'I learned a lot about the business of making people laugh. 'It was the thrill of my life to be chosen by Joey as the announcer for his talk show on ABC back in the '60s,' he said in a statement. But despite an impressive guest list and outrageous stunts, Bishop couldn't dent Carson's ratings, and 'The Joey Bishop Show' was canceled after two seasons. Like Carson, Bishop sat behind a desk and bantered with a sidekick, TV newcomer Regis Philbin. His program was started by ABC in 1967 as a challenge to Johnny Carson's immensely popular 'The Tonight Show.' Then, he really became a TV talk show host. In the first series, Bishop played a TV talk show host. The third season brought a change in network, with the show moving to ABC, but nothing seemed to help and it was canceled in 1965. Critical and audience response was generally negative, and the second season brought a change in format. The first, an NBC sitcom, got off to a rocky start in 1961. And do you believe these guys had to chase broads? They had to chase 'em away.'Īway from the Rat Pack, Bishop starred in two TV series, both called 'The Joey Bishop Show.' 'I never saw Frank, Dean, Sammy or Peter drunk during performances. 'Are we remembered as being drunk and chasing broads?' he asked. The movie 'Ocean's Eleven' was even remade in 2003 with George Clooney and Brad Pitt in the lead roles.īishop defended his fellow performers' rowdy reputations in a 1998 interview. The Rat Pack faded after Kennedy's assassination, but the late 1990s brought a renaissance, with the group depicted in an HBO movie and portrayed by imitators in Las Vegas and elsewhere. Kennedy, at whose inauguration gala Bishop served as master of ceremonies.

They appeared together in such films as 'Ocean's Eleven' and 'Sergeants 3' and proudly gave honorary membership to a certain fun-loving politician from Massachusetts, John F. The quintet lived it up whenever members were free of their own commitments. He termed the comedian 'the Hub of the Big Wheel,' with Bishop coming up with some of the best one-liners and beginning many jokes with his favorite phrase, 'Son of a gun!' Reviewers often claimed that Bishop played a minor role, but Sinatra knew otherwise. The Rat Pack - originally a social group surrounding Humphrey Bogart - became a show business sensation in the early 1960s, appearing at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas in shows that combined music and comedy in a seemingly chaotic manner. in 1990, Dean Martin in 1995, and Sinatra in 1998.īishop died Wednesday night of multiple causes at his home in Newport Beach, publicist and longtime friend Warren Cowan said Thursday.

Peter Lawford died in 1984, Sammy Davis Jr.

He was the group's last surviving member.

Who all was in the rat pack