Chicago — Comedy fans know the names – John Belushi, Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Joan Rivers – but before those famous faces graced Hollywood movies or the "Saturday Night Live" stage they were discovered by Bernie Sahlins, co-founder of The Second City.
Alumni of the Chicago comedy club spent Monday remembering Sahlins, who died Sunday at age 90, as an innovator who along with business partners Howard Alk and Paul Sills opened the theater in December 1959. It quickly gained national attention and helped establish Chicago as a vibrant comedy town.
"Bernie was absolutely crucial in the formative years of Second City, as important a figure as it's ever had," said comedian and actor Robert Klein, who went on from Second City in 1965 to star on television series and in movies.
Second City caught on within months of opening, despite some early money problems and other issues. It became instrumental in the growth and development of improvisational and sketch comedy.
Alumni of the Chicago comedy club spent Monday remembering Sahlins, who died Sunday at age 90, as an innovator who along with business partners Howard Alk and Paul Sills opened the theater in December 1959. It quickly gained national attention and helped establish Chicago as a vibrant comedy town.
"Bernie was absolutely crucial in the formative years of Second City, as important a figure as it's ever had," said comedian and actor Robert Klein, who went on from Second City in 1965 to star on television series and in movies.
Second City caught on within months of opening, despite some early money problems and other issues. It became instrumental in the growth and development of improvisational and sketch comedy.
- 6/18/2013
- by AP
- Huffington Post
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