Charles Frederick "Skip" Stephenson (April 18, 1940 – May 18, 1992) was an American

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

comedian A comedian (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertainment, entertain an audience by making them laughter, laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolishly (as in slapstick), or employing prop c ...

, and musician. He was born in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

, and graduated in 1958 from Holy Name High School. After attending a year at The

University of Omaha The University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO) is a public research university in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Founded in 1908 by faculty from the Omaha Presbyterian Theological Seminary as a private non-sectarian college, the university was origin ...

, Stephenson took a job as a DJ in

Alliance, Nebraska Alliance is a city in and the county seat of Box Butte County, Nebraska, Box Butte County, in the western part of the state of Nebraska, in the Great Plains region of the United States. Its population was 8,151 at the 2020 census. Alliance is ho ...

Stand-Up Comedy

In the 1970s he moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, where he performed

stand-up comedy Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage (theatre), stage and delivers humour, humorous and satire, satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical comedy, physical acts. These ...

at the L.A. Cabaret Comedy Club in Encino and the legendary

Comedy Store The Comedy Store is an American comedy club opened in April 1972. It is located in West Hollywood, California, at 8433 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip. An associated club is located in La Jolla, San Diego, California. History The Com ...

. On October 6, 1977, he appeared on ''

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show was the third installment of ''The Tonight Show''. Hosted by Johnny Carson, it aired from October 1, 1962 to May 22, 1992, replacing ''T ...

''. He released a comedy album, ''The Real Comedy of Skip Stephenson'' on

Laff Records Laff Records was a small American independent record label specializing in mainly African-American comedy and party records founded in 1967 in Los Angeles. Kliph Nesteroff, author of the book ''The Comedians'', wrote that "no other company cra ...

. In 1991, he starred in the video ''Skip Stephenson Live at the Comedy Store''.

Real People

His big break came in 1979 as the co-host of

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

's ''

Real People Real People may refer to: * Human, a species ** People, or all humans as a whole * ''Real People'' (TV program), a 1970s television show that aired on NBC in the United States * ''Real People'' (album), a 1980 album by funk/disco group Chic ** " ...

''. Wearing bright crew-necked sweaters, he was known for his quirky comments and playful flirtings with co-host

Sarah Purcell Sarah Purcell (born Sarah Pentecost on October 8, 1948, Richmond, Indiana) is an American former talk show host, game show host, and panelist. She was co-host of '' The Better Sex'' (1977–1978), '' Real People'' (1979–1984), ''America'' (1 ...

Other appearances

Alongside his success in comedy came acting and appearances on ''

The Love Boat ''The Love Boat'' is an American romantic comedy-drama television series created by Wilford Lloyd Baumes that originally aired on ABC from September 24, 1977, to May 24, 1986. In addition, three TV movies aired before the regular series pre ...

'', ''

Hart to Hart ''Hart to Hart'' is an American mystery television series that premiered on August 25, 1979, on ABC. The show stars Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers as Jonathan and Jennifer Hart, respectively, a wealthy couple who lead a glamorous jetset ...

'', ''

Match Game ''Match Game'' is an American television panel game show that premiered on NBC in 1962 and has been revived several times over the course of the last six decades. The game features contestants trying to match answers given by celebrity paneli ...

'', ''

Hollywood Squares ''Hollywood Squares'' (originally ''The Hollywood Squares'', later stylized as ''H2: Hollywood Squares'') is an American game show in which two contestants compete in a game of tic-tac-toe to win cash and prizes. The show originally aired as a ...

'', ''

Password Plus ''Password Plus'' and ''Super Password'' are American TV game shows that aired separately between 1979 and 1989. Both shows were revivals of ''Password'', which originally ran from 1961 to 1975 in various incarnations. With only subtle differen ...

'', ''

The Dinah Shore Show ''The Dinah Shore Show'' is an American television variety show that was broadcast by NBC from November 27, 1951, to July 18,1957, sponsored by General Motors' Chevrolet division. It aired from 7:30 to 7:45 Eastern Time on Tuesday and Thursday ...

'' and ''

The Merv Griffin Show ''The Merv Griffin Show'' is an American television talk show starring Merv Griffin. The series had runs on two different networks on NBC (1962–1963) and CBS (1969–1972) but is most known for its run on first-run syndication from 1965 to 1 ...

''. He was the last star to play the Head-to-Head Match on the last episode of ''

'' in 1982, and his response was a match that won the contestant $10,000.

Music

He wrote country music, with the song "In this Honky Tonk Saloon", copyrighted in 1977. In 1982, he told UPI his style was between

Don Williams Donald Ray Williams (May 27, 1939 – September 8, 2017) was an American country music singer, songwriter, and 2010 inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Country Music Hall of Fame. He began his solo career in 1971, singing p ...

and

Waylon Jennings Waylon Arnold Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He is considered one of the pioneers of the Outlaw country, outlaw movement in country music. Jennings started playing ...

Death

Stephenson died of a heart attack at his home in 1992 exactly one month after his 52nd birthday.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stephenson, Skip 1940 births 1992 deaths American male television actors American male comedians American radio DJs Male actors from Omaha, Nebraska 20th-century American male actors 20th-century American musicians People from Alliance, Nebraska 20th-century American comedians Comedians from Nebraska