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| Comedian Rip Taylor passed away. |
Known as the "King of Confetti" and "The Crying Comedian," Taylor made thousands of outlandish appearances on television and in nightclubs.
He was a zany witty and over the top comedian who became a mainstay for six decades.
The Hollywood Reporter notes that Taylor became a comedy legend through pure exhilaration. Believing that the more exaggerated the gag, the bigger the laugh, he overemphasized everything, from his shaggy blonde toupee and his bushy mustache to the campy props that were the basis of his bits. His jokes were far from cutting edge, but he would deliver them with such shrieking gusto, it was hard not to howl.
He was born Charles Elmer Taylor, Jr. in 1935 in Washington, DC. His father was a musician, his mother was a waitress. As a teen, he attended the Capitol Page School and served as a congressional page.
After enlisting in the U.S. Army, he was assigned to the Signal Corps but ended up in special services where he entertained the troops in Tokyo and Korea.
After leaving the military, he went into a civilian life. He performed at nightclubs. His early acts consisted of pantomiming records (his favorites were Yiddish folk songs and Spike Jones tunes).
Taylor played strip clubs up and down the East Coast in the mid-1950s before coming up with his first signature bit: crying. He found that if he'd hold a handkerchief to his face and pretend to bawl, he'd get a bigger laugh. More upscale bookings followed, and he played all over Miami Beach.
He was briefly married to Rusty Rowe, a Las Vegas showgirl, before they divorced. At his death he was survived by his partner Robert Fortney.
Taylor appeared in numerous movies The Happy Hooker Goes to Washington, Things Are Tough All Over, Chatterbox and Wayne's World 2. He also appeared in comedies like Jackass and its movie.
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