Shelley Berman RIP

 
It was true what he said. People who like buttermilk really like buttermilk. When they drink it, you do feel like you shouldn't be watching.

Actor/comedian Shelley Berman has died at age 92. A comedian known for doing long, one sided phone conversations. He was mad at Bob Newhart, claiming he stole his act. Newhart pointed out that it had been done for years before Berman started doing it.

I used to listen to my parents' old Shelley Berman and Bob Newhart records. They weren't that similar.

Berman had gone into acting and was part of an improv group. But there was a thing he wanted to do and he couldn't get anyone to perform it with him, so he had to do it alone and the only way he could think of to do it was as a phone conversation.

I was surprised to see him playing Larry David's father on Curb Your Enthusiasm. Look him up on imdb.com. He's done a lot of TV over the years. His last credit was Hawaii Five-O in 2012.

You can hear a long interview with him on Marc Maron's podcast here.