Charlie Callas

Born Charles Callias in Brooklyn, NY on December 20, 1927, he served in the US Army in Germany during World War 2. Originally a drummer, he played with Tommy Dorsey, Claude Thornhill and Buddy Rich. He was always clowning around and would drive the band members crazy on the bus as they traveled. So much so, they suggested he should be a comedian. "He was just messing around with the guys and it worked, I guess" his son Mark said. Charlie was a natural comic, and it wasn't long before he gave up drumming for stand-up routines. He dropped a vowel from his legal name, Callias, when he took to the stage in his first television appearance in 1963 on the "Hollywood Palace" variety show. In 1967, he appeared on The Merv Griffin Show and had Jerry Lewis (another one of Merv's guests) in hysterics so much so he told Merv that he had to use Charlie in his upcoming film "The Big Mouth". He was a regular on the Andy Williams Show and a semi-regular on the Flip Wilson and the Des O'Connor Variet