Philip Baine Austin (April 6, 1941 – June 18, 2015) was an American comedian and writer, best known as a member of

the Firesign Theatre The Firesign Theatre (also known as the Firesigns) was an American surreal comedy troupe who first appeared on November 17, 1966, in a live performance on the Los Angeles radio program ''Radio Free Oz'' on station KPFK FM. They continued ap ...

Early life and education

Austin was born in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

and later grew up in

Fresno, California Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...

, attending Fresno High School. His mother was a drama teacher which influenced his upbringing as an actor. He attended

Bowdoin College Bowdoin College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. When Bowdoin was chartered in 1794, Maine was still a part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The college offers 34 majors and 36 minors, as well as several joint eng ...

Brunswick, Maine Brunswick is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The population was 21,756 at the 2020 United States Census. Part of the Portland-South Portland-Biddeford metropolitan area, Brunswick is home to Bowdoin College, the Bowdoin Intern ...

because it was the most distant point in the continental United States from Fresno. He also attended

Fresno State College California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bachelo ...

and

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

, but did not graduate from any of them. He was in the UCLA Drama Department at the same time as another dropout,

Ray Manzarek Raymond Daniel Manzarek Jr. (né Manczarek; February 12, 1939 – May 20, 2013) was an American keyboardist. He is best known as a member of the Doors, co-founding the band with singer and lyricist Jim Morrison in 1965. Manzarek was induc ...

The Doors The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential rock acts ...

Career

Radio

In Los Angeles in the late 1960s, he was one of the first apprentices for the Center Theatre Group and worked on the staff of

KPFK KPFK (90.7 FM) is a listener-sponsored radio station based in North Hollywood, California, United States, which serves Southern California, and also streams 24 hours a day via the Internet. It was the second of five stations in the non-commerci ...

radio in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

. At KPFK he worked with other staffers

David Ossman David Ossman (born December 6, 1936 in Santa Monica) is an American writer and comedian, best known as a member of the Firesign Theatre and screenwriter of such films as '' Zachariah''. Early life Ossman attended Pomona College, where he starr ...

and Peter Bergman who hosted Radio Free Oz on that station. Along with Bergman's friend Phil Proctor, they formed

The Firesign Theatre The Firesign Theatre (also known as the Firesigns) was an American surreal comedy troupe who first appeared on November 17, 1966, in a live performance on the Los Angeles radio program ''Radio Free Oz'' on station KPFK FM. They continued ap ...

. Starting as live radio actors, the group would go on to record a series of surrealistic

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

albums that were a hit amongst an underground audience. Austin played the group's best-known creation, private investigator

Nick Danger Nick Danger is a fictional character created by the comedy group The Firesign Theatre, portrayed by Phil Austin. Danger is a parody of the hard-boiled detective, and is often announced as "Nick Danger, Third Eye", a parody of the term ''private ...

. Other prominent roles were as (Happy) Harry Cox, the narrator of ''

Everything You Know Is Wrong ''Everything You Know Is Wrong'' is the eighth comedy album by the Firesign Theatre. Released in October 1974 on Columbia Records, it satirizes UFO conspiracy theories and New Age paranormal beliefs such as Erich von Däniken's ''Chariots of ...

'' and Bebop Loco/Lobo on ''

Give Me Immortality or Give Me Death ''Give Me Immortality or Give Me Death'' is a comedy album by the Firesign Theatre that was released in 1998 on Rhino Records. Its main theme satirizes 1990s radio formats and public hysteria over the Y2K programming bug. ''Give Me Immortality... ...

''. He had also served as the troupe's musician and record producer.

Short story writer

His collection of short stories, ''Tales of the Old Detective and Other Big Fat Lies'', is published by Audio Editions. Two of his stories appear in the third volume of ''Mirth of a Nation''.http://firesigntheatre.com/media/media.php?member=Austin

Record albums

Austin also wrote a solo work, '' Roller Maidens From Outer Space'', and directed (and acted in) ''Eat Or Be Eaten''. Stage versions of ''

Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers ''Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers'' is the Firesign Theatre's third comedy album, released by Columbia Records in July 1970. In 1983, ''The New Rolling Stone Record Guide'' called it "the greatest comedy album ever made". It was nomin ...

''; '' The Further Adventures of Nick Danger, Third Eye''; '' Waiting for the Electrician or Someone Like Him''; and ''Temporarily Humboldt County'' are published by

Broadway Play Publishing Inc. Broadway Play Publishing Inc (BPPI) was established in New York City in 1982 to publish and license the stage performance rights of contemporary American plays. The Broadway Play Publishing Inc catalog consists of over 1,000 plays and nearly 400 ...

Death

Austin died at his home in

Fox Island, Washington Fox Island is an island and census-designated place (CDP) in Pierce County, Washington, United States, in Puget Sound. It is located approximately 5 miles (8 km) from Gig Harbor. The island was named Fox by Charles Wilkes during the United ...

on June 18, 2015 at the age of 74. The cause of death was originally given as

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and possi ...

, but this was later changed to an

aneurysm An aneurysm is an outward bulging, likened to a bubble or balloon, caused by a localized, abnormal, weak spot on a blood vessel wall. Aneurysms may be a result of a hereditary condition or an acquired disease. Aneurysms can also be a nidus ( ...

. When he died, his wife Oona mentioned that Austin also had been diagnosed with cancer months before.

References

External links

Phil Austin's Blog of the Unknown

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Austin, Phil 1941 births 2015 deaths American male stage actors American male comedians Comedians from Colorado American male radio actors American male writers Bowdoin College alumni Deaths from aneurysm The Firesign Theatre Writers from Denver Writers from Fresno, California People from Fox Island, Washington