Famous & Gravy: Super Funkhouser (Bob Einstein)

This person died in 2019, age 76. In 1958 when he was 14, his father died immediately after performing a roast for Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. His dry delivery piqued the interest of Tom Smothers, who offered him a job in the late 1960s as a writer on the “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.” He was roommates with Steve Martin for a number of years, and his younger brother is the renowned comedian and filmmaker Albert Brooks. His most famous and long-lived character was a witless, deadpan parody of bravado-fueled stuntmen like Evel Knievel. Recently, he starred as Marty Funkhouser on “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” Today’s dead celebrity is Bob Einstein. 

This episode originally published December 14, 2022.

Famous & Gravy is created and co-hosted by Amit Kapoor and Michael Osborne. This episode was produced by Jacob Weiss. Visit our website at famousandgravy.com and also enjoy our free mobile quiz game at deadoraliveapp.com

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also like Episode 75 “Love and OJ Jokes” (Norm Macdonald) and Episode 58 “Best in Show” (Fred Willard)

LINKS:
Transcript of this episode
New York Times Obituary for Bob Einstein
Super Dave Osborne King of the Road video
Super Dave Bungee Jump video
Scene in Modern Romance with Bob Einstein and Albert Brooks
“Super Dave, In Memoriam” article in The Yorker
“Mourning Marty Funkhouser” article in The Ringer
Bob Einstein Official Website
The Super Bob Einstein Movie HBO Documentary
Dead or Alive quiz game
Famous & Gravy on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter
Famous & Gravy official website
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices