Shecky Greene

Shecky Greene (born Fred Sheldon Greenfield; April 8, 1926 – December 31, 2023) was an American comedian and actor. He was known for his nightclub performances in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he became a headliner in the 1950s and 1960s. to Jewish parents, Carl and Bessie Greenfield, and raised on the North Side of Chicago. In his youth, Greene enjoyed performing as a singer and in a drama club he formed while attending Sullivan High School.

During World War II, Greene served in the U.S. Navy for three years and was discharged in 1944. He was briefly, but more than once, enrolled at Wright Junior College.

Career Greene had planned to become a gym teacher. From there, he went on to showrooms in Miami, Chicago, and Reno/Lake Tahoe before an agent persuaded him to move to Las Vegas and open in 1954 for Dorothy Shay, "the Park Avenue Hillbillie", at the Last Frontier. His act was held over for 18 weeks, a first for that venue. He began performing at the Tropicana Hotel in 1957, remaining there for five years as one of their headliners.

Greene played Carnegie Hall and appeared on TV variety show The Ed Sullivan Show, which he said he hated because "They'd rush you on and off". He played Pvt. Braddock for a year on Combat! and guested on The Joey Bishop Show, The Love Boat, and played Lou Carnesco in two episodes of The Fall Guy. He appeared in "Members Only", a fourth-season, 1985 episode of the action TV show The A-Team. Greene was widely respected by his peers, including Johnny Carson who was a longtime fan. Greene made 40 appearances on The Tonight Show on which he also served as a guest host. He appeared on The Merv Griffin Show and also served as a guest host there upon occasion. He noted that he gave Arnold Schwarzenegger and Luciano Pavarotti their first national television exposure. Furthermore, he also appeared on Match Game and Tattletales (with his first wife Nalani Kele) in the 1970s. In December 1977, he appeared in The Love Boat S1 E11 vignette "Divorce Me, Please" as Paul Baynes, who discovers newfound appreciation for his wife Audrey, played by Florence Henderson.

When the MGM Grand Hotel opened in 1975 with Dean Martin as headliner, the second headline act was Greene whose salary at one point climbed to $150,000 a week; he quipped that $125,000 went to "my bookmaker".

Beginning in 2003 and lasting for six years, Greene suffered from panic attacks and stage fright that rendered him unable to perform. In 2009, in Las Vegas, Greene returned to performing.

Greene owned several nightclubs over the years and in different cities, including New Orleans. Arlington Park in Arlington Heights, Illinois, outside Chicago, held a Shecky Greene Handicap race until it closed. stage fright, gambling, panic attacks, drug abuse and alcoholism.

Awards Las Vegas Entertainment Award — Best Lounge Entertainer