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

In this episode, Famous & Gravy reframes Bob Einstein's story through the lens of mortality and cultural memory as part of a life lessons from celebrities and known for obituary-based storytelling, through themes of identity, perception, and lasting influence. This entry frames legacy not as a fixed point, but as an ongoing negotiation. This show explores smart pop culture podcast and contributes to legacy podcast.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.