Chris Bearde (18 June 1936 – 23 April 2017) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

-born comedy writer, producer and director best known for his work as a writer on ''

Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' (often simply referred to as ''Laugh-In'') is an American sketch comedy television program that ran for six seasons from January 22, 1968, to July 23, 1973, on the NBC television network. The show, hosted by comed ...

'' and for co-writing and producing television specials for

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was an American comedian, actor, entertainer and producer with a career that spanned nearly 80 years and achievements in vaudeville, network radio, television, and USO Tours. He appeared ...

, Sonny & Cher,

Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American retired comedian, actor, and media personality. Often cited as a trailblazer for African Americans in the entertainment industry, Cosby was a film, television, and stand-up comedy ...

, Steve Martin, Jim Carrey,

Andy Williams Howard Andrew Williams (December 3, 1927 – September 25, 2012) was an American singer. He recorded 43 albums in his career, of which 15 have been gold certified and three platinum certified. He was also nominated for six Grammy Awards. He hos ...

The Jackson 5 The Jackson 5, later known as the Jacksons, are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was formed in Gary, Indiana in 1964, and originally consisted of brothers Jackie, Ti ...

, The Osmonds,

Dinah Shore Dinah Shore (born Frances Rose Shore; February 29, 1916 – February 24, 1994) was an American singer, actress, television personality, and the chart-topping female vocalist of the 1940s. She rose to prominence as a recording artist during the ...

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born Diane Ernestine Earle Ross March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. Known as the "Queen of Motown Records", she was the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown#Major divisions, Motown's most suc ...

, and

Lucille Ball Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedian, producer, and studio executive. She was recognized by ''Time (magazine), Time'' in 2020 as one of the most influential women of the 20th century for h ...

. He also created the format for the original '' Gong Show'' and a number of network and pay-cable comedy series including '' That's My Mama'' and ''Sherman Oaks''.

Early career

Bearde's career started in the 1950s in his adopted home,

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, Australia. After working in radio and serving two years in the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia. It is a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army ...

, at age 23 he became host of the children's television series ''Smalltime''. His appearances in this show and his writing for other Australian comedy shows was recognised by visiting

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

and American producers, and Bearde was contracted by the Canadian commercial network CTV to write a comedy series in the early 1960s, entitled ''Network''. He created two shows for the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...

, ''Front and Centre'' and Canada's first late night

political satire Political satire is a type of satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics. Political satire can also act as a tool for advancing political arguments in conditions where political speech and dissent are banned. Political satir ...

show ''Nightcap''.

Move to Hollywood

After four years of working in Canadian radio and television, Bearde was signed by the

William Morris Agency The William Morris Agency (WMA) was a Hollywood-based talent agency. It represented some of the best-known 20th-century entertainers in film, television, and music. During its 109-year tenure it came to be regarded as the "first great talent ...

and moved to Hollywood. There he created formats for several specials for NBC and ABC. Bearde's method of combining

slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such as ...

and political satire made him a resident writer on the original ''

''. While working with the producer of ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'', George Schlatter, Bearde created the formats for specials, including

's ''Like Hep!'' (1969), and The Grammy Awards. In 1968, he formed a partnership with Canadian producer Allan Blye and they created the format for the 1968 TV special '' Singer Presents... Elvis'' (the ''"'68 Comeback Special"'') for producer Bob Finkel and director Steve Binder. Bearde and Blye co-produced several specials for

and produced two years of '' The Andy Williams Show'' from 1969 to 1971. Blye and Bearde also created a summer series, ''The Who Is Ray Stevens Show'', which featured the first appearance of Steve Martin. Blye and Bearde also created and produced one of the first black situation comedies, '' That's My Mama'', for ABC. After splitting with Blye, Bearde created the format of – and produced with

Chuck Barris Charles Hirsch Barris (June 3, 1929 – March 21, 2017) was an American game show creator, producer, and host, author, and songwriter. A key crew member of several hugely successful game shows, he was the creator of ''The Dating Game'' (1965– ...

– ''

The Bobby Vinton Show ''The Bobby Vinton Show'' was a Canadian musical variety television series produced for the CTV Television Network between 1975 and 1978, with a total of 52 episodes broadcast. Featuring Bobby Vinton, a best-selling popular music singer since the ...

'' and the first major breakthrough talent

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

show, '' The Gong Show''. Although Bearde later sold his interest in the 1970s version of the program to Barris, Bearde's company produced a one-season revival of the show in 1988. He also produced ''The Bob Hope Christmas Show'' and returned to Australia to produce ''Texaco Presents Bob Hope in Australia''. Bearde formed a partnership with ex-CBS president Robert Wood and created pilots and a children's series, ''The W.A.C.K.O. Show'', for CBS. Bearde directed a comedy film called '' Hysterical'', released in 1983, starring The Hudson Brothers. Bearde formed a long-term partnership with

Dick Clark Richard Wagstaff Clark (November 30, 1929April 18, 2012) was an American television and radio personality and television producer who hosted ''American Bandstand'' from 1956 to 1989. He also hosted five incarnations of the Pyramid (game show), ...

and produced ''The Half Hour Comedy Hour'', which featured the first national appearance of Arsenio Hall as a host. Clark and Bearde co-produced Bearde's

lip sync Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , like the word ''sink'', despite the Hard and soft C, spelling of the participial forms ''synced'' and ''syncing''), short for lip synchronization, is a technical term for matching a Speech, speaking or singin ...

hit series '' Puttin' on the Hits'' in 1985. Bearde formed a co-production partnership with Vin Di Bona, the producer of '' America's Funniest Home Videos''. He created and produced

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

's cult series satirizing television news ''Night Rap'' and Showtime's comedy hit ''Sherman Oaks''. Di Bona and Bearde also produced several specials for CBS.

Move to Las Vegas

In 2005, Bearde moved his operation to

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

and created and trademarked "Chris Bearde's International Comedy Hall of Fame", a entertainment retail restaurant and comedy tribute exhibition complex, currently in the design and planning stages. Each year there are several Comedy Awards and Induction Ceremony TV specials included in the package. Bearde has received an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

, and a

Writers Guild of America Award The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949. Eligibility Th ...

. The Chris Bearde School of Comedy was founded in Las Vegas in 2007 and moved to Los Angeles in 2008. The school is still in operation.

Death

Bearde died at his home in Westlake Village, California of a cardiac arrest on 23 April 2017 at the age of 80. He is survived by his wife Carolyn Stonecloud, 6 children, 2 step children and 7 grandchildren.

References

External links

Interview with Chris Bearde
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bearde, Chris Australian comedy writers Australian television producers Australian television directors Australian screenwriters Australian expatriates in the United States Primetime Emmy Award winners Writers Guild of America Award winners People from Richmond, London 1936 births 2017 deaths Australian television show creators