SHELLY BERMAN COMEDIAN, 8X10 PHOT0, 1959 1ST GRAMMY WINNER FOR SPOKEN WORD

Sheldon Leonard Berman (February 3, 1925 September 1, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, writer, teacher, and lecturer. In his comedic career, he was awarded three gold records and he won the first Grammy Award for a spoken comedy recording in 1959. He played Larry David's father on Curb Your Enthusiasm, a role for which he received a 2008 Emmy Award nomination Berman taught humor writing at the University of Southern California for more than 20 years. His 1959 debut album, Inside Shelley Berman, was the first-ever winner of the spoken word Best Comedy Album at the Grammy Awards of 1960, and the cover of that album cemented his image as a skinny guy sitting on a high chair, cigarette in hand. He was the first standup comedian to appear at Carnegie Hall, and went on to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show (over 20 times), The Jack Paar Show, and numerous other variety and TV specials throughout the 1960s. He also appeared as Roy Chase in the 1963 episode "Whatsoever Things I Hear" of the ABC medical drama about psychiatry, Breaking Point. Berman's Broadway theatre credits include The Girls Against the Boys and A Family Affair. By 1989, he had returned to comedy by taking small roles. In 1995, Berman released a new live comedy album called Live Again! At the Improv. Since then, he has been part of numerous projects, including Curb Your Enthusiasm, Boston Legal, Friends, Arli$, King of Queens, The Bernie Mac Show and Meet the Fockers.