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Shown below is a Yiddish guide to Joey's life:
"armey" (Army)
Bishop joined "di armey" during W.W. II
and was based at Fort Sam Houston in
Texas. He rose to sergeant.
"bagleyter" (companion)
Bishop is survived by his longtime
"bagleyter," Nora Garabotti.
"bakenen" (to introduce)
Alan King writes about an evening which
had two emcees, Joey Bishop and himself.
Joey did the first act, and King came on for
the second. When Joey finished his stint,
he introduced King: "Here he is, Alan King.
No buildup, no nothing"
So King looked at him and said, "If I'm a big hit tonight, it's through no fault of yours." (After that, Joey Bishop didn't talk to him for three years.)
"baleydikn" (to insult)
Bishop was one of the few people who
could insult Sinatra and get away with it.
He would interrupt Sinatra onstage saying,
"That's enough singing, Frank. Why don't
you tell them some of the good things the
Mafia has done?"
"beybi" (baby)
At birth, Joey Bishop weighed only three
pounds and was, he says, the smallest baby
ever born in the Bronx's Fordham Hospital.
biography
In 2002, Michael Seth Starr wrote a
biography of Bishop; it was titled, "Mouse
in the Rat Pack."
boxing fan
Bishop was a longtime boxing fan who
regularly attended prize fights in Southern California.
Catskills
Joey first made a name playing the Jewish
resorts of New York's Catskills circuit before
branching out to clubs nationwide.
Comedy Central
Joey is listed as #96 on Comedy Central's
list of the 100 greatest standups of all time.
"dokter" (doctor)
Bishop said, "x-rays - my doctor is
wonderful. Once in 1955, when I couldn't
afford an operation, he touched up the
x-rays."
"filosofye" (philosophy)
Bishop's "filosofye" of comedy: "Taste is
the big thing--taste and honesty. Then
acceptance of your style and material will
come." It's a lot more important ("vikhtik")
to be known as a great human being, and
a so-so comic ("komiker") than to be known
as a great comic and not be accepted by
the audience as a human being ("mentsh")."
"gazolin" station (gasoline station)
Bishop said, "Today you can go to a gas
station and find the cash register open and
the toilets locked. They must think toilet
paper ("tualet-papir") is worth more than
money."
"gelernter" (scholar)
Joey was no "gelernter." A natural mimic,
he dropped out of school to join a comedy
trio called the Bishop Brothers, whose name
he took as his own.
glamorous
Bishop distinguished himself as the group's
"least glamorous member, the one whose
personal life never made the gossip
("yente") pages.
golf
Bishop was an excellent golfer and used to
play regularly with fellow comedians Buddy
Hackett, Phil Foster, and Dick Shawn.
Jewish Rat Packers
Bishop was an early fave of Frank Sinatra's,
who permitted him to become one of two
Jewish Rat Packers. The "tsveyter' (second)
was Sammy Davis Jr.
"khasene" (marriage)
In 1941 Bishop married Sylvia Ruzga. The
marriage survived until her death in 1999.
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe suddenly appeared on stage in the middle of a performance at
the Copacabana. She was all fapitz'd in
white ermine. Mr. Bishop's response:
"Marilyn, I told you to sit in the truck."
"mishpokhe" (family)
Bishop was the fifth child, third son, of
Jacob Gottlieb and the former Anna Siegel.
They were immigrants from Eastern Europe.
Bishop once said to his audience, "This is a nice family crowd--so many middle-aged men with their daughters."
movies
Bishop had roles in "The Naked and the
Dead" (1958), "Ocean's Eleven" (l960),
"Johnny Cool" (l963), and "Valley of the
Dolls" (l967).
"nervez" (nervous)
In 1981 Bishop made his B'way debut when
he filled in for Mickey Rooney for one
month as star of the musical "Sugar Babies." When he stepped into the
cast, he spoke to the "oylem" (audience): "Ladies
and gentlemen, on an opening night there's
a tendency to be nervous. Please don't be."
"nomen" (name)
Joey's original name was Joseph Abraham
Gottlieb.
"noz" (nose)
The first thing Bishop bought for himself
was a false "noz." In 1936 he won first
prize in an amateur show for his imitations
of Joe Penner, George Arliss, and Jimmy
Durante.
quotes
"In kindergarten ("kinder-gortn") I flunked
sand pile."
"I put Dean Martin on my show one night, and wherever he went, the next day people recognized him."
When Joey appeared in the film, "The Naked and the Dead," he remarked, "I played both parts."
Ringo
Bishop was often portrayed as the expendable member of the Rat Pack--the
one who was lucky ("mazldik") to be along
for the ride, the Ringo.
"shifl" (boat)
Bishop had a boat named "Son of a Gun, II."
"shpitol" (hospital)
When Bishop was hospitalized in 1965,
Johnny Carson said that he'd strained his
back ("rukn") bowing to Sinatra.
"skhires" (salary)
After 3 1/2 years in "di armey," Bishop
resumed his career in 1945. Within 5 years
he was earning $1,000 a "vokh" (week) at
New York's Latin Quarter. (Sinatra saw him
there one night and hired him as opening
act at New York's Cocacabana in the early
1950s.)
"Son of a gun"
Bishop was known for his one-liners, often
including his favorite, "son of a gun.:
stock jokes
Bishop said, "I'd like to work one club--just
one club--where they have a Jewish
orchestra and Spanish people dancing."
tribute
When Bobby Kennedy got shot, Joey did a tribute to him.
"trinken" (to drink)
Bishop sought to downplay the group's
mystique. He said, "Everything you're
hearing now is hearsay," he said after
Sinatra died in '98. "I never saw Frank, Dean, Sammy or Peter drink during
performances. That was only a gag! And do you believe these guys
had to chase
broads? They had to chase 'em away."
"tsuriktsien zikh" (retire; to stop working)
Bishop spent his retirement years on the
upscale Lido Isle in Southern California's
Newport Bay.
"zun" (son)
Bishop is survived by a "zun," Larry Bishop,
and grandchildren, Scott and Kirk Bishop.
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