Shecky Greene, legendary stand-up comedian, dead at 97

LAS VEGAS — Shecky Greene, a legendary stand-up comedian who was a headliner on the Las Vegas nightclub scene and worked with Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley, died Sunday. He was 97.

>> Read more trending news

Greene died at his home in Las Vegas, his daughter, Alison Greene, told The New York Times. His wife, Marie Musso Greene, also confirmed the comedian’s death to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The comic was a frequent guest on “The Ed Sullivan Show” and on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.” But his real strength was in his high-energy, frenetic comedy routine that played well in Vegas, according to the newspaper.

Shecky Greene, Legendary Las Vegas Standup Comedian Who Worked With Sinatra and Elvis, Dies at 97 https://t.co/hA7FP8WwEg
— Variety (@Variety) December 31, 2023

Greene worked as an opening act for Sinatra and for Presley in Las Vegas, Variety reported. He was a guest on “The Tonight Show” more than 60 times and sat in for Carson several times as a guest host, according to the entertainment news website.

He was also a guest host on “The Mike Douglas Show” and “The Merv Griffin Show” and appeared on “The Dean Martin Show” and “The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour,” Variety reported.

Greene also was a favorite on the game show circuit, appearing on “Tattletales,” “Hollywood Squares” and “Match Game,” according to Variety.

In Las Vegas, Greene used his ad-libbing talents, made faces, sang and did impressions, doing just about anything for a laugh, the Times reported.

“I wasn’t an A-B-C-D comic. ‘Hello, ladies and gentlemen’ and then the next line,” Greene told comedy historian Kliph Nesteroff in 2011, according to the newspaper.

Fred Sheldon Greenfield was born on April 8, 1926, in Chicago and legally changed his name to Shecky Greene in 2004, long after his career had ended, the Times reported.

The comic, who lived in Las Vegas since the 1950s, made his last ticketed performances at the South Point Showroom in 2011, the Review-Journal reported. But he would still do shortened versions of his act in places like the Italian American Club and the Omelet House, according to the newspaper.

A versatile performer, Greene also appeared on television series like “Combat!” according to Variety. He also had guest roles on “Love, American Style,” “The Love Boat,” “Fantasy Island,” “Laverne & Shirley,” “The Fall Guy,” “The A-Team,” “Trapper John, MD,” “Roseanne” and “Mad About You.”

On the big screen, Greene appeared in “Splash,” Mel Brooks’ “History of the World: Part I” and “Tony Rome.”

Greene was just as unpredictable off stage, with bouts of drinking and gambling, the Times reported.

“I should have been fired maybe 150 times in Las Vegas,” Greene told the Las Vegas Sun in 1996. “I was only fired 130 times.”

Greene also drove his car into the fountain in front of Caesars Palace in 1968, according to the Times.

Presley appeared with Greene at the New Frontier hotel-casino in early 1956, the Journal-Review reported.

“Before then, it was all country and western. We had horses in the middle of the street,” Greene said in a 2021 Review-Journal story. “But when (Elvis) came in, it had started to be a dressy crowd and everything.”

Elvis and Greene eventually switched spots in the lineup, with Presley becoming the opening act.

Reflecting on his career to The Washington Times in 2017, he wondered “Why did I do this and that?”

“At 90 I still don’t know. Once in a while I’ll have a nice sleep,” he said. “Most nights I wake up yelling, ‘Why did I do that?’

“Life is strange, but if you’ve had a mixture of a life like I had, it’s all right.”

1 of 189