Nationality American Children 1 | Spouse Helen Schultz | |
 | ||
Years active 1969–present (semi-retired) Mediums Stand-up comedy, Television Similar Gallagher, Carrot Top, Rip Taylor, Richard Pryor, George Carlin | ||
Lenny schultz go crazy lenny
Lenny Schultz (born December 13, 1933) was a popular comedian during the late 1970s on television and at comedy clubs in New York City. His madcap style of improvisational comedy influenced other comedians such as Gallagher, Carrot Top, and David Letterman.
Contents
- Lenny schultz go crazy lenny
- Lenny schultz in an italian restaurant
- Biography
- Television appearances
- References
Lenny schultz in an italian restaurant
Biography
Born in The Bronx, he began making other children laugh at age eight by imitating chickens, making sound effects, and doing voices. Originally hoping for a career as a major league baseball pitcher, at 18 Schultz was offered a contract by a New York Yankee-owned minor league team. A shoulder injury compelled him to turn down the contract and ended his athletic career.
Instead he went to college, earning a bachelor of science degree from New York University and a master of science degree in Education from Hunter College. After serving in the United States Army in Special Services, he became a high school gym teacher in 1955, teaching at such New York City schools as John Adams High School and Newtown High School. As a teacher, he was appreciated by his students and fellow teachers for his sense of humor, but ignored their encouragement to take up stand-up comedy. When friends convinced him to write a few minutes of an act, he debuted at open mic night at The Improv comedy club in New York in 1969 and quickly gained a popular following.
Four months later he appeared on The Merv Griffin Show, which led to appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, The Ed Sullivan Show, and numerous other shows. By the late 1970s he was a popular comedian both on television and at comedy clubs, particularly in the Catskill Mountains. His catch-phrase was "Go crazy, Lenny!", which he encouraged audience members to yell at him while he performed outrageous and zany antics in his act. Schultz often incorporated props in his act, with the assistance of his wife Helen (with whom he had one child). Unlike his television act, his stand-up often included lewd or adult humor.
Throughout his comedy career he continued working as a high school gym teacher and was known to leave clubs early on school nights. Schultz was known among his fellow comedians as a "hard act to follow". Schultz's comedy style has been called influential on such comics as Gallagher, Carrot Top, and Angel Salazar, and praised by such comedians as Brett Butler, David Letterman, Jon Stewart and Billy Crystal, who both said that he always got a standing ovation and "always killed.".
In 1992 Schultz became semi-retired and moved to Sullivan County, New York with his wife.
Television appearances
