Peter Paul Bergman (November 29, 1939 – March 9, 2012) was an American comedian and writer, best known as the founder 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 app ...
. He played Lt. Bradshaw in the
Nick Danger series.
Biography
Bergman was born in
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...
, and graduated in 1957 from
Shaker Heights High School
Shaker Heights High School is a public high school located in Shaker Heights, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. The high school is the only public high school in the Shaker Heights City School District, which serves Shaker Heights and a small part ...
in the Cleveland suburb.
He studied economics at
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
, where he contributed to the campus humor magazine ''
The Yale Record
''The Yale Record'' is the campus humor magazine of Yale University. Founded in 1872, it is the oldest humor magazine in the United States."History", The Yale Record, March 10, 2010. http://www.yalerecord.com/about/history/
''The Record'' is c ...
''. He taught economics as a Carnegie Fellow, and also attended the Yale School of Drama as a
Eugene O'Neill
Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of Realism (theatre), realism, earlier associated with ...
Playwriting Fellow, and wrote two musicals for the
Yale Dramatic Association
The Yale Dramatic Association, also known as the "Yale Dramat," is the second oldest college theater company in the United States. Founded in 1901 by undergraduates at Yale University, the Dramat has been producing student theatre in the Unite ...
with
Austin Pendleton
Austin Campbell Pendleton (born March 27, 1940) is an American actor, playwright, theatre director, and instructor.
Pendleton is known as a prolific character actor on the stage and screen, whose six-decade career has included roles in films i ...
, where he met acting student
Philip Proctor
Philip George Proctor (born July 28, 1940) is an American actor and a member of the Firesign Theatre. He has performed voice-over work for video games, films and television series.
Early life
Proctor was born in Goshen, Indiana, on July 2 ...
. He was also a Woodrow Wilson Scholar. After college he worked with
Tom Stoppard
Sir Tom Stoppard (; born , 3 July 1937) is a Czech-born British playwright and screenwriter. He has written for film, radio, stage, and television, finding prominence with plays. His work covers the themes of human rights, censorship, and politi ...
,
Derek Marlowe
Derek William Mario Marlowe (21 May 1938 – 14 November 1996) was an English playwright, novelist, screenwriter and painter.
Life
Derek Marlowe was born in Perivale, Middlesex, and lived there and in Greenford as a child. His father was Fre ...
,
Piers Paul Read
Piers Paul Read FRSL (born 7 March 1941) is a British novelist, historian and biographer. He was first noted in 1974 for a book of reportage, '' Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors'', later adapted as a feature film and a documentary. Read ...
, and
Spike Milligan
Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright and actor. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Raj, British India, where he spent his ...
.

The Firesign Theatre was formed as a result of Bergman's show ''Radio Free Oz'' on
KPFK
KPFK (90.7 FM) is a listener-sponsored radio station based in North Hollywood, California, which serves Southern California. It was the second of five stations in the non-commercial, listener-sponsored Pacifica Radio network.
KPFK 90.7 FM be ...
. According to Bergman, "I started July 24th, 1966 on KPFK ... I had some very interesting people around me, which those folks became the Firesign Theatre:
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 star ...
was connected with the station,
Phil Austin
Philip Baine Austin (April 6, 1941 – June 18, 2015) was an American comedian and writer, best known as a member of the Firesign Theatre.
Early life and education
Austin was born in Denver, Colorado, and later grew up in Fresno, California, at ...
was connected with the station, and Phil Proctor came out to do a show and we connected in
LA and that was really the genesis of that whole happening." Bergman also coined the word "
love-in
A love-in is a peaceful public gathering focused on meditation, love, music, sex and/or use of recreational drugs. The term was coined by Los Angeles radio comedian Peter Bergman, creator of comedy group The Firesign Theater, who also hosted the ...
" in 1967, and organized the first such event in April 1967 in Los Angeles.
He and Proctor witnessed the 1977
Golden Dragon Massacre in San Francisco.
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 nom ...
'', ''
The Further Adventures of Nick Danger'', ''
Waiting for the Electrician or Someone Like Him
''Waiting for the Electrician or Someone Like Him'' is the first comedy album recorded by the Firesign Theatre. It was originally released in January 1968 by Columbia Records.
Synopsis
The first side of the original LP presented a trilogy of thr ...
'', and "Temporarily Humboldt County" are published by
Broadway Play Publishing Inc.
Death
Bergman died on March 9, 2012, in
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...
, at age 72 from complications due to
leukemia
Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...
.
References
External links
*
Bergman's professional webpage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bergman, Peter
1939 births
2012 deaths
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American male writers
Male actors from Cleveland
The Yale Record alumni
Writers from Shaker Heights, Ohio
Deaths from leukemia in California
American male radio actors
American male stage actors
American male comedians
Comedians from Cleveland
David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University alumni
The Firesign Theatre
Actors from Shaker Heights, Ohio