Obit: Joey Bishop - the last of the Rat Pack

Subject: Obit: Joey Bishop - the last of the brat pack
From: Becca72
Date: 18 Oct 07 - 03:14 PM

LOS ANGELES - Joey Bishop, the stone-faced comedian who found success in nightclubs, television and movies but became most famous as a member of Frank Sinatra's Rat Pack, has died at 89.

He was the group's last surviving member. Peter Lawford died in 1984, Sammy Davis Jr. in 1990, Dean Martin in 1995, and Sinatra in 1998.

Bishop died Wednesday night of multiple causes at his home in Newport Beach, publicist and longtime friend Warren Cowan said Thursday.

The Rat Pack became a show business sensation in the early 1960s, appearing at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas in shows that combined music and comedy in a seemingly chaotic manner.

Reviewers often claimed that Bishop played a minor role, but Sinatra knew otherwise. He termed the comedian "the Hub of the Big Wheel," with Bishop coming up with some of the best one-liners and beginning many jokes with his favorite phrase, "Son of a gun!"

"He was the perfect match for the Rat Pack. He fit right in like an old shoe," Hollywood's honorary mayor, Johnny Grant, said Thursday.

The quintet lived it up whenever members were free of their own commitments. They appeared together in such films as "Ocean's Eleven" and "Sergeants 3" and proudly gave honorary membership to a certain fun-loving politician from Massachusetts, John F. Kennedy, at whose inauguration gala Bishop served as master of ceremonies.

The Rat Pack faded after Kennedy's assassination, but the late 1990s brought a renaissance, with the group depicted in an HBO movie and portrayed by imitators in Las Vegas and elsewhere. The movie "Ocean's Eleven" was even remade in 2003 with George Clooney and Brad Pitt in the lead roles.

Subject: RE: Obit: Joey Bishop - the last of the brat pack
From: Wesley S
Date: 18 Oct 07 - 03:21 PM

Actually that was the Rat Pack. And I understand he was a pretty fair mandolin player.

Subject: RE: Obit: Joey Bishop - the last of the rat pack
From: Becca72
Date: 18 Oct 07 - 04:18 PM

Sorry...typo from a child of the 80's. :-)

Subject: RE: Obit: Joey Bishop - the last of the Rat Pack
From: catspaw49
Date: 18 Oct 07 - 04:27 PM

That was a time unlike any other..........Joey was the least of it but certainly a member. Sinatra's Pack was na extension of the original started by Humphrey Bogart but by far the most famous. They tried in later years to recapture the feeling but the world had drastically changed, not just aged.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Obit: Joey Bishop - the last of the Rat Pack
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Oct 07 - 04:35 PM

Some would argue that Angie Dickenson was part of the rat pack. She is still alive and well.

Subject: RE: Obit: Joey Bishop - the last of the Rat Pack
From: catspaw49
Date: 18 Oct 07 - 05:09 PM

Yeah, along with Shirley MacLaine and Juliet Prowse who formed a "Ladies Auxillary" or something. Actually they did have some different name for the women involved but I don't remember what.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Obit: Joey Bishop - the last of the Rat Pack
From: Wesley S
Date: 18 Oct 07 - 05:12 PM

Whatever the name was I'm sure it couldn't be mentioned in a family site like the Mudcat......

Subject: RE: Obit: Joey Bishop - the last of the Rat Pack
From: GUEST,Bob Ryszkiewicz
Date: 18 Oct 07 - 06:00 PM

Thanks Joey...

Rest in Peace

bob

Subject: RE: Obit: Joey Bishop - the last of the Rat Pack
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 18 Oct 07 - 06:44 PM

Spaw - as usual - you dribble in a little - however, as you note in this thread you don't remember you are NOT a primary source and as a "secondary source" you are unreliable....although HumpOgart was right.

Women with the Rat Pack were called: "Rat Pack Mascots"
Pals of the Pack included Angie Dickinson, Juliet Prowse, and Shirley MacLaine Tony Curtis, Janet Leigh, Ava Gardner, Kim Novak

Known for alcohol, casinos, women, mob ties and the ever-present cigarette....

Look Carefully.... websource.....

Information retrieved from:
http://www.playhousesquare.org/bbuzz/ratpack/b-backstory.html

Sincerely,
Gargoyle

Subject: RE: Obit: Joey Bishop - the last of the Rat Pack
From: catspaw49
Date: 18 Oct 07 - 06:50 PM

As usual you prove yourself to be a dipshit! If this were critical I would have loooked it up but no one except you would actually give two shits! Congrats though as once again you prove you're fucked up.......like, uh.....Who is Ogart anyway?

Spaw

Subject: RE: Obit: Joey Bishop - the last of the Rat Pack
From: katlaughing
Date: 19 Oct 07 - 10:55 AM

I barely remember the Joey Bishop show. Actually I am surprised my parents let me watch it as I think it came on fairly late. I remember thinking he was funny, but that's about all I remember.

RIP, Joey,

kat

Subject: RE: Obit: Joey Bishop - the last of the Rat Pack
From: KB in Iowa
Date: 19 Oct 07 - 12:28 PM

The first few times I watched "The Tonight Show" Joey Biship was the guest host. I thought he was Johnny Carson (I must have missed or not been paying attention to the intro). I was a little let down when I realized my error because I thought Joey Bishop was funny. It took me a while to warm up to Carson.

Subject: RE: Obit: Joey Bishop - the last of the Rat Pack
From: Donuel
Date: 19 Oct 07 - 01:28 PM

I did know entile now that Bogart had a rat pack so to speak before Sinatra.

The meaning of rat pack is more of a genuine life time relationship than an entourage - which is as loyal as used car salesman.

Subject: RE: Obit: Joey Bishop - the last of the Rat Pack
From: Greg B
Date: 19 Oct 07 - 01:29 PM

With all the booze, women, casinos, sexism, mob ties, etc.,
it's easy to forget what big talents these guys were. Seeing
old tapes of them on stage together, just plowing their
way through a Vegas show is just amazing.

The other thing too was they were pretty much at the head of
the queue when it came to racial equality. As much as they
were the darlings of the 'conservatives,' their politics
were pretty progressive. They were pretty sexist, but then
again so were a lot of men who called themselves 'progressive'
back in those days.

Subject: RE: Obit: Joey Bishop - the last of the Rat Pack
From: gnu
Date: 19 Oct 07 - 04:46 PM

Joey Bishop... I recall the loud mouth... in a fond way. RIP.

Subject: RE: Obit: Joey Bishop - the last of the Rat Pack
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Oct 07 - 09:09 PM

I thought of McClaine also, but in one brief search only Dickenson mentioned. I forgot about some of the others. I suppose now it is all water under the bridge but I wonder if it helped or hurt these actresses at the time?

SRS

Subject: RE: Obit: Joey Bishop - the last of the Rat Pack
From: Pseudolus
Date: 19 Oct 07 - 10:33 PM

About a year ago I found the second season of the Joey Bishop show on DVD on Ebay. Got it for $6.98 + shipping. Best 7 bucks I spent in a long time. Obviously a little dated but I loved every minute of it. For a guy who hasn't been in the limelight for while he wil still be missed....

Frank