Greatest Comedians

1. Richard Pryor

Highly influential, and always controversial, African-American actor/comedian who was equally well known for his colorful language during his live comedy shows, as for his fast paced life, multiple marriages and battles with drug addiction. He has been acknowledged by many modern comic artist's as ...

2. George Carlin

Actor | Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure

George Denis Patrick Carlin was born and raised in Manhattan, New York City, to Mary (Bearey), a secretary, and Patrick John Carlin, an advertising manager for The Sun; they had met while working in marketing. His father was from Donegal, Ireland, and his mother was Irish-American. His parents ...

3. Eddie Murphy

Actor | The Nutty Professor

Edward Regan Murphy was born April 3, 1961 in Brooklyn, New York, to Lillian Lynch (born: Lillian Laney), a telephone operator, and Charles Edward Murphy, a transit police officer who was also an amateur comedian and actor. After his father died, his mother married Vernon Lynch, a foreman at a ...

4. Dennis Miller

Actor | The Net

Dennis Miller was born on November 3, 1953 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for The Net (1995), Joe Dirt (2001) and Murder at 1600 (1997). He has been married to Ali Espley since April 10, 1988. They have two children.

5. Chris Rock

Actor | Top Five

Christopher Julius Rock was born in Andrews, South Carolina and raised in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York. He is the son of Rosalie (Tingman), a teacher and social worker for the mentally handicapped, and Julius Rock, a truck driver and newspaper deliveryman, whose own father was a preacher.

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6. Richard Lewis

Actor | Robin Hood: Men in Tights

Richard Philip Lewis was born on June 29, 1947 in Brooklyn, New York and raised in Englewood, New Jersey. He went to Dwight Morrow High School and Ohio State University, graduating in 1969 with a degree in marketing and communications. Lewis wrote ad copy in New Jersey while also writing jokes for ...

7. Steve Martin

Writer | Roxanne

Steve Martin was born on August 14, 1945 in Waco, Texas, USA as Stephen Glenn Martin to Mary Lee (née Stewart; 1913-2002) and Glenn Vernon Martin (1914-1997), a real estate salesman and aspiring actor. He was raised in Inglewood and Garden Grove in California. In 1960, he got a job at the Magic ...

8. Jim Gaffigan

Actor | Chappaquiddick

Jim Gaffigan is a six-time Grammy nominated comedian, actor, writer, producer, two-time New York Times best-selling author, three-time Emmy winning top touring performer, and multi-platinum-selling recording artist. He is known around the world for his unique brand of humor, which largely revolves ...

9. Mitch Hedberg

Actor | Almost Famous

Mitch Hedberg was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, on February 24, 1968. He began his stand-up career in Florida, and after a period of honing his skills there he moved to Seattle and began touring. He soon appeared on MTV's "Comikaze", then a 1996 appearance on [error] brought him his big break. He ...

10. Joan Rivers

Actress | Spaceballs

Joan Rivers is an American talk show host, comedian, writer and actress from Brooklyn, New York. She voiced Dot Matrix from Mel Brooks' Spaceballs. She has portrayed in several films and shows such as Shrek 2, Look Who's Talking, The Smurfs and Iron Man 3. She passed away in September 2014 at ...

11. Steven Wright

Actor | Natural Born Killers

Steven Wright was born on December 6, 1955 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Natural Born Killers (1994), So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993) and Reservoir Dogs (1992).

12. Daniel Tosh

Actor | The Love Guru

Daniel Tosh was born on May 29, 1975 in Germany. He is a producer and writer, known for The Love Guru (2008), Daniel Tosh: Happy Thoughts (2011) and Tosh.0 (2009). He has been married to Carly Hallam since April 15, 2016.

13. Jerry Seinfeld

Producer | Seinfeld

Jerry Seinfeld was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Betty (Hesney) and Kalman Seinfeld. His father was of Hungarian Jewish descent, while Jerry's maternal grandparents, Salha and Selim Hosni, were Syrian Jewish immigrants (from Aleppo). He moved with his family, including sister Carolyn, to ...

14. Bill Cosby

Actor | The Cosby Show

Bill Cosby is one of the world's most well-known entertainers and comedians. William Henry Cosby, Jr. was born on July 12, 1937, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Anna Pearl (Hite), a maid and William Henry Cosby, Sr., a U.S. Navy sailor. After 10th grade, Cosby joined the Navy and completed high ...

15. Andrew Dice Clay

Actor | The Adventures of Ford Fairlane

Andrew Dice Clay was born on September 29, 1957 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for The Adventures of Ford Fairlane (1990), Blue Jasmine (2013) and A Star Is Born (2018). He has been married to Valerie Silverstein since February 14, 2010. He was ...

16. Don Rickles

Actor | Kelly's Heroes

Donald Jay Rickles was born May 8, 1926 in New York. Following the Golden Era of Hollywood, he remained active until early 2017. He got his start in night clubs, toiling for over 20 years, until 1958, when he made his film debut in Run Silent Run Deep (1958). The movie was a big hit. Afterward, ...

17. Rodney Dangerfield

Actor | Back to School

Rodney Dangerfield was born Jacob Cohen on November 22, 1921 in Deer Park, Suffolk County, Long Island, New York. He was the son of Dorothy "Dotty" (Teitelbaum) and Phillip Cohen, who performed in vaudeville under the name Phil Roy. His father was born in New York, to Russian Jewish parents, and ...

18. Demetri Martin

Actor | (Dean)

Demetri Martin was born on May 25, 1973 in New York City, New York, USA. He is an actor and writer, known for Dean (2016), Take Me Home Tonight (2011) and In a World... (2013). He has been married to Rachael Beame since June 1, 2012.

19. Robin Williams

Actor | Mrs. Doubtfire

Robin McLaurin Williams was born on Saturday, July 21st, 1951, in Chicago, Illinois, a great-great-grandson of Mississippi Governor and Senator, Anselm J. McLaurin. His mother, Laurie McLaurin (née Janin), was a former model from Mississippi, and his father, Robert Fitzgerald Williams, was a Ford ...

20. Jay Leno

Producer | The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

Jay Leno began his career in night clubs, where he worked 300 nights a year before hitting it big in 1992 with his own late-night talk show, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992). By that time he had appeared on television, acted in a few films (American Hot Wax (1978)) but hit paydirt with his ...

21. Ellen DeGeneres

Producer | Ellen: The Ellen DeGeneres Show

Emmy-winning talk show host Ellen Lee DeGeneres was born in Metairie, Louisiana, a New Orleans suburb. She is the daughter of Betty DeGeneres (née Elizabeth Jane Pfeffer), a speech therapist, and Elliott Everett DeGeneres, Jr., an insurance agent. Her brother is musician and producer Vance DeGeneres...

22. Lewis Black

Actor | Inside Out

Lewis Black was born on August 30, 1948 in Silver Spring, Maryland, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Inside Out (2015), Man of the Year (2006) and Accepted (2006).

23. Redd Foxx

Actor | Sanford and Son

Redd Foxx began doing stand-up comedy on the infamous "Chitlin' Circuit" in the 1940s and 1950s. Foxx was one of the premier "blue humor" comedians. Blue humor was very dirty, too dirty for white audiences. For years his party albums were not available in white record stores. In the 1960s his ...

24. Garry Shandling

Writer | The Larry Sanders Show

Garry Shandling was born on November 29, 1949 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was a writer and actor, known for The Larry Sanders Show (1992), It's Garry Shandling's Show. (1986) and Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014). He died on March 24, 2016 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

25. Sam Kinison

Actor | Back to School

Sam Kinison was a popular stand-up comedian from Yakima, Washington, mainly active in the 1980s and the early 1990s. He also had a few acting roles in film and television. His only recurring role was that of Hugh, the main character's alter ego in the short-lived sitcom "Charlie Hoover" (1991). The...

26. Ron White

Actor | Horrible Bosses

Ron White was born on December 18, 1956 in Fritch, Texas, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Horrible Bosses (2011), Sex and the City 2 (2010) and Blue Collar Comedy Tour: The Movie (2003). He has been married to Margo Rey since October 13, 2013. He was previously married to Barbara Dobbs ...

27. Ricky Gervais

Writer | The Office

Ricky Dene Gervais was born in a suburb of Reading, Berkshire, to Eva Sophia (House) and Lawrence Raymond Gervais, who was a hod carrier and labourer. His father was born in Ontario, Canada, of French-Canadian descent, and his mother was English. He was educated at Ashmead Comprehensive School and ...

28. Rita Rudner

Writer | Peter's Friends

Rita Rudner was born on September 17, 1953 in Miami, Florida, USA. She is a writer and actress, known for Peter's Friends (1992), Love Hurts (2009) and Tales from the Crypt (1989). She has been married to Martin Bergman since June 24, 1988. They have one child.

29. Dave Chappelle

Writer | Chappelle's Show

Dave Chappelle's career started while he was in high school at Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC where he studied theatre arts. At the age of 14, he began performing stand-up comedy in nightclubs. Shortly after graduation, he moved to New York City where he quickly established ...

30. Billy Crystal

Actor | Forget Paris

Billy Crystal was born on March 14, 1948 in Manhattan, New York, and was raised on Long Island. He is the youngest of three sons born to Helen (Gabler) and Jack Crystal. His father was a well-known concert promoter who co-founded Commodore Records and his mother was a homemaker. His family were ...

31. Brian Regan

Writer | How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

Brian Regan is known for How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003), 102 Dalmatians (2000) and Shoe Addicts Anonymous.

32. Adam Sandler

Actor | The Waterboy

Adam Richard Sandler was born September 9, 1966 in Brooklyn, New York, to Judith (Levine), a teacher at a nursery school, and Stanley Alan Sandler, an electrical engineer. He is of Russian Jewish descent. At 17, he took his first step towards becoming a stand-up comedian when he spontaneously took ...

33. Stephen Lynch

Make_up_department | Orphan Black

Stephen Lynch is known for Orphan Black (2013), The Sweet Hereafter (1997) and Making It Up (2020).

34. Jeff Foxworthy

Producer | Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?

Foxworthy was born Jeffrey Marshall Foxworthy in Atlanta, Georgia on September 6, 1958.

He followed in his father's footsteps working for IBM in Georgia, but on a dare from friends, he did a few minutes of comedy at an Atlanta comedy club. A few months later, Foxworthy quit his job and started on ...

35. Dave Attell

Actor | Pootie Tang

Dave Attell was born on January 18, 1965 in Queens, New York City, New York, USA. He is a writer and actor, known for Pootie Tang (2001), Trainwreck (2015) and I Feel Pretty (2018).

36. Louis C.K.

Writer | Louie

Louis C.K. was born on September 12, 1967 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for Louie (2010), American Hustle (2013) and Horace and Pete (2016). He was previously married to Alix Bailey.

37. Richard Belzer

Actor | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

A social misfit, Belzer was kicked out of every school he ever attended, due to his uncontrollable wit. His mother (Frances) died of breast cancer when Richard was 18. Four years later, his father (Charles) committed suicide. A dedication is written to Charles Belzer in Richard Belzer's "UFOs, JFK,...

38. Bill Hicks

Self | Dirty Jobs

Boat captain with Towboat US in Florida.