David Steinberg CM
Steinberg in 2009
Born	(1942-08-09)August 9, 1942 (age 83) Winnipeg,Manitoba, Canada
Spouses	Judy Marcione ​ ​ (m. 1973; div. 1997)​ Robyn Todd ​ ​ (m. 2005)​
Comedy career
Years active	1964–present
Medium	Stand-up, television, film, books
Genres	Observational comedy, satire
Subjects	Religion, self-deprecation, everyday life
Website	thedavidsteinberg.com

David SteinbergCM (born August 9, 1942) is a Canadian comedian, actor, writer, director, and author. At the height of his popularity, during the late 1960s and mid-1970s, he was one of the best-known comics in the United States. He appeared onThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson more than 130 times (second only toBob Hope in number of appearances) and served as guest host 12 times, the youngest person to guest-host.^[1] Steinberg directed several films and episodes of televisionsituation comedies, includingSeinfeld,Friends,Mad About You,Curb Your Enthusiasm,The Golden Girls, andDesigning Women. Steinberg also hosted the interview programInside Comedy on theShowtime network.

Steinberg was born on August 9, 1942, inWinnipeg, Manitoba, the son of Rabbi Yasha Steinberg (1896–1966), a strict,Romanian-bornrabbi, and Ruth Steinberg (c. 1904–1989). He has three older siblings: two brothers, Hymie Steinberg (1925–1944) and Fishy Steinberg, and one sister, Tammy Lazer (née Steinberg).[2]^[3] His older brother Hymie served duringWorld War II and was killed in action when he was 19.^[3] David initially studied theology in Israel.^[1][4]

Later, while studyingEnglish literature at theUniversity of Chicago, he decided to become a comedian after seeingLenny Bruce perform.^[1] He finished school and was discovered by one of the founders ofThe Second City in Chicago, which he joined in 1964. There he performed withRobert Klein,Fred Willard,Peter Boyle, andJoe Flaherty. He remained with the group for six years.^[1] In 1972, Steinberg was best man at the wedding of his friend, the gangsterCrazy Joe Gallo.^[5]

One of Steinberg's most notorious performances was in October 1968 onThe Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, where he gave satirical sermons. The sketch causedCBS to receive a record number of complaints, and, as a result, the network instituted a policy of providing local stations with a closed-circuit telecast of each episode ahead of time so they could choose whether or not to air it.^[6] TheSmothers Brothers were told by the network that they could have Steinberg on the show again on the condition that he would not repeat the sermons.^[7] Nevertheless,Tommy Smothers asked Steinberg to do it again, and he gave a sermon in which he said "The Old Testament scholars say that Jonah was swallowed by a whale. The Gentiles, the New Testament scholars say, 'Hold it, Jews, no.' They literally grabbed the Jews by the Old Testament." This incident contributed to the cancellation of the show. The Jonah sketch was never aired by CBS.^[8]

Steinberg appeared in two Broadway flops,Little Murders andCarry Me Back toMorningside Heights, which both closed within one week in 1967 and 1968, respectively.

Steinberg was the most frequent host of the pop and rock musicABC television show,The Music Scene, 1969–1970. The show featured performances byJoe Cocker andCSN&Y. In 1972, Steinberg wrote and starred inThe David Steinberg Show in the United States as a five-week summer replacement sketch comedy show.^[9] Around the same time,TV Guide labelled Steinberg "offbeat, racy, outrageous, and establishment-baiting – all of which makes him a particular favorite among the young and disenchanted."^[1]

In 1975 Steinberg hostedNoonday, a short-lived half-hour midday talk show onNBC.

In 1976, Steinberg returned to Canada to produce a second show calledThe David Steinberg Show. This series was a hybrid sitcom/variety show, modelled loosely onThe Jack Benny Program in that the plots centred on the star (Steinberg) and his cast trying to put together another instalment of their variety show. Amongst the regular cast were futureSCTV starsJoe Flaherty,John Candy,Dave Thomas, andMartin Short. SCTV'sAndrea Martin also appeared on the show, but not as a regular.SCTV premiered the same week asThe David Steinberg Show, and ran for six seasons;The David Steinberg Show lasted only one season.

Steinberg performed some notable stand-up comedy during the 1960s and '70s. He released four comedy LPs, includingThe Incredible Shrinking God (LP MCA 73013, 1968), which contains ten of his comedic sermons and mini-sermons recorded live during his stand-up routine at Second City. He also hosted the 1977 Juno Awards show.^[10] He was inducted intoCanada's Walk of Fame in 2003.^[11]

More recently (2005–2007), Steinberg hostedSit Down Comedy with David Steinberg, an informal, interview-style show in which he talks with famous comedians and comic actors, for two seasons onTV Land in the U.S.^[12] The first season featuredMike Myers,Larry David,Jon Lovitz,Martin Short,Bob Newhart, andGeorge Lopez. The second season featuredJerry Seinfeld,Robin Williams,Roseanne Barr,Jon Stewart,Garry Shandling andRay Romano. The program was filmed before an audience atUCLA.^[13]

His first book,The Book of David (ISBN 0743272323), was published in June 2007 bySimon & Schuster.

In 2010, he directed and produced the Canadian cable comedy seriesLiving in Your Car.^[14]

Steinberg has been married twice. He married Judy Marcione in 1973 and they had two daughters. They divorced in 1997 after 24 years of marriage.^[15] Steinberg married Robyn Todd in 2005.^[16]

• The Incredible Shrinking God (UNI LP, UNI-73013, 1968)
• Disguised As A Normal Person (Elektra Records LP, EKS-74065, 1970).
• Booga! Booga! (Columbia LP, 1974)
• Goodbye to the '70s (Columbia LP, PC 33399, 1975)

Steinberg has received fiveEmmy Award nominations, winning two as one of the writers ofAcademy Awards programs in 1991 and 1992. He received aCableACE Award in 1992 for his stand-up comedyCats, Cops and Stuff. He has been nominated for theDirectors Guild of America Award (for Outstanding Directing – Comedy Series) twice: first in 1991 for theSeinfeld episode,The Tape, and again in 1996 for theMad About You episode,The Finale: Parts II and III, and has been nominated for aCanadian Comedy Award (2000) and aGemini (2001), as well.^[17] His parody of the novelRagtime won him a Playboy Humor Award.^[1] In 2003, he was inducted intoCanada's Walk of Fame.

In December 2016, Steinberg was named aMember of the Order of Canada.^[18]

• David Steinberg atIMDb
• The David Steinberg Show atIMDb
• David Steinberg at theInternet Broadway Database
• David Steinberg at theInternet Off-Broadway Database (archived)
• David Steinberg onNational Public Radio
• Official David Steinberg site
• Interview, online from CBC Words at Large (audio)

• 1942 births
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