He was seen frequently on television in the 1960s.
Berman's comedy career stalled in 1963. He was performing his act before an audience for a documentary-style NBC show, "Comedian Backstage," when a telephone ringing interrupted him; it was the second night it happened. He stormed backstage and ranted at everyone in sight. His outburst, edited to make him appear temperamental, was included in the telecast.
"Once you're known as being difficult, it becomes too hard to deal with management and even fellow artists," he remarked in 1986. The bookings fell off, and Berman returned to acting, with little luck. He and his wife, Sarah, were forced to file for bankruptcy, and he began a long struggle to pay off his taxes and creditors.
He found work in television series such as "The Twilight Zone," ''Rawhide" and "Peter Gunn" and occasional movies including "Divorce American Style." He became active in regional theater and also worked his old routines before college and lecture audiences.
For more than 20 years he taught comedy at the University of Southern California.
His real name was Sheldon Leonard Berman. He was married to his wife Sarah for about 70 years. Long marriages are quite common with comedians.
An amusing aside: Bob Thomas was a longtime Hollywood reporter who often wrote pre-obituaries of people in the industry. The note at the bottom of this one mentioned he had "contributed" to Berman's obituary and that of Richard Anderson, who also died a day or two ago. It takes a dead person to write about a dead person, I guess.
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Good question about why dentistry is separate from the rest of medicine.
Dental insurance is a national scandal.
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