Freddie Roman (born Fred Kirschenbaum; May 28, 1937 – November 26, 2022) was an American stand-up comedian, best known for his frequent appearances at "

Borscht Belt The Borscht Belt, or Yiddish Alps, is a region which was noted for its summer resorts that catered to Jewish vacationers, especially residents of New York City. The resorts, now mostly defunct, were located in the southern foothills of the Catski ...

" hotels.

Early life

Freddie Roman grew up in

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. His father was a shoe salesman. His

uncle An uncle is usually defined as a male relative who is a sibling of a parent or married to a sibling of a parent, as well as the parent of the cousins. Uncles who are related by birth are second-degree relatives. The female counterpart of an un ...

and

grandfather Grandparents, individually known as grandmother and grandfather, or Grandma and Grandpa, are the parents of a person's father or mother – paternal or maternal. Every sexually reproducing living organism who is not a genetic chimera has a m ...

owned the Crystal Spring Hotel in the

Catskills The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province and subrange of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined a ...

. There, Freddie was given a chance to emcee on summer nights at age 15. He became a teenage comic in small resorts, but later left show business to work for his father. He became the

proprietor Ownership is the state or fact of legal possession and control over property, which may be any asset, tangible or intangible. Ownership can involve multiple rights, collectively referred to as ''title'', which may be separated and held by diffe ...

of a ladies' shoe store, but soon realized his true love was "not in shoe business, but

show business Show business, sometimes shortened to show biz or showbiz (since 1945), is a vernacular term for all aspects of the entertainment industry.''Oxford English Dictionary'' 2nd Ed. (1989) From the business side (including managers, agents, produce ...

Career

Roman headlined at resort venues, including

Caesars Palace Caesars Palace is a luxury hotel and casino in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The hotel is situated on the west side of the Las Vegas Strip between Bellagio and The Mirage. It is one of Las Vegas's largest and best known landmarks. Caesar ...

on the

Las Vegas Strip The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, as it is known, is about long, and is immediately south of the Las Vegas city limits ...

and Harrah's

Atlantic City Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of the Atlantic City- Hammonton metropolitan sta ...

. He continued to perform, well into his later years. The Friars Club changed their two-term maximum bylaw so Roman could stay on as its dean. He was, ultimately, succeeded by

Larry King Larry King (born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger; November 19, 1933 – January 23, 2021) was an American TV and radio host presenter, author, and former spokesman. He was a WMBM radio interviewer in the Miami area in the 1950s and 1960s and beginning in ...

, who was the next dean of The Friars Club. Roman co-wrote, and starred in, the stage show ''Catskills on Broadway'' and also appeared in several films.

Personal life and death

Roman resided in

Boynton Beach, Florida Boynton Beach is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is situated about north of Miami. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded a population of 80,380. Boynton Beach is located in the Mi ...

. His son was Alan Kirschenbaum, a television producer, who died in 2012. Roman died in Boynton Beach, on November 26, 2022, at the age of 85.

Filmography

Films

*''Welcome to Kutsher's: The Last Catskills Resort'' (2012) *''The Last Laugh'' (2006) *''Bittersweet Place'' (2005) *''Christ in the City'' (2005) *'' Finding North'' (1998) *''

Sweet Lorraine "Sweet Lorraine" is a popular song with music by Cliff Burwell and words by Mitchell Parish that was published in 1928 and has become a jazz standard. It is written in F major and has an AABA structure. A version by Teddy Wilson charted in Octo ...

'' (1987)

Television appearances

*''The Big Room for

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

's Ha!'' *'' Friars Club Roasts'' *''Funny Already: A History of Jewish Comedy'' *'' Law & Order: Criminal Intent'' *''Now That's Funny!'' *'' Stark Raving Mad'' *''

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 ...

'' *''The 46th Annual

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

s'' (presenter) *'' Red Oaks'' (Amazon.com) - 18 episodes

Stage

*''Catskills on Broadway'' (2003) *''Sunrise Lakes Phase IV'' (2010)

References

External links

Freddie Roman's Early Career and interview
*
Freddie Roman: Still Roasting After All These YearsFriars Club
*
Freddie Roman
at Find a Grave {{DEFAULTSORT:Roman, Freddie 1937 births 2022 deaths Comedians from Queens, New York American stand-up comedians American male film actors American male television actors People from Boynton Beach, Florida Jewish American comedians Comedians from Florida Jewish male comedians 21st-century American Jews Burials at Kensico Cemetery American male comedians