97-YEAR-OLD COMEDIAN PROFESSOR IRWIN COREY PANHANDLING FOR LAUGHS

97-YEAR-OLD COMEDIAN PROFESSOR IRWIN COREY PANHANDLING FOR LAUGHS

You may have never heard of or forgotten the namebut you might recognize him  , an Albert Einstein lookalike. Perhaps the original 'absented minded professor,' he  may not have been  in the top tier of Borscht Belt comedians because of hiseccentric style-and not leaving the stage on time - but he was always a favorite, appearingmany times on Ed Sullivan, Johnny Carson, etc. I actually met himat a small venue about 20 years ago.  Corey is now 97 (same age as Dad ) and still
very sharp. He was recently in the news

 
on Smothers Brothers 1966

because he now ambles through traffic  on his walker,  in  New York, selling discarded newspapers, yes, at 97- not because he needs the money but because his wife recently died and it keeps his mind off the loneliness (something only Corey would say and do)....Too bad few clubs   hire him today.

97-YEAR-OLD COMEDIAN PROFESSOR IRWIN COREY PANHANDLES FOR LAUGHS

At 97, I think his wacky humour is still better than most of what passes as 'comedy' now.  Click on the below picture for a recent interview with this forgotten   legend from the Golden Age of comedy. I just wish somebody would hire him, perhaps for  a large senior center, and get him out of the streets!

    http://youtu.be/dHlOFcV_Pos

Professor Irwin Corey, Legendary Comedian, Panhandles For Change On 35th Street (VIDEO)

 

97 year-old standup comedian Irwin Corey, aka Professor Irwin Corey,The World's Foremost Authority, spends his day at a red light on East 35th street, navigating his walker through traffic asking drivers for spare change and selling discarded newspapers. But the Professor isn't poor. In fact, around the corner he owns an apartment he tells The New York Times is worth $3.5 million. All the money he gathers panhandling (about $100 a day) goes to a charity that sends medical supplies to children in Cuba. And although the Professor claims he does it because he wants to help people, it also seems like he's not ready to stop performing. His illustrious film career included performances with Jackie Gleason and Woody Allen, and he once famously accepted the National Book Award on behalf of the reclusive Thomas Pynchon. The Professor's wife of 70 years passed away this spring and he tells The Times that selling newspapers helps him take his mind off the loneliness. For a fuller portrait, The New York Times recently caught up with this New York City legend for its Street Takes video series: 97-YEAR-OLD COMEDIAN  PROFESSOR IRWIN COREY PANHANDLES FOR LAUGHS