- Born
- Died
- Birth nameSean Morton Downey Jr.
- Nickname
- Mort the Mouth
- Height5′ 8½″ (1.74 m)
- Talk-show host and songwriter ("Because We're Young", "Hearts Are Wild"), composer, author, actor and singer, educated at New York University (BS) and a two-year Law School student. He was a program director and announcer at WPOP in Hartford, Connecticut, and later made several records under his birth name. Joining ASCAP in 1960, his other popular-song compositions include "Now I Lay Me Down to Cry", "Ballad of Billy Brown", "Flattery", and "Don't Mention My Name".
- IMDb mini biography by: Hup234! - However, it would not be until the late 1980's when Morton Downey, Jr. truly became a household name. "The Morton Downey, Jr. Show" was launched in syndication in 1987, carried by many independent television stations. The show generated such controversy that many stations aired numerous disclaimers before and after the show. The controversy arose from debates between guests that often turned physical (as a broadcast at the Apollo theater later proved). The show created a legion of fans and made Downeyisms like "Zip it!" and "Loudmouth" a part of 80's American pop culture.
Downey's popularity began to wane in 1989, after he appeared on his show in dark glasses and cropped hair, due to what he claimed to be an attack by Nazi Skinheads in San Francisco. No evidence was found by police to substantiate the claim, and in 1992, Downey admitted the attack was a hoax. His show was canceled later that year.
Downey finally quit his trademark chain-smoking in 1996 when he was diagnosed with lung cancer, eventually leading to the removal of his left lung. The disease finally killed him in March of 2001 at the age of 67.
- IMDb mini biography by: radiohawk@hotmail.com
- SpousesLori Krebs(March 20, 1993 - March 12, 2001) (his death)Kim Loretta Cotten(March 18, 1978 - 1989) (divorced)Joan Ann Tyrrell(March 19, 1963 - August 31, 1978) (divorced, 2 children)Helen Marie Rowan(January 22, 1954 - December 1959) (divorced, 1 child)
- ChildrenMelissa Ellen DowneyKelli Sean DowneyTracey Lorelle DowneySeanna Micaela Downey
- Chain-smoking talk show host
- Saying "Zip it!" to unruly guests on the show
- Son of singer Morton Downey and dancer Barbara Bennett
- He was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1996, and had part of his right lung removed. The remainder of the lung was removed in March 1998 with the discovery of a small tumor.
- According to a 1988 Newsweek interview, Downey's younger sister, Lorelle Ann Downey, had a nervous breakdown at age 14 and began to show behavioral problems. His father had her institutionalized in Pennsylvania and she was given a frontal lobotomy. She was smothered to death in 1977 by a fellow mental patient.
- Was a guest on the controversial 1980s talk show, Hot Seat with Wally George (1983), where he and George engaged in a heated conversation, leading to George's security crew physically tackling and dragging Downey out of the studio.
- Planned in 1974 to start the World Baseball League in 32 worldwide cities with franchises selling for $150,000. Plans never got off the ground.
- Baseball as presently played and structured is a bore.
- [on his downfall in the late 1980's] I think I must have looked like one paranoid man totally out of control with my personal life. I stepped into my own manure.
- I am not a talk-show host. I am an advocate.
- I know I have a spark that sometimes ignites my brain before the fuse of my tongue has had the opportunity to go out. But that happens to me in regular life, too.
- [on his notorious 1980's talk show] It got out of control because the producers wanted me to top myself every night. If I did something outlandish on Monday night, on Tuesday night, we'd have to think of something even more outlandish. And after awhile, you work yourself toward the edge of the trampoline and you fall off. I fell off a number of times and I found it very displeasing.
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