David Steinberg (born August 9, 1942) is a Canadian comedian, actor, writer, director, and author. At the height of his popularity, during the late 1960s and mid 1970s, he was one of the best-known comics in the United States. He appeared on ''

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' was an American late-night talk show hosted by Johnny Carson on NBC, the third iteration of the ''Tonight Show'' franchise. The show debuted on October 1, 1962, and aired its final episode on May 22, ...

'' more than 130 times (second only to

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with ...

in number of appearances) and served as guest host 12 times, the youngest person ever to guest-host. Steinberg directed several films and episodes of television

situation comedies A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use new ...

, including ''

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'', ''

Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Li ...

'', ''

Mad About You ''Mad About You'' is an American television sitcom starring Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt as a married couple in New York City. It initially aired on NBC from September 23, 1992, to May 24, 1999, winning numerous awards including four Golden Glob ...

'', ''

Curb Your Enthusiasm ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' is an American television sitcom produced and broadcast by HBO since October 15, 2000, and created by Larry David, who stars as a semi-fictionalized version of himself. It follows David's life as a semi-retired televi ...

'', ''

The Golden Girls ''The Golden Girls'' is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris that aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning seven seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Bea Arthur, Betty Wh ...

'', and ''

Designing Women ''Designing Women'' is an American television sitcom created by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason that aired on CBS from September 29, 1986, to May 24, 1993, producing seven seasons and 163 episodes. It was a joint production of Bloodworth/Thomason M ...

''. Since 2012, Steinberg has hosted the interview program ''

Inside Comedy ''Inside Comedy'' is an American television interview program on Showtime hosted and directed by David Steinberg. During each episode, Steinberg interviews popular comedians from the worlds of stand-up, television, and film, showing clips from th ...

'' on the Showtime network.

Early life

Steinberg was born on August 9, 1942 in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...

, Manitoba, Canada. He is the son of Rabbi Yasha Steinberg (1896-1966), a strict,

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania ** Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditiona ...

-born

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as '' semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form o ...

, and Ruth Steinberg (circa 1904-1989). He is the youngest of four children and has three older siblings: two older brothers, Hymie Steinberg (1925-1944) and Fishy Steinberg, and one older sister, Tammy Lazer (née Steinberg). His elder brother Hymie served during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and was killed in action when he was 19. David initially studied theology in Israel. Later, while studying

English Literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

, he decided to become a comedian after seeing

Lenny Bruce Leonard Alfred Schneider (October 13, 1925 – August 3, 1966), known professionally as Lenny Bruce, was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, and satirist. He was renowned for his open, free-wheeling, and critical style of comedy which ...

perform. He finished school and was discovered by one of the founders 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 ...

in Chicago, which he joined in 1964. There he performed with Robert Klein,

Fred Willard Frederic Charles Willard (September 18, 1933 May 15, 2020) was an American actor, comedian, and writer. He was best known for his roles in the Rob Reiner mockumentary film ''This Is Spinal Tap'' (1984); the Christopher Guest mockumentaries ''Wa ...

Peter Boyle Peter Lawrence Boyle (October 18, 1935 – December 12, 2006) was an American actor. Known as a character actor, he played Frank Barone on the CBS sitcom '' Everybody Loves Raymond'' and the comical monster in Mel Brooks' film spoof '' Young ...

, and

Joe Flaherty Joseph Flaherty (born June 21, 1941) is an American actor, writer, and comedian. He is best known for his work on the Canadian sketch comedy '' SCTV'' from 1976 to 1984 (on which he also served as a writer), and as Harold Weir on '' Freaks and ...

. He remained with the group for six years. In 1972, Steinberg was best man at the wedding of his friend, the gangster Crazy Joe Gallo.

Career

One of Steinberg's most notorious performances was in October 1968 on ''

The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour ''The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour'' was an American comedy and variety show television series hosted by the Smothers Brothers and initially airing on CBS from 1967 to 1969. The series was a major success, especially considering it was sc ...

'', where he gave satirical sermons. The sketch caused CBS to receive a record number of complaints, and, as a result, the network instituted a policy of providing local stations with a closed-circuit telecast of each episode ahead of time so they could choose whether or not to air it. The Smothers Brothers were told by the network that they could have Steinberg on the show again on the condition that he would not repeat the sermons. Nevertheless, Tommy Smothers asked Steinberg to do it again, and he gave a sermon in which he said "The Old Testament scholars say that Jonah was swallowed by a whale. The Gentiles, the New Testament scholars say, 'Hold it, Jews, no.' They literally grabbed the Jews by the Old Testament." This incident contributed to the cancellation of the show. The Jonah sketch was never aired by CBS. Steinberg appeared in two Broadway flops, '' Little Murders'' and ''Carry Me Back to

Morningside Heights Morningside Heights is a neighborhood on the West Side of Upper Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Morningside Drive to the east, 125th Street to the north, 110th Street to the south, and Riverside Drive to the west. Morningside ...

'', which both closed within one week in 1967 and 1968, respectively. Steinberg was the most frequent host of the pop and rock music ABC television show, '' The Music Scene,'' 1969–1970. The show featured performances by

Joe Cocker John Robert "Joe" Cocker (20 May 1944 – 22 December 2014) was an English singer known for his gritty, bluesy voice and dynamic stage performances that featured expressive body movements. Most of his best known singles were recordings of son ...

and CSN&Y. In 1972, Steinberg wrote and starred in ''

The David Steinberg Show ''The David Steinberg Show'' is the title of two separate shows which featured stand-up comedian David Steinberg. The David Steinberg Show (1972) The first iteration of ''The David Steinberg Show'' ran on CBS television in the United States for fi ...

'' in the United States as a five-week summer replacement sketch comedy show. Around the same time,

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008. Corporat ...

labelled Steinberg "offbeat, racy, outrageous, and establishment-baiting – all of which makes him a particular favorite among the young and disenchanted." In 1975 Steinberg hosted ''Noonday'', a short-lived half-hour midday talk show on NBC. In 1976, Steinberg returned to Canada to produce a second show called ''

''. This series was a hybrid sitcom/variety show, modelled loosely on ''

The Jack Benny Program ''The Jack Benny Program'', starring Jack Benny, is a radio-TV comedy series that ran for more than three decades and is generally regarded as a high-water mark in 20th century American comedy. He played one role throughout his radio and televis ...

'' in that the plots centred on the star (Steinberg) and his cast trying to put together another instalment of their variety show. Amongst the regular cast were future ''SCTV'' stars

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, Dave Thomas, and

Martin Short Martin Hayter Short (born March 26, 1950) is a Canadian-American actor, comedian, and writer. He has received various awards including two Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award. In 2019 Short became an Officer of the Order of Canada. He ...

. SCTV's

Andrea Martin Andrea Louise Martin (born January 15, 1947) is an American-Canadian actress, singer, and comedian, best known for her work in the television series '' SCTV'' and ''Great News''. She has appeared in films such as '' Black Christmas'' (1974), ''W ...

also appeared on the show, but not as a regular. ''SCTV'' premiered the same week as ''The David Steinberg Show'', and ran for six seasons; ''The David Steinberg Show'' lasted only one season. Steinberg performed some notable stand-up comedy during the 1960s and '70s. He released four comedy LPs, including ''The Incredible Shrinking God'' (LP MCA 73013, 1968), which contains ten of his comedic sermons and mini-sermons recorded live during his stand-up routine at Second City. He also hosted the 1977 Juno Awards show. He was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame in 2003. More recently (2005–2007), Steinberg hosted ''

Sit Down Comedy with David Steinberg ''Sit Down Comedy with David Steinberg'' is an American talk show which aired on TV Land from 2005 to 2007. In it, comedian David Steinberg interviews comedians and comic actors. Content The show is an informal interview-based talk show in w ...

'', an informal, interview-style show in which he talks with famous comedians and comic actors, for two seasons on

TV Land TV Land is an American pay television channel owned by Paramount Global through its networks division. Originally a spinoff of Nick at Nite consisting exclusively of classic television shows, the channel now airs a combination of recent and cl ...

in the U.S. The first season featured Mike Myers, Larry David, Jon Lovitz,

, Bob Newhart, and George Lopez. The second season featured

Jerry Seinfeld Jerome Allen Seinfeld ( ; born April 29, 1954) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He is best known for playing a semi-fictionalized version of himself in the sitcom '' Seinfeld'', which he created and wrote with La ...

Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and come ...

, Roseanne Barr,

Jon Stewart Jon Stewart (born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz; November 28, 1962) is an American comedian, political commentator, and television host. He hosted '' The Daily Show'', a satirical news program on Comedy Central, from 1999 to 2015 and now hosts '' ...

Garry Shandling Garry Emmanuel Shandling (November 29, 1949 – March 24, 2016) was an American actor, comedian, writer, director, and producer. Shandling began his career writing for sitcoms, such as ''Sanford and Son'' and '' Welcome Back, Kotter''. He made ...

and Ray Romano. The program was filmed before an audience at

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 ...

. His first book, ''The Book of David'' (), was published in June 2007 by

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publi ...

. In 2010, he directed and produced the Canadian cable comedy series '' Living in Your Car''.

Personal life

Steinberg has been married twice. He married Judy Marcione in 1973 and they had two daughters. They divorced in 1997 after 24 years of marriage. Steinberg married Robyn Todd in 2005.

Discography

* ''The Incredible Shrinking God'' (UNI LP, UNI-73013, 1968) * ''Disguised As A Normal Person'' (Elektra Records LP, EKS-74065, 1970). * ''Booga! Booga!'' (Columbia LP, 1974) * ''Goodbye to the '70s'' (Columbia LP, PC 33399, 1975)

Awards

Steinberg has received five

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

nominations, winning two as one of the writers of

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

programs in 1991 and 1992. He received a CableACE Award in 1992 for his stand-up comedy ''Cats, Cops and Stuff.'' He has been nominated for the Directors Guild of America Award ( for Outstanding Directing – Comedy Series) twice: first in 1991 for the ''

'' episode, ''

The Tape "The Tape" is the 25th episode of ''Seinfeld''. It is the eighth episode of the show's third season. It first aired on November 13, 1991. The episode was written by Larry David and Don McEnery and Bob Shaw and was directed by David Steinberg. In ...

'', and again in 1996 for the ''

'' episode, ''The Finale: Parts II and III'', and has been nominated for a

Canadian Comedy Award The Canadian Comedy Awards (CCA) is an annual ceremony that awards the Beaver for achievements in Canadian comedy in live performance, radio, film, television, and Internet media. The awards were founded and produced by Tim Progosh in 2000. T ...

(2000) and a Gemini (2001), as well. His parody of the novel ''

Ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott J ...

'' won him a Playboy Humor Award. In 2003, he was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame. In December 2016, Steinberg was named a

Member of the Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

."Order of Canada's newest appointees include Paralympian, Supreme Court judge and astrophysicist"

CBC News CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.ca ...

, December 30, 2016.

Film

Television

References

External links

* * * * *
Official David Steinberg site

Interview, online from CBC Words at Large (audio)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steinberg, David 1942 births 20th-century Canadian male actors 21st-century Canadian male actors Canadian expatriate male actors in the United States Canadian male film actors Canadian male television actors Canadian male voice actors Canadian male comedians Canadian people of Romanian-Jewish descent Canadian sketch comedians Canadian stand-up comedians Canadian television directors Canadian television producers Columbia Records artists Elektra Records artists Jewish Canadian male actors Living people Male actors from Winnipeg Primetime Emmy Award winners Uni Records artists University of Chicago alumni Jewish Canadian comedians Members of the Order of Canada 20th-century Canadian comedians 21st-century Canadian comedians Comedians from Manitoba