John Brent (14 March 1938, in

Madison, Connecticut Madison is a town in the southeastern corner of New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, occupying a central location on Connecticut's Long Island Sound shoreline. The population was 17,691 at the 2020 census. Madison was first settled in 16 ...

– 16 August 1985, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

) was an American comedian, actor and

beat poet The Beat Generation was a literary subculture movement started by a group of authors whose work explored and influenced American culture and politics in the post-war era. The bulk of their work was published and popularized by Silent Generatione ...

. He was part of

the Second City The Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise and is the oldest ongoing improvisational theater troupe to be continually based in Chicago, with training programs and live theatres in Toronto and Los Angeles. The Second City Theatre o ...

comedy club, and then later The Committee. He is mainly known for being half the duo behind the 1959 ''

How To Speak Hip ''How to Speak Hip'' is a comedy album by Del Close and John Brent, released by Mercury Records in 1959. Description The album is designed as a satire of language-learning records, where the secret language of the ' hipster' is treated as a f ...

'' comedy album with

Del Close Del Close (March 9, 1934 – March 4, 1999) was an American actor, writer, and teacher who coached many of the best-known comedians and comic actors of the late twentieth century. In addition to an acting career in television and film, he was ...

. Otherwise he recorded and published little, since he died at a relatively young age. He also appeared as an actor in such films as ''

Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice ''Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice'' is a 1969 American comedy-drama film directed by Paul Mazursky, written by Mazursky and Larry Tucker, who also produced the film, and starring Natalie Wood, Robert Culp, Elliott Gould, and Dyan Cannon. The origi ...

'', ''

Catch-22 ''Catch-22'' is a satirical war novel by American author Joseph Heller. He began writing it in 1953; the novel was first published in 1961. Often cited as one of the most significant novels of the twentieth century, it uses a distinctive non-ch ...

'', ''

Steelyard Blues ''Steelyard Blues'' is a 1973 American comedy crime film directed by Alan Myerson and starring Donald Sutherland, Jane Fonda and Peter Boyle. Plot A group of misfits tries to find a happier life against the norms of society. Donald Sutherland pla ...

'', and ''

American Graffiti ''American Graffiti'' is a 1973 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by George Lucas, produced by Francis Ford Coppola, written by Willard Huyck, Gloria Katz and Lucas, and starring Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard (billed as Ronny ...

''. Brent is survived by his son, Jeremy Paz, who resides in San Francisco.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

1938 births 1985 deaths American male comedians American male film actors People from Madison, Connecticut 20th-century American male actors 20th-century American poets 20th-century American comedians {{US-comedian-stub