Similar to Jonathan Winters in style and weirdness, one-of-a-kind nightclub comedian/singer Dick Shawn (ne Richard Schulefand) was as off-the-wall as they came and, as such, was an acquired taste. Way ahead of his time, it was extremely difficult to tap into his wacky talents. One could only scratch his head, not knowing what to make out of him. Shawn moved to the forefront during the be-bop 50s  ...  show all 

Similar to Jonathan Winters in style and weirdness, one-of-a-kind nightclub comedian/singer Dick Shawn (ne Richard Schulefand) was as off-the-wall as they came and, as such, was an acquired taste. Way ahead of his time, it was extremely difficult to tap into his wacky talents. One could only scratch his head, not knowing what to make out of him. Shawn moved to the forefront during the be-bop 50s and early 60s with a odd taste for playing slick cool cats. He was top-billed as a hip laidback genie in the thoroughly dismal satire "The Wizard of Baghdad (1960)" (1960). He fared better starring opposite another "way-out-there" comedian Ernie Kovacs in "Wake Me When It's Over (1960)" (1960) as a hustling soldier out to make a buck in the Far East. Still in all, studios had no idea what to do with him. 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)" (1963), but the one role that overshadows all of his work was his mock portrayal of a singing Adolf Hitler in the show-within-a-movie _The Producers_ (1968). In the film, which starred Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder as two con artists deliberately producing a "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. Although he didn't make many film or TV appearances over the years the ones he did make were unfunny and quickly forgotten. Shawn won his biggest fans touring in one-man stage shows which contained a weird mix of songs, sketches, satire, philosophy and even pantomime. One of his best touring shows entitled "The Second Greatest Entertainer In the World" had Shawn laying on the floor absolutely still during the entire intermission. In 1987, while performing at the University of California at San Diego, Shawn fell forward on the stage during one of his spiels about the Holocaust. The audience, of course, laughed while he laid there, thinking it was just a part of his schtick. In actuality, the 63-year-old married actor with four children had suffered a fatal heart attack. A not surprisingly offbeat end for an offbeat personality.
Interred at Hillside Memorial Park, Culver City, California, USA.
Schulefand, Richard
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