Biography

David Brenner

Jump to

David Brenner was born on February 4, 1936 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Worth Winning (1989), Modern Family (2009) and Theory of a Deadman: Not Meant to Be (2009). He was married to Ruth Davey, Elizabeth Slater and Geraldine (Geri) Judith Leno. He died on March 15, 2014 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA.

In 1976, he was to co-star as a divorced hairdresser in the beautician comedy series "Snip", a TV takeoff of the Warren Beatty movie Shampoo (1975). Just before its scheduled September 30th debut, NBC abruptly canceled the show -- so fast in fact that TV Guide did not even have time to remove a special feature on the show in its Fall Preview of September 18-24. Why? One of the show's supporting characters, a fellow hairdresser named Michael, was openly gay and NBC got cold feet at the last minute. Had "Snip" premiered, it would have been a first on American series TV. Instead, Billy Crystal went on to receive that honor with his gay character a year later on the popular series Soap (1977). Seven episodes of "Snip" were completed when it got the ax. The only place the series ended up airing was in Australia, and it became the highest rated show in Australian history at that time.
Appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962) more times than any other guest, 158 appearances (not including guest hosting).
Brenner died of cancer at his home in Manhattan, New York City, aged 78, with his wife, Ruth Davey, at his side.
In high school, was elected class president each year and "Class Comedian."
Attended Temple University where he graduated with honors, majoring in mass communication.

You know you're getting old when... you start to dress in more than six colors.
You know you're getting old when kids start to dress like you used to and movies are made about your teen life.
[Even in death, he kept the jokes coming. Brenner's final request was to have $100 in small bills tucked in his sock] Just in case tipping is recommended where I'm going. [His grave site reads:] If this is supposed to be a joke, then I don't get it!

Suggest an edit or add missing content