Pat Proft

A former stand-up comic, Pat Proft became one of the most successful purveyors in Hollywood of low brow, sight-gag humor, as part of the creative teams behind such feature film franchises as "Police Academy" (1984), "The Naked Gun - From the Files of Police Squad!" (1991), and "Hot Shots!" (1991). Proft broke into TV as a performer on "The Burns and Schreiber Comedy Hour" (ABC, 1973). He was a regular with Joey and Ray Heatherton on "Joey & Dad" (CBS, 1975), but soon after found steadier work as a writer for other performers. He was on the writing staff of "The Jim Stafford Show" (ABC, 1975), as well as ABC's revival of "The Smothers Brothers Show" (1975). Proft worked on specials for Cher, Bob Hope, and Ringo Starr, and also wrote for Cher's short-lived variety series (CBS, 1975-76). Even when Proft was performing again, it was usually secondary to his writing duties. He was a writer and performer on "Van Dyke and Company" (NBC, 1976) and both co-starred in and wrote for "Detective School," a short-lived ABC sitcom in 1979. TV work petered out in 1980, with Proft producing and writing two short-lived series, "Marie" (CBS) and "Buckshot" (ABC). He also appeared in a small role in the 1979 NBC TV-movie "Fast Friends."