Chicago Native, Legendary Comedian Harvey Korman Passes Away at 81

HollywoodChicago.com — Fri, 30 May 2008 14:06:33 -0700

CHICAGO – Legendary comedian and Chicago native Harvey Korman passed away on Thursday. He is best remembered from films such as “Blazing Saddles” and “High Anxiety” as well as a performer on the “The Carol Burnett Show”. Korman was 81.

Legendary comedian and Chicago native Harvey Korman passed away on May 29, 2008.
Photo credit: BroadwayWorld.com

A statement released by his family through the University of California at the Los Angeles Medical Center gives the cause of death as complications from the rupture of an abdominal aortic aneurysm four months ago.

“Everything he did on ‘The Carol Burnett Show’ – especially the Mother Marcus character – was a special favorite,” his daughter, Katherine Korman, said in a published interview on Thursday.

Mother Marcus was a Yiddish grandmother played by Korman in drag. He based the character on his own real-life grandmother.

Harvey Herschel Korman was born in Chicago in 1927. After serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II, he studied drama at the Goodman School of Drama.

He then moved to New York where “for the next 13 years I tried to get on Broadway, on off-Broadway [and] under or beside Broadway,” Korman said in a 1971 interview. He gave up and moved back to Chicago only to leave for California to try and make it in show business again.

After some small voice work and minor movie parts, in 1964 he had his breakthrough joining “The Danny Kaye Show”. After the show went off the air, he found his way onto “The Carol Burnett Show”.

A Harvey Korman dentist sketch on “The Carol Burnett Show”.
Video credit: YouTube

There, he routinely played roles in hilarious sketches to a national audience and high ratings. While Korman left Burnett’s show to host his own “The Harvey Korman Show,” it only lasted one season.

Mel Brooks (one of Korman’s biggest fans) cast Korman in “Blazing Saddles” for the part of Hedley Lamarr. Korman always considered that one of his favorite roles.

Brooks would use him later in the films “History of the World: Part 1,” “High Anxiety” and “Dracula: Dead and Loving It”.

Korman continued his work with the motion pictures “The Flintstones” and “The Flintsones in Viva Rock Vegas” as well as television appearances on “ER” and “Mama’s Family”.

He was nominated for seven Emmys for his television work and won four. He also was nominated for four Golden Globe awards and won one.

Our Harvey Korman remembrance thread can be found here.
More HollywoodChicago.com writing from Dustin Levell can be found here.

By DUSTIN LEVELL
Senior Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
dustin@hollywoodchicago.com