He subsequently made many "party albums," which were essentially compilations of his stand-up routines. In the mids Russell joined forces with the popular movie comedian Mantan Moreland for a stage act, replacing Ben Carter as Moreland's dapper straight man.
One of their bits was an old routine that Moreland and Ben Carter had performed in vaudeville and in Charlie Chan films. In the "interruption routine" or "incomplete sentences" Moreland would engage Russell in conversation, only to be interrupted by Russell, who in turn was interrupted by Moreland:. Soon the entire conversation was conducted in incomplete sentences, with each man anticipating or contradicting the other. Another variation of the "interruption routine" performed by Tommy Davidson and Savion Glover, was featured in Spike Lee's film Bamboozled.
Scattered appearances on television series followed, as well as occasional guest-host stints on The Tonight Show during the Johnny Carson era. Russell also appeared frequently in Las Vegas; including a series of appearances with Sergio Franchi at the Frontier Hotel in and , [7] [8] [9] and with Franchi in at the Sands Hotel Copa Room.
Russell became the first black performer to become a regular panelist on a daily network game show when he joined ABC's Missing Links in In he started as a featured panelist on To Tell the Truth , which led to his being hired for The Match Game when Goodson-Todman Productions revived it two years later. He also served as panelist in on the syndicated version of What's My Line? Producer Bob Stewart featured him regularly as a panelist on Pyramid throughout its s and s runs.
Russell would also host the short-lived game show Your Number's Up as well as the early-'80s revival of Juvenile Jury. He was a trained dancer, influenced in his youth by legendary performer Jack Wiggins.
Russell put these talents to use in the musical The Wiz as the Tin Man. He also appeared on the big screen in 's adaptation of Car 54, Where Are You? During the s, Russell gained popularity with a new generation of television viewers as a regular on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Russell would often appear during comedy sketches between scheduled guests and deliver his trademark rhymes.
Sign In. Nipsey Russell — Actor Writer Soundtrack. Up 6, this week. View rank on IMDbPro ». Nipsey Russell was born in Atlanta, Georgia, in He got his start in Rock and Roll Review and other music revues in the s. After being on the show for a year, Russell was a mainstay on variety shows, appearing on Laugh-In, The Dean See full bio ».
Filmography by Job Trailers and Videos. Share this page:. Around The Web Provided by Taboola. Create a list ». Deaths by cancer. See all related lists ». Do you have a demo reel? Add it to your IMDb page. Find out more at IMDbPro ». How Much Have You Seen? How much of Nipsey Russell's work have you seen?
User Polls People at in See more polls ». Known For. The Wiz Tinman. Wildcats Edwards. Barefoot in the Park Honey Robinson. Posse Snopes. Show all Hide all Show by Hide Show Actor 20 credits. Wallace Roy. Nipsey Russell. Emergency Emergency Dummy. Police Capt. Dave Anderson. Uncle Edmund. Dapper Dan Manhoney. Charlie Witt. Moreland would engage Russell in conversation, only to be interrupted by Russell, who in turn was interrupted by Moreland:.
Soon the entire conversation was conducted in incomplete sentences, with each man anticipating or contradicting the other. Moreland and Russell's act can be seen in two all-black-cast compilation films, Rhythm and Blues Review and Rock and Roll Revue ; a variation of the act, performed by Tommy Davidson and Savion Glover , was featured in Spike Lee 's film Bamboozled. Scattered appearances on television series followed, as well as occasional guest-host stints on The Tonight Show during the Johnny Carson era.
Previous versions of this article have stated, without reference, that Russell is the originator of the line: "Beauty is only skin deep — but ugly goes right to the bone!
Russell became the first black performer to become a regular panelist on a weekly network game show when he joined ABC's Missing Links in In he started as a featured panelist on To Tell the Truth , which led to his being hired for The Match Game when Goodson-Todman Productions revived it two years later. He also served as panelist on the revival of What's My Line?
Producer Bob Stewart featured him regularly as a panelist on Pyramid throughout its s and s runs. Russell would also host the short-lived game show Your Number's Up as well as the early-'80s revival of Juvenile Jury. During his appearances on game shows, at some point in the broadcast the host would give the floor to Russell, who would recite a self-penned poem from memory, looking straight into the camera. Note: At that Betty White replied, "I'm not a multimillionaire but one out of two ain't bad.
When Russell appeared on Family Feud during a special game show emcee week, he had two poems to give:.
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