Wilson, Flip

December 8, 1933
November 25, 1998

Comedian Clerow "Flip" Wilson was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. Abandoned by his mother in 1940, he was placed in foster homes from which he ran away so often that he was sent to reform school. Wilson quit school at the age of sixteen, lied about his age, and joined the U.S. Air Force. He served until 1954.

Wilson then worked as a comic in small clubs and by 1960 was working in New York. An appearance in 1966 on the Tonight Show was followed by many others and led to appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show and Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, and to his own special in 1968. NBC starred him in the Flip Wilson Show, which ran from September 17, 1970, to June 27, 1974. The program ranked among the top ten.

Wilson was the first black entertainer to host a successful weekly variety show on network television. He was noted for his storytelling and his flamboyant impersonations of characters like the sassy waitress Geraldine.

After Wilson left the show in 1974, he went into semi-retirement, appearing in specials and in movies like Uptown Saturday Night (1974) and The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh (1979). He also starred in a daytime game show and a situation comedy that were failures. In the last decade of his life, he limited his performances to occasional guest appearances on situation comedies. He died of liver cancer.

See also Comedians; Television

Bibliography

Ingram, Billy. "Flip Wilson: The Odd Disappearance of the Flip Wilson Show." Published in TV Party. Available from <http://www.tvparty.com/flip.html>.

Manheim, James M. "Flip Wilson." In Contemporary Black Biography, edited by Shirelle Phelps. Detroit, Mich.: Gale, 1999.

Watkins, Mel. "Flip Wilson, 64, Over-the-top Comic and TV Host, Dies." New York Times, November 26, 1998.

robert l. johns (2001)