Larry Wilde

Larry Wilde
Photo by Gregory Wutke
Born	Herman Wildman February 6, 1928 Jersey City, New Jersey, United States
Occupation	Comedian, actor, author, motivational speaker, humor historian
Years active	1938–present
Known for	Performances in Nightclubs, Concerts, Cruise Ships, Conferences, Conventions, and as an Executive Coach
Spouse(s)	Dana Slawson (1955-1957) Julie Heater (1968-1971) Maryruth Poulos (1974-present)
Website	larrywilde.com

Larry Wilde (born Herman Wildman 6 February 1928) is a standup comedian, television and stage actor, motivational speaker, university instructor and publisher. Best known as the author of 53 published books of humor.

Biography

Larry Wilde, born Herman Wildman, in Jersey City, New Jersey, was the fourth child of Jewish parents Gertrude and Selig Wildman. His siblings were Milton, Benjamin and Miriam. He chose Larry Wilde as a professional name when he began a career in show business.

Wilde attended Lincoln High School where he was active in numerous extracurricular activities, including Sports Editor of the school paper, the Drama Club, President of the Student Body and the Swimming Team where he became the Jersey City 100-yard Breaststroke Champion.

He served in the Second Marine Division from 1946 to 1948. While stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina he wrote, produced, directed and performed in camp stage shows doing comedy routines. Promoted to Corporal, he became the first official Marine Corps "Non-commissioned Comedian".

Wilde graduated from the University of Miami in Florida where he worked his way through school performing at Miami Beach nightclubs and hotels.

Works

President, PEN Los Angeles (Poets, Essayists and Novelists) 1981-1983.

Founder, National Humor Month 1976. Designed to heighten public awareness on how the joy and therapeutic value of laughter can improve health, boost morale, increase communication skills and enrich the quality of one's life.

With book sales over 12 million copies, The New York Times has called him "America’s Best Selling Humorist".

Wilde's book Great Comedians Talk About Comedy contains inspirational interviews with seventeen great comedians of the 20th Century, revealing their secrets on extracting laughter from audiences. The comedians interviewed are Woody Allen, Jack Benny, Milton Berle, Shelley Berman, Joey Bishop, George Burns, Johnny Carson, Maurice Chevalier, Phyllis Diller, Jimmy Durante, Dick Gregory, Bob Hope, George Jessel, Jerry Lewis, Jerry Seinfeld, Danny Thomas and Ed Wynn. The original tapes of these historical interviews are now part of The Larry Wilde Collection housed in the Library of Congress.

Wilde's book How The Great Comedy Writers Create Laughter is a unique collection of dialogues with the writers who originate comedy for the stage, television, motion pictures and print publications. They include Goodman Ace, Art Buchwald, Abe Burrows, Mel Brooks, Bill Dana, Selma Diamond, Jack Douglas, Norman Lear, Hal Kanter, Carl Reiner and Neil Simon.

Discography

• The Joker is Wilde Dot Records
• The Official Polish/Italian Comedy Album

Filmography

Television
Year	Title	Episode	Role
1958	U.S. Steel Hour	Mid-Summer[1]	Song-and Dance Man
1966	Art Linkletter's Hollywood Talent Scouts[2]		Himself
1968	The Donald O'Connor Show[3]		Himself
1968	The Della Reese Show		Himself
1968	The Woody Woodbury Show[4]	Episode dated 7 March 1968[5]	Himself
1968-1969	The Mike Douglas Show	Several episodes	Himself
1969	The Merv Griffin Show		Himself
1970	The Barbara McNair Show[6]	Episode dated 8 February 1970[7]	Himself
1971	Dan August		Patrolman
1972	Adam-12	The Tip[8]	Milton Waters
1972	Sanford and Son	Steinberg and Son[9]	Saul Green
1973	Barnaby Jones	See Some Evil... Do Some Evil[10]	Customer
1976	The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case[11]		Third voice
1973-1976	Mary Tyler Moore		Emcee
1973		Lou's First Date[12]	Master of Ceremonies
1974		Ted Baxter Meets Walter Cronkite[13]	"Teddy" Presenter
1975		You Can't Lose 'em All[14]	Master of Ceremonies
1976	'	Sue Ann Falls in Love[15]	Master of Ceremonies
1976		Murray Can't Lose[16]	Master of Ceremonies
1978	Rhoda	The Date in the Iron Mask[17]	Emcee

Books

• The Larry Wilde Treasury of Laughter. Jester Press, 2006.
• When You’re Up to Your Eyeballs In Alligators. Jester Press, 2000. (Revised 2006).
• Great Comedians Talk About Comedy. Citadel Press, 1968. (Revised) Executive Books/Jester Press, 2000.
• You're Never Too Old To Laugh. Pinnacle, 1997.
• The Dumb, Dumber, Dumbest Joke Book. Pinnacle, 1996.
• The Official Golf Lovers Joke Book. Bantam, 1992.
• The Merriest Book of Christmas Humor. Bantam, 1991.
• The Official Locker Room Joke Book. Bantam, 1991.
• The Ultimate Pet Lovers Joke Book. Bantam, 1990.
• The Ultimate Sex Maniacs Joke Book. Bantam, 1989.
• The Ultimate Book of Ethnic Humor. Bantam, 1989.
• The Official Computer Freaks Joke Book. (with Steve Wozniak). Bantam, 1989.
• The Official WASP Joke Book. Bantam. 1988.
• The Official All America Joke Book. Bantam, 1988.
• The Larry Wilde Library of Laughter. Jester Press, 1988.
• The Ultimate Lawyers Joke Book. Bantam, 1987.
• More The Official Doctors Joke Book. Bantam, 1986.
• The Official Executives Joke Book. Bantam, 1986.
• Ultimate Jewish Joke Book. Bantam, 1986.
• Absolutely Last Official Sex Maniacs Joke Book. Bantam, 1985.
• The Official Book of John Jokes. Bantam, 1985.
• The Official Sports Maniacs Joke Book. Bantam, 1985.
• The Official Politicians Joke Book. Bantam, 1984.
• The Official Rednecks Joke Book. Bantam, 1984.
• The Absolutely Last Official Polish Joke Book. Bantam, 1983.
• The Last Official Smart Kids Joke Book. Bantam, 1983.
• Last Official Irish Joke Book. Bantam, 1983.
• The Official Lawyers Joke Book. Bantam, 1982.
• Last Official Sex Maniacs Joke Book. Bantam, 1982.
• Larry Wilde Book of Limericks. Bantam, 1982.
• The Official Doctors Joke Book. Bantam, 1981.
• More The Official Sex Maniacs Joke Book. Bantam, 1981.
• Last Official Jewish Joke Book. Bantam, 1980.
• More Official Democrat/Republican Joke Book. Pinnacle, 1980.
• The Official Bedroom/Bathroom Joke Book. Pinnacle, 1980.
• More Official Jewish/Irish Joke Book. Pinnacle, 1979.
• The Official Book of Sick Jokes. Pinnacle, 1979.
• More Official Smart Kids/Dumb Parents Joke Book. Pinnacle, 1979.
• The Official Cat Lovers/Dog Lovers Joke Book. Pinnacle, 1978.
• The Official Dirty Joke Book. Pinnacle, 1978.
• The Last Official Italian Joke Book. Pinnacle, 1978.
• The Complete Book of Ethnic Humor. Pinnacle, 1978.
• The Official Golfers Joke Book. Pinnacle, 1977.
• The Official Smart Kids/Dumb Parents Joke Book. Pinnacle, 1977.
• Last Official Polish Joke Book. Pinnacle, 1977.
• The Official Democrat/Republican Joke Book. Pinnacle, 1976.
• The Official Religious/Not So Religious Joke Book. Pinnacle, 1976.
• How the Great Comedy Writers Create Laughter. Nelson Hall, 1976.
• More The Official Polish/Italian Joke Book. Pinnacle, 1975.
• The Official Black Folks/White Folks Joke Book. Pinnacle, 1975.
• The Official Virgins/Sex Maniacs Joke Book. Pinnacle, 1975.
• The Official Jewish/Irish Joke Book. Pinnacle, 1974.
• The Official Polish/Italian Joke Book. Pinnacle, 1973.

References

1. U.S. Steel Hour episode Mid-Summer
2. Art Linkletter's Hollywood Talent Scouts
3. The Donald O'Connor Show
4. The Woody Woodbury Show
5. The Woody Woodbury Show episode dated 7 March 1968
6. The Barbara McNair Show
7. The Barbara McNair Show episode dated 8 February 1970
8. Adam-12 episode "The Tip"
9. Sanford and Son episode "Steinberg and Son"
10. Barnaby Jones episode "See Some Evil... Do Some Evil"
11. The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case
12. The Mary Tyler Moore Show episode "Lou's First Date"
13. The Mary Tyler Moore Show episode "Ted Baxter Meets Walter Cronkite"
14. The Mary Tyler Moore Show episode "You Can't Lose 'em All"
15. The Mary Tyler Moore Show episode "Sue Ann Falls in Love"
16. The Mary Tyler Moore Show episode "Murray Can't Lose"
17. Rhoda episode "The Date in the Iron Mask"

External links

• Official Larry Wilde website
• Larry Wilde at the Internet Movie Database
• Larry Wilde quotes from Famous Quotes and Authors