Home › Arts & Letters › Film, Television & Comedy

Film, Television & Comedy

10 people

Charlie Chaplin 1889–1977Film, Television & ComedyBritish-American actor and filmmaker whose Tramp character became an icon of the silent film era.Lucille Ball 1911–1989Film, Television & ComedyComedic actress and producer whose I Love Lucy pioneered the sitcom format and changed television.Groucho Marx 1890–1977Film, Television & ComedyComedian who turned the verbal insult into the engine of American comedy, from vaudeville and the Marx Brothers pictures to 14 years of You Bet Your Life.Johnny Carson 1925–2005Film, Television & ComedyHost of The Tonight Show for thirty years and the model for American late-night television.Buster Keaton 1895–1966Film, Television & ComedySilent-film comedian and director whose visual precision, stunts, and deadpan style became foundational to screen comedy.Richard Pryor 1940–2005Film, Television & ComedyComedian whose candid treatment of race, class, addiction, and personal experience transformed American stand-up.George Carlin 1937–2008Film, Television & ComedyComedian whose linguistic precision and challenges to censorship made him a defining voice in modern American stand-up.Joan Rivers 1933–2014Film, Television & ComedyComedian and the first woman to host a late-night network talk showLenny Bruce 1925–1966Film, Television & ComedyProsecuted into bankruptcy for obscenity, and modern stand-up runs directly from him.Phyllis Diller 1917–2012Film, Television & ComedyStand-up comedy