Joey Adams

Life and career

Adams was born in Brooklyn, New York as Joseph Abramowitz. For many years, he wrote the Strictly for Laughs column in the New York Post. His wife, Cindy Adams (to whom he was married from 1952 until his death), remains a society/gossip columnist for the same paper.

Adams' career spanned more than 70 years and included appearances in nightclubs and vaudeville shows. He also hosted for a while his own radio show and wrote 23 books, including From Gags to Riches, Joey Adams Joke Book, Laugh Your Calories Away, On the Road with Uncle Sam and Encyclopedia of Humor. The Yale Book of Quotations cites him as being the first to say, "With friends like that, who needs enemies?"

He made numerous television appearances over the years, including on The Ed Sullivan Show and Howard Stern's 1990s TV shows, and was in the films Singing in the Dark (1956, of which he was also executive producer), Don't Worry, We'll Think of a Title (1966), and Silent Prey (1997). For many years, he hosted a radio talk show on WEVD in New York.

Honors

For his civic work, Adams was honored by presidents and statesmen, and he held honorary doctorates in comedy from his alma mater City College, and from Columbia University, Long Island University, and New York University.

He was active in the New York Friars Club and was president of the American Guild of Variety Artists AGVA. He was appointed as Commissioner of Youth for the City of New York by Mayor Robert F. Wagner, Jr. emulating Fiorello LaGuardia's civic-mindness in recognition for his efforts in battling juvenile delinquency on behalf of the AGVA Youth Fund. Governor Nelson Rockefeller also encouraged him to spread his program throughout the entire state, and eventually it moved westward to California.

Death

Adams died December 2, 1999, at St. Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan, aged 88, from heart failure. Eulogies were delivered by Adams' widow and Mayor Rudy Giuliani. His widow had his remains cremated.