Warm, likable bio of TV's current number one front-runner Bill
Cosby, who helms The Cosby Show, now in its second season. Cosby
was born in Philadelphia in 1937 and raised in grinding poverty, a
condition quite different from the mythical childhood he makes up
for his comedy routines. His father ("The Giant") was a violent
alcoholic who regularly browbeat his wife and abandoned the family.
Cosby's younger brother James died of rheumatic fever at six. Cosby
at nine, out earning money for the family and working long hours
for pittances, found that he got along best outside the family by
pushing a special edge he had for humor. This he latter identified
as Mark Twain's - his mother used to read Twain to the kids and
Cosby liked Twain's large, imaginative cynicism. Gifted on IQ
tests, an athlete with scholarships, he began getting low-paying
comedy dates around Philadelphia and Manhattan while still going to
college, but finally had to choose between them when a game away
came up on the same weekend as a $200 club date. His mind raced
with perfecting his routines, but this could be done best before
live audiences - it was his agony that he needed live audiences
before which to invent and fail. He and his manager would tape
every show, play them back that very night and sift and winnow for
a socko 30 minutes, When he started, Cosby fought against racial
humor of the Dick Gregory type, was up against Lenny Bruce, Mort
Sahl, and similar hard-edged social satirists. He wanted to work
out of himself, find his humor in a kind of family warmth. Oddly,
his big break was as an actor on TV's I Spy, on which he was the
first black costar for a series. Suddenly he'd spread out in
recordings, movies, his own TV series; club dates, and guesting on
Johnny Carson, until he could no longer be boxed into a single
category of entertainer. Sincere and funny - and richly human.
(Kirkus Reviews)
Comedian, actor, and writer Bill Cosby is one of the most
successful and respected entertainers in America. Yet the Cosby we
know today came from a much different place and time than the ideal
featured in his 1980s hit series "The Cosby Show," where the main
character was a loveable, responsible doctor and family man.
Cosby: The Life of a Comedy Legend by Ronald L. Smith, a recognized
writer on comedy and comedians, tracks the humble upbringing of the
Cos in the Philadelphia projects; explores the inspiration he drew
from his family, his teachers, the strong female figures in his
life, and the books he read; discusses the hardships he experienced
while working several jobs to help support his sisters and brothers
after his father deserted the family; and reveals his lean years as
a budding comic, his early successes, and the big break that
brought him to television.
As the only biography of Bill Cosby for the adult market, this book
explores his feelings and thoughts in great detail, while
masterfully documenting Cosby's trailblazing work as a pioneering
black performer who was one of the first to co-star in a drama
series, "I Spy." Also discussed is Cosby's dedication to education
and his efforts on behalf of children.
Included are exclusive interviews with family, friends, Cosby's
college coach, his first manager, technical advisors from "The
Cosby Show" and other big stars. Smith also includes a complete and
up-to-date checklist of Cosby's writings, records, films, and
television credits.
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