Rich Little | |
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 Little performing asJack Benny in 2015 | |
| Born | Richard Caruthers Little (1938-11-26)November 26, 1938 (age 86) |
| Spouses | |
| Partner | Melinda Saxe (1988–1991) |
| Children | 2 |
| Comedy career | |
| Years active | 1956–present |
| Medium |
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| Genres | |
Richard Caruthers LittleOC[1] (born November 26, 1938) is a Canadian-American comedian,impressionist and voice actor. Sometimes known as the "Man of a Thousand Voices", Little has recorded nine comedy albums and made numerous television appearances, including threeHBO specials.[2]
Little was born inOttawa, Ontario, Canada, the middle of three sons, older brother Fred and younger brother Chris. His father, Lawrence Peniston Little, was a surgeon who served as a lieutenant commander in theRoyal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve duringWorld War II and then worked for theDepartment of Veterans' Affairs until his death in 1959.[3] His mother, Elizabeth (Betty) Maud (née Wilson), was a housewife who grew up inSarnia, Ontario.[4][5]
A third-generation Canadian, he is descended from English stock on his father's side and Irish on his mother's. On his mother's side, he is descended fromJohn Willson, who wasSpeaker of the5th Parliament of Upper Canada in the 1820s. His maternal grandfather was ajudge. His paternal great-grandfather,William Carruthers Little, was aLiberal-Conservative Member of Parliament in theCanadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1881.[3][5]
He attendedLisgar Collegiate Institute. In his early teens, he formed a partnership withGeoff Scott, another budding impressionist (and future elected politician), concentrating on reproducing the voices of Canadian politicians such as Prime MinisterJohn Diefenbaker and Ottawa mayorCharlotte Whitton.
Starting when he was 11, Little acted in two documentary movies forCrawley Films of Ottawa.[3]
Little was an usher at theElgin Theatre in Ottawa, where he perfected his voices while standing at the back of the theatre. He started his amateur acting career at theOttawa Little Theatre, winning his first acting award at the Eastern Ontario Drama Festival in Deep River, Ontario for his role as “Bo Decker” in the playBus Stop. At 17, he and his friend and fellow impressionistGeoff Scott won a talent contest on stationCBOT in Ottawa, the first time he was paid for his impressionist skills, which led to an appearance onPick the Stars, a national talent contest broadcast byCBC Television in 1956, where the duo tied for first place.[6] This, in turn, led to an appearance onTheJackie Rae Show during the 1956–57 season during which Little premiered his impression of Ottawa mayorCharlotte Whitton to a national audience.[7]
Little and Scott's comedy team performed at various local events and venues. Still in their teens, they developed a 10-minute act that they performed atShriners' conventions andKnights of Columbus meetings.[8] Scott later entered journalism, and ultimately politics.[3]
Little began as a relief announcer on Ottawa radio stationCFRA as a student during his summer vacations. He also performed comedy sketches withLes Lye on Lye's morning show. In the early 1960s, he was hired as adisc jockey onCJET in Smiths Falls, Ontario. His afternoon-evening shift ran from 4 to 8 pm weekdays, and the show gave him the opportunity to use his impressions on the air.[6][3] In 1961, for 26 weeks, he co-hostedFolderol a half-hour suppertime show of light humour and interviews on television stationCBOT.[9]
By the 1960s, Little was taking his act toToronto, where he performed atcoffee houses,nightclubs, and other venues.[8]
In 1963, Little issued two LPs through the Canadian division ofCapitol Records. The first wasMy Fellow Canadians with his radio partner, Les Lye. The album was inspired byVaughn Meader's hit American satirical albumThe First Family and concentrated on Canadian political satire, featuring Little impersonating figures well-known to a Canadian audience such as Diefenbaker,Lester Pearson andTommy Douglas. His second album wasScrooge and the Stars, which featured Little acting outCharles Dickens'A Christmas Carol entirely on his own, playing all the roles as 22 different Hollywood stars, ranging fromJack Benny toJack Webb. The album was released in early November, but it was withdrawn a few weeks later due to theassassination of John F. Kennedy, as Little had imitated JFK in the role of theSpirit of Christmas Present and had Kennedy say the line "Scrooge, my life upon the globe is brief; it ends tonight. In fact, it ends as fast as you can say your name."[3]
Little's first performance in the US was in December 1963 atGuy Lombardo's inn and country club inTierra Verde, Florida.[3]
Little's American career was helped byPeppiatt and Aylesworth, a Canadian writing team who had moved to Hollywood and worked on various specials and variety series, includingThe Judy Garland Show. Familiar with Little's work in Canada, Peppiatt had worked onThe Jackie Rae Show on which Little made a television appearance at 17, and the team had written Little's original Canadian nightclub act and would write much of his American material in the 1960s.[10] They played a recording of Little for Garland and the show's musical director,Mel Tormé, and they encouraged her to audition him. Tormé had met Little when they both performed on an episode ofParade, aCBC Television variety show in Toronto, and bonded over their love of old movies.[8]
The audition won him the job, and in January 1964, Little made his American television debut onCBS'sThe Judy Garland Show, where he impressedGarland by imitating various male celebrities, includingJames Mason, who had been Garland's co-star inA Star Is Born.[11][3] Television appearances on variety shows hosted byEd Sullivan,Jackie Gleason,Rudy Vallee,Mike Douglas,George Burns, andAl Hirt followed over the next two years.[3]
Peppiatt and Aylesworth also helped bring Little on to other American shows for which they wrote, such asThe Jimmy Dean Show,The Kopykats, andThe Julie Andrews Hour and continued to write material for his act after he moved to the US permanently at the end of 1965.[3]
In Canada, Little starred in his own showThe Rich Little Show, onCBC Radio in 1966.[3] He also made his first appearances onThe Dean Martin Show andThe Jimmy Dean Show during the 1965–1966 season.[3]
In 1965, Little provided the voice for thePink Panther in two cartoons,Sink Pink andPink Ice; these two cartoons were made byDePatie-Freleng Enterprises to experiment with giving the Panther dialogue, contrary to him usually being mute. Later in 1993, during the development of therevivedPink Panther series, Little was offered the role once again but turned it down in part because he did not recall voicing the character and that he felt giving the Pink Panther a voice would ruin the character. Ultimately, the role went toMax Headroom star,Matt Frewer, who used a casual American accent in contrast to Little's more posh British accent.[12]
In 1966 and 1967, Little appeared inABC-TV'sJudy CarnesitcomLove on a Rooftop as the Willises' eccentric neighbour, Stan Parker. He appeared onThat Girl in 1967 as a writer who impressedMarlo Thomas' character with his impersonations. He also made two memorable appearances as accident-prone Brother Paul Leonardi onThe Flying Nun in 1968; it marked one of his few appearances as a character actor rather than an impressionist. In 1969, he appeared in an episode ofPetticoat Junction as newly engaged fiancé to Billie Jo in "Billie Jo and the Big Big Star".
During the 1970s, Little made many television appearances portraying American PresidentRichard Nixon, and once performed his impersonation in front of Nixon himself, who Little says did not realize he was imitating him at all and "wondered why I was talking to him in such a funny voice."[13] In 1972, he portrayed Richard Nixon with the voice and mannerisms ofOliver Hardy inAnother Nice Mess.[14] Little later appeared as Nixon on the soap operaSanta Barbara, in a 1991 fantasy sequence regarding Gina's ideal sperm donor.[15]
Little was part of anApril Fool's Day prank in 1992 when he appeared onNPR'sTalk of the Nation as Nixon announcing his candidacy for president in the1992 United States presidential election using the slogan "I didn't do anything wrong, and I won't do it again." Listeners flooded NPR with calls expressing outrage at the announcement, which NPR did not reveal as a hoax until the second half of the program.[16][17]
In 2020, Little developedTrial on the Potomac: The Impeachment of Richard Nixon, a play based on the 2015 bookThe Real Watergate Scandal: Collusion, Conspiracy, and the Plot That Brought Nixon Down byGeoff Shepard, alleging a conspiracy to remove Nixon from office.[18] Little performed the showOff Broadway for a five-week run in 2021.[19][20]
Little was a semiregular on the Emmy-winning ABC-TV variety seriesThe Julie Andrews Hour in 1972–73. In response to his imitation ofJack Benny, the comedian sent Little an 18-carat gold money clip containing this message: "WithBob Hope doing my walk and you doing my voice, I can be a star and do nothing."
Little's best-known continuing TV series wasThe Kopycats, hour-long segments ofThe ABC Comedy Hour, broadcast in 1972. Taped inEngland, these comedy-variety shows consisted entirely of celebrity impersonations, with the actors in full costume and makeup for every sketch. The cast included Little,Frank Gorshin,Marilyn Michaels,George Kirby, British comedian Joe Baker,Fred Travalena,Charlie Callas, andPeter Goodwright.
Little was a regular guest onThe Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts in the 1970s, appearing in 24 of the specials,[21] where he roasted celebrities such asDon Rickles,[22] Jack Benny,[23]Johnny Carson,[24]Frank Sinatra,[25]Jimmy Stewart[26] andKirk Douglas.[27]
The Rich Little Show (1976) onNBC andThe New You Asked for It (1981) were attempts to present Little in his own persona, away from his gallery of characterizations. Little also appeared on a second-season episode ofThe Muppet Show.[28]
The one-man showRich Little's Christmas Carol was his firstHBO special, produced by and originally aired onCBC Television in December 1978 and airing on HBO in 1979. Little portrayed famous comedians in established roles (W. C. Fields asEbenezer Scrooge,Paul Lynde asBob Cratchit, et al.). The special won anInternational Emmy Award and aRose d'Or award.[29]
In 1981, Little appeared in a comedy LP calledThe First Family Rides Again, which was the fourth and final of theFirst Family comedy LPs originally created byBob Booker David Arvedon, and Earle Doud. Little starred along withMelanie Chartoff,Michael Richards,Shelley Hack,Jenilee Harrison, Earle Doud, andVaughn Meader, making light of U.S. PresidentRonald Reagan's first few months in the White House.
Another HBO special followed in 1983 withRich Little's Robin Hood, including portrayals ofGroucho Marx as Robin Hood,Humphrey Bogart as Prince John,John Wayne as Little John,Carol Channing as Maid Marion,Laurel and Hardy as Sheriffs of Nottingham,George Burns as Alan-a-Dale, and various other characters.
Outside of any comedic context, Little's talent for impersonation has been used in movies when an actor's dialogue was impaired by poor health. WhenDavid Niven proved too ill for his voice to be used in his appearances inTrail of the Pink Panther (1982) andCurse of the Pink Panther (1983), Little provided the overdub as an imitation of Niven's voice. He performed similar duties to dub an imitation ofJames Cagney's stroke-impaired voice in the 1984 TV movieTerrible Joe Moran[citation needed] and in the 1991 TV specialChristmas at the Movies by providing an uncredited dub for actor/dancerGene Kelly, who had lost his voice.[30]
He also lent his voice to the narration of three specials that were the forerunners for the animated seriesThe Raccoons:The Christmas Raccoons (1980),The Raccoons on Ice (1981), andThe Raccoons and the Lost Star (1983). His brother, Fred Little, voiced the character Cedric Sneer.[31]
In 1987, during theWe the People 200: The Constitutional Gala television special, Little personified various historical figures, includingFranklin D. Roosevelt,Edward R. Murrow, John F. Kennedy,Martin Luther King Jr., andRobert F. Kennedy. Little's performance was described as eclectic, impersonatingHenry Fonda as Abraham Lincoln and doingWinston Churchill giving a rousing speech.[32][33] That same year, he provided the voice of Crispy, the mascot ofPost'sCrispy Critters cereal.[34]
Little was a frequent guest on variety and talk shows in the 1960s and 1970s, and had an unofficial monthly slot onThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for several years, and also guest hosted the program about a dozen times.[8] He developed an impression ofJohnny Carson, capturingThe Tonight Show host's voice and many onstage mannerisms, and later played Carson in the HBO TV movieThe Late Shift. Little's appearances on theTonight Show ended without notice after his August 1982 appearance. Little claims in his biography that he was banned because Carson was offended by his impression, and this claim was supported by Henry Bushkin, Carson's long-time lawyer, who stated that nobody got under Carson's skin more than Little.[35] Little had been doing the impression since the early 1970s, though, a decade prior to his bookings on the show coming to an end, including performing the impression to theTonight Show host's face when Carson was the guest of honor atThe Dean Martin Celebrity Roast of Johnny Carson in 1973.[36] In response to Little's claims,Fred DeCordova, Carson's producer, said they just were not interested in hiring him any more due to his lack of new impressions.[37]
Little has been appearing in Las Vegas since the mid-1960s, when he had dates at theGolden Nugget[3] and went on to play at other Vegas venues such asThe Sands, where he debuted in 1969 with a two-year contract. In 1973, he performed atCaesars Palace for four weeks as the opening act forThe Osmonds. He then appeared at theDesert Inn withJuliet Prowse for a month in 1974. His appearances continued throughout the 1970s and 1980s; he headlined at the Desert Inn for eight years in the late 1970s and 1980s, at theMGM Grand withNell Carter in 1985; atBally's, withCharo in 1986; the Sands in 1991 and 1992, and at the Golden Nugget again in 1991.[21]
With opportunities for him to work in television and film in decline, and his television work almost completely drying up by the mid-1980s, the focus of Little's career shifted from Hollywood to Las Vegas.[8] The decline in his career was blamed in part on him not having updated his repertory of impressions with younger voices, a fact he blames on recent generations of actors using a naturalistic delivery that makes their voices less distinctive. "It's much easier to doHumphrey Bogart thanTom Cruise," he said. "How do you imitateBrad Pitt?George Clooney? Wouldn't mean anything."[8]
Little sold his house in Los Angeles and relocated to Las Vegas in 1990, and bought a home in 1992,[38] when he signed an exclusive, long-term contract with theSahara, staging a revamped version ofThe Kopykats with other impersonators. He later moved toParis Las Vegas, where he starred inThe Presidents, a play on nine Presidents of the United States from Kennedy toGeorge W. Bush, starting in 2002.[21] In 2004, he moved to theSuncoast.[21]
In the early 2010s, he performed a one-man show,Jimmy Stewart and Friends, based on the life of the actor, at theWestgate hotel, and on tour.[8] After the death of Stewart in the late 1990s, Rich recorded the crosswalk messages for intersections in Stewart's hometown ofIndiana, Pennsylvania, using his imitation of the star's voice.
From 2015 until 2024, Little was a regular performer at theLaugh Factory in theTropicana hotel in Las Vegas.[39] His one-hour show,Rich Little Live!, was a career retrospective including video highlights from his TV career, and was performed five nights a week.[40] Throughout the show, he displayed many of the charcoal sketches he has drawn of the celebrities he has impersonated.[39][41] The Tropicana closed in April 2024 and was subsequently demolished to make way fora new stadium for theAthletics baseball team for when it moves to Las Vegas fromOakland in 2028. Little said he intended to move to the relocated Laugh Factory once a new site on theLas Vegas Strip was found for the club.[42][43]
Since September 2025, Little has been in residency at theTuscany Suites and Casino's Copa Room, performing his one-hour show three nights a week.[44]
Little was the host for the 2007White House Correspondents' Association dinner. Although President George W. Bush was reported to have enjoyed Little's performance, it was panned by some reviewers for "his ancient jokes and impressions of dead people (Johnny Carson, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan)."[45][46][47]
Little appeared as aguest star inFuturamaseason two episode "Raging Bender" and the filmFuturama: Bender's Game, playing his owncelebrity head, impersonatingHoward Cosell.
In 2017, Little released hismemoir,Little by Little: People I Have Known and Been.[40] In 2021,CBS News Sunday Morning profiled Little; during the interview, he stated he believed it was the first time he had been onnetwork television in 30 years, and hoped it would "go over well!"[48]
In 2018, he appeared as himself in the documentaryThey'll Love Me When I'm Dead aboutOrson Welles' final filmThe Other Side of the Wind. Little was in the original 1974 cast but left for other commitments and his scenes were reshot withPeter Bogdanovich playing the part. Bogdanovich completed directing the film in 2018 after Welles died in 1985.[49] Little is credited as a party guest inThe Other Side of the Wind.
Little was a frequent guest onHuckabee, former Arkansas GovernorMike Huckabee's talk show on theTrinity Broadcast Network, having appeared more often than any other guest. His last appearance was on the series finale, January 11, 2025.[50]
Little was named "Comedy Star of the Year" by theAmerican Guild of Variety Artists in 1974.[51]
He was given a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame in 1983.[51]
In 1998, Little was inducted intoCanada's Walk of Fame, and into the Casino Legends Hall of Fame in 1999. He was given a star on theLas Vegas Walk of Stars in 2005.[21]
In 1998, a Golden Palm Star on thePalm Springs, California,Walk of Stars was dedicated to him.[52]He was inducted into the Canadian Comedy Hall of Fame in 2001.[10]
Little was appointed to theOrder of Canada in 2022, with the rank of Officer.[1]
Little has been active in several charities, including theJuvenile Diabetes Fund and theChildren's Miracle Network. He has been named toMiami Children's Hospital International Pediatrics Hall of Fame and been honoured by the naming of the Rich Little Special Care Nursery atOttawa Civic Hospital. He has been a major supporter in helping veterans through theGary Sinise Foundation.
Little was engaged to Canadian actress Jean Christopher in 1965, but they did not marry.[3]
Little was married to Jeanne Worden, whom he met when she was working as a secretary onThe Joey Bishop Show, in 1971. The couple had a daughter together, Bria, before their divorce in 1989.[53] Little had a brief relationship with Lalette Cottrell, of Delaware; the couple had a daughter together, Lyndsay (born 1988).[54]
Little was engaged to magicianMelinda Saxe, but she broke-off the three-year relationship in 1991, saying she had discovered he had secretly videotaped them having sex in 1988. Saxe sued Little for defamation, invasion of privacy, and inflicting emotional distress, claiming he had joked about their relationship on stage.[55] Little claimed the videotaping was consensual.[56][57] The lawsuit was eventually settled out of court.[53]
He married comedian and impressionist Jeannette Markey in 1994;[58] they divorced in 1997. He was married to Marie Marotta from 2003 until her death in 2010 of a deliberate overdose of sleeping pills after years of suffering from migraines and chronic pain.[59] He married his fourth wife, Catherine Brown, a former reality show contestant,[60] in a private ceremony in 2012; they divorced in October of that year.[61]
In 2010, Little became anaturalized citizen of the United States.[62][38] Politically, he is aconservative and has described himself as "basically aRepublican",[63][64] though his act has generally been non-partisan.[65] In 2021, he asserted to theDaily Beast his belief thatDonald Trumpwon the2020 United States presidential election.[66]
Little's older brother, Fred, was a social worker and voice actor who was the original voice of Cederic Sneer inThe Raccoons. Fred Little also performed in smaller venues as an impressionist in his own right[67][68] and appeared on theTonight Show with Johnny Carson on January 25, 1979 and an episode ofAn Evening at the Improv in 1990, both times with Rich Little hosting.[69] Younger brother Chris was a commercial artist who designed the covers of Little's albums.[5]
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