Comedian Nipsey Russell dies of cancer

Nipsey Russell, a stand-up comedian who became a national television personality through his frequent appearances on variety, talk and game shows, has died. He was 80.

Russell died last Sunday at New York’s Lenox Hill Hospital, a hospital spokesman confirmed. According to WCBS-TV in New York, Russell’s manager, Joseph Rapp, said the comedian died of cancer.

A witty raconteur, Russell delighted audiences with his funny but topical poems. They prompted Ed McMahon to dub him “the poet laureate of television.”

One of his typical four-line verses, for example, was:

The opposite of pro is con;

That fact is clearly seen;

If progress means move forward,

Then what does Congress mean?

“I’ve always had the ability to manipulate words and communicate ideas and thoughts,” Russell told the Philadelphia Tribune in 1997, adding that he earned a degree in English at the University of Cincinnati and originally planned to teach English.

Russell made his breakthrough in the late 1950s with an appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show” and a series of erudite, entertaining chats with Jack Paar on “The Tonight Show.” The appearances earned Russell a regular role in the 1961-63 television sitcom “Car 54, Where Are You?”

Russell became a popular guest on such variety shows as “The Jackie Gleason Show,” “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In” and “The Dean Martin Show.” He often hosted “Dean Martin Roasts” television specials. Younger generations remember Russell best as a glib panelist on such game shows as “To Tell the Truth” and “The Match Game.”