David Steinberg(I)
- Director
- Additional Crew
- Actor
Comedian David Steinberg, born in 1942, grew up in Winnipeg, Canada. He
left home to attend the University of Chicago. The family moved to
Chicago when he was a teen. It was there that he saw a performance by
the Second City Chicago Troupe and it changed the course of his life.
With another student at the university, he started a comedy act called
Kadish and Steinberg. After members of Second City saw them, he was
invited to join the company and was with them for four years. In the
late
60's he moved on to Broadway with leading roles in "Little Murders" and "Carry Me Back to Morningside Heights", the latter directed by Sidney Poitier.
From there he moved to stand up comedy opening at the Bitter End in
1969. He received a rave review from the New York times, calling him a
cross between Lenny Bruce and
Woody Allen. After his first appearance on
the
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962),
he became one of Johnny Carson's most popular guests and guest hosts,
with 140 appearances, second only to Bob Hope. He wrote and performed
for
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (1967)
where his irreverent "sermons" were often censored and cited as the
reason for the show's cancellation.
Steinberg's sometimes racy, usually anti-establishment stance of the
late 60s/early 70s made him a favorite among the young and
disillusioned. Steinberg released four solo comedy albums and CBS gave
him his own summer comedy variety series with
The David Steinberg Show (1972).
In 1976, Steinberg returned to Canada to create and star in another
series, also called
_'The David Steinberg Show'. Gary Shandling credits this show as being one of the influences for _The Larry Sanders Show(1992)_.
It featured John Candy,
Joe Flaherty,
Martin Short and
Dave Thomas who went on to form the
legendary SCTV troupe.
In 1982 Steinberg made his directorial debut with the feature
Paternity (1981) and, the following
year, his TV directorial debut with an episode of
Newhart (1982). In the 90s, he became
the executive producer of the popular CBS-TV
Designing Women (1986) and
continued to direct. Other TV credits as director include episodes of
The Golden Girls (1985),
Seinfeld (1989) ,
Mad About You (1992),
Weeds (2005), and Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000).
He won two Emmy Awards for his writing on Oscar telecasts in the early
90s. Steinberg has also directed over 300 television commercials,
winning two Clio Awards and the prestigious Silver Lion Award at the
Cannes International Film Festival.
As a film director, he directed
Paternity (1981) with
Burt Reynolds,
Going Berserk (1983) with
John Candy and
The Wrong Guy (1997) with
David Foley. In 2007, Simon and
Schuster published his memoir about his life in comedy called "The Book
of David".
left home to attend the University of Chicago. The family moved to
Chicago when he was a teen. It was there that he saw a performance by
the Second City Chicago Troupe and it changed the course of his life.
With another student at the university, he started a comedy act called
Kadish and Steinberg. After members of Second City saw them, he was
invited to join the company and was with them for four years. In the
late
60's he moved on to Broadway with leading roles in "Little Murders" and "Carry Me Back to Morningside Heights", the latter directed by Sidney Poitier.
From there he moved to stand up comedy opening at the Bitter End in
1969. He received a rave review from the New York times, calling him a
cross between Lenny Bruce and
Woody Allen. After his first appearance on
the
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962),
he became one of Johnny Carson's most popular guests and guest hosts,
with 140 appearances, second only to Bob Hope. He wrote and performed
for
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (1967)
where his irreverent "sermons" were often censored and cited as the
reason for the show's cancellation.
Steinberg's sometimes racy, usually anti-establishment stance of the
late 60s/early 70s made him a favorite among the young and
disillusioned. Steinberg released four solo comedy albums and CBS gave
him his own summer comedy variety series with
The David Steinberg Show (1972).
In 1976, Steinberg returned to Canada to create and star in another
series, also called
_'The David Steinberg Show'. Gary Shandling credits this show as being one of the influences for _The Larry Sanders Show(1992)_.
It featured John Candy,
Joe Flaherty,
Martin Short and
Dave Thomas who went on to form the
legendary SCTV troupe.
In 1982 Steinberg made his directorial debut with the feature
Paternity (1981) and, the following
year, his TV directorial debut with an episode of
Newhart (1982). In the 90s, he became
the executive producer of the popular CBS-TV
Designing Women (1986) and
continued to direct. Other TV credits as director include episodes of
The Golden Girls (1985),
Seinfeld (1989) ,
Mad About You (1992),
Weeds (2005), and Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000).
He won two Emmy Awards for his writing on Oscar telecasts in the early
90s. Steinberg has also directed over 300 television commercials,
winning two Clio Awards and the prestigious Silver Lion Award at the
Cannes International Film Festival.
As a film director, he directed
Paternity (1981) with
Burt Reynolds,
Going Berserk (1983) with
John Candy and
The Wrong Guy (1997) with
David Foley. In 2007, Simon and
Schuster published his memoir about his life in comedy called "The Book
of David".