Bob Einstein

Perhaps best known as the untalented stuntman Super Dave Osborne, comedic actor Bob Einstein was born in Los Angeles in 1942 to comedian Harry Einstein and actor Thelma Leeds. After tragically losing his father to a heart attack at age 16, Einstein was so upset in his state of grief that he hated the jokes the other comedians told at the funeral as part of his father's roast comedy tradition. The young Einstein swore he would never become involved in comedy himself, but his feelings both about comedy and about the affection intended by his father's peers would change over time. He graduated from Chapman University and briefly worked in advertising until he made an appearance on a friend's Channel 11 sketch comedy show as the man who engraves the stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Einstein's straight-faced performance caught the attention of comedian Tom Smothers, who appreciated Einstein's comedic style and invited him to write on his series, "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" (CBS, 1967-69). Einstein would also regularly appear on the show as recurring character Officer Judy, and his talents were so valued that he moved directly on from the series to write and appear on "Pat Paulsen's Half a Comedy Hour" (ABC, 1970-71), and then "The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour" (CBS, 1971-74). Einstein would debut the character of Super Dave on "The John Byner Comedy Hour" (CBS, 1972), but the character began to garner a following when Einstein was given his own sketch series, "Bizarre" (Showtime, 1980-85), his own variety show, "Super Dave" (Showtime, 1987-1991), and then his own animated series, "Super Dave: Daredevil for Hire" (Fox, 1992). The character found an even brighter spotlight as a regular on "The Late Show with David Letterman" (CBS, 1993-2015) and "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" (ABC, 2003-). However, Einstein continued to channel his creative energy into non-Super Dave related projects as well, memorably appearing as fan favorite Larry the "surrogate" on the acclaimed series "Arrested Development" (Fox, 2003-) and playing Marty Funkhouser on "Curb Your Enthusiasm" (HBO, 2000-). Bob Einstein passed away in January 2019. He was 76 years old.