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Joey Bishop

The cynical, quick-witted funnyman of the iconic Rat Pack, actor-comedian Joey Bishop was held in far higher esteem by pack leader Frank Sinatra than may have been apparent to the casual spectator. Educated in the hard-knock school of the vaudeville circuit, Bishop had gained a solid reputation as a nightclub comedian by the early 1950s, whereupon he caught the eye of Sinatra, who hired him as an opening act. He soon broke into acting with small roles in such films as "The Naked and the Dead" (1958), but it was the Rat Pack-defining crime caper "Ocean's Eleven" (1960) that forever enshrined him and his pals Sinatra, Dean Martin, Peter Lawford and Sammy Davis, Jr. as icons of Sixties cool. As a solo act on television, Bishop enjoyed a successful run as a sitcom star on "The Joey Bishop Show" (NBC, 1961-64/CBS, 1964-65), followed by a brief run as a late night talk show host with "The Joey Bishop Show" (ABC, 1967-69). Following a decade comprised largely of nightclub performances and appearances on television game shows, Bishop made his Broadway debut with a short stint in the long-running musical "Sugar Babies" in 1981. With his career winding down, the comic made the occasional return to the screen in features like the action-adventure "The Delta Force" (1986). Although often overshadowed by his larger-than-life Rat Pack brethren, Bishop managed to outlast them all, leaving behind a legacy as a devoted friend, husband and remarkably accomplished entertainer.