The Mike Durrett Show: We Flipped Over Mr. Wilson - Humor

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THE MIKE DURRETT SHOW :

We Flipped Over Mr. Wilson

Dateline: 11/26/98
Updated: 12/12/98

Clerow Wilson, the young, vibrant comedian who appeared to pop out of nowhere in 1965, becoming a major show business favorite, is dead.

He earned the appropriate nickname of "Flip" with a fresh, infectious style, while entertaining fellow Air Force troops. Upon his discharge from the service in 1954, Flip Wilson's "overnight" success took more than a decade to bring him to The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, where he scored instantaneously with American audiences and began his meteoric fame.

Seemingly personal anecdotes became the centerpiece of his act, often featuring a continuing cast of characters, including Geraldine, the hot-to-trot comic gold mine Wilson frequently played in full drag to amazing public delight. These sketches spawned the national catch phrases still invoked today, "The devil made me do it!" and "What you see is what you get!"

After a lengthy string of successful appearances on television and stage, the height of his career was reached during the 1970-74 NBC prime time series The Flip Wilson Show, where he not only won Emmys for writing and performing, he broke the cultural color barrier to become the first successful black headliner of a variety series.

As quick as he came to prominence, he faded. Reports suggest his absence was self-imposed due to his desire to personally raise his children, having won custody in a divorce. Several "comeback" attempts were undertaken in the mid-'80s with little fanfare or longevity. In recent years, cable TV rekindled the joys of the amiable, unseen star by airing his reruns to appreciative audiences, old and new.

Wilson died peacefully at his home in Malibu, California, Wednesday evening from liver cancer. He underwent surgery October 2 to remove a malignant tumor. He was 64.

At times like these, unpleasant as they might be, it is common to say performers will be missed -- and that is certainly no exception here. The sad irony, for millions of his rabid fans and admirers, Flip Wilson had already been gone far too long. Unfortunately, what we saw is all that would we get.

Comedian Flip Wilson Dead at 64
MSNBC and Associated Press

Critics Remember Universal Humor of Flip Wilson
Las Vegas Sun

Flip: Room at the Top
New York Post

Flip Side
Entertainment Weekly Online

Flip Wilson: Don't Pity Me -- It's Been a Great Ride
National Enquirer

TV Comedian Flip Wilson Dies at 64
The Los Angeles Times

Flip Wilson: Entertainer
Ultimate TV - 08/06/98

The Flip Wilson Show
TV Land

LIFE Magazine Cover
08/04/72

The Odd Disappearance of The Flip Wilson Show
TV Party

What You See Is What You Get
People Online - 1998

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