Nipsey Russell
Acting Born Sep 15, 1918 Atlanta, Georgia, USA 24 credits
Biography
Julius "Nipsey" Russell (September 15, 1918 – October 2, 2005) was an American comedian, best known today for his appearances as a guest panelist on game shows from the 1960s through the 1990s, especially Match Game, Password, Hollywood Squares, To Tell the Truth and Pyramid. His appearances were distinguished in part by the short, humorous poems he would recite during the broadcast. These lyrics became so closely associated with Russell that Dick Clark, Bill Cullen, Betty White, and others regularly referred to him as "the poet laureate of television." He also had a leading role in the film version of The Wiz. Russell was also a frequent guest on Dean Martin's Celebrity Roasts.
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Full filmography
- The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962) as Self
- The Love Boat (1977) as Dan Manhoney
- The Merv Griffin Show (1962) as Self
- Match Game (1973) as Self
- Late Night with Conan O'Brien (1993) as Self
- Spin City (1996) as Nipsey Russell
- The Ed Sullivan Show (1948) as Self
- Police Woman (1974) as Charlie Witt
- The Red Skelton Show (1951) as Nipsey Ralston
- The Red Skelton Show (1951) as Self
- Tonight Starring Jack Paar (1957) as Self
- The Bob Hope Show (1950) as Self
- Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (1968) as Self (uncredited)
- The Dean Martin Show (1965)
- The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts (1973) as Self
- 100 Centre Street (2001) as Wallace Roy
- $weepstake$ (1979)
- The Wiz (1978) as Tinman
- King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis (1970) as Self (archive footage)
- Wildcats (1986) as Ben Edwards
- Barefoot in the Park (1970) as Honey Robinson
- Posse (1993) as Snopes
- Dream One (1984) as Mr. Rip / Benjamin
- The Strolling '20s (1966) as Self