eventually apologized, but not before comedian Gilbert Gottfried and Stern savaged an emotionally charged phone call between Stern and Kinison, in which both stars used the words “man” and “dude” so often that the playback was used as a bit on the show.
Stern and Kinison eventually made up and paired on Stern’s pay-per-view special, U.S. Open Sores. In the early-1990s, Stern purchased the movie rights to Kinison’s biography ‘reported that HBO would make Brother Sam with Kinison being played by Dan Fogler.
In 1991, Kinison starred in the Fox Network TV show Charlie Hoover, in which he played the inner voice of the title character, appearing as a 12″ man. The show lasted only seven episodes before being canceled.
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