David Steinberg
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David Steinberg (born August 9, 1942) is a Canadian comedian, actor, director, and writer who appeared on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show 140 times, and directed episodes of Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Mad About You, and Friends.
Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, he was one of the best-known stand-up comics in the USA during the late 1960s. One of his most notorious performances was on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, where he did satirical sermons. The sketch caused CBS to receive the most complaints they'd ever had. The Smothers Brothers were told by the network that they could have Steinberg on the show again, on the condition that he would not do the sermons again. Nevertheless, Tommy Smothers asked Steinberg to do it again, and he did. This incident, along with several others, led to the premature cancellation of the show.
In the mid-1970s, Steinberg starred in the Canadian-produced The David Steinberg Show. Nearly identical in format to the later The Larry Sanders Show, this series also went backstage at a fictional TV series. This show, which was syndicated in the United States, helped launch the careers of a number of top Canadian comic actors, including Martin Short and John Candy, who were among the regulars.
In the recording world, Steinberg's The Incredible Shrinking God (LP MCA 73013) contains ten of his comedic sermons and mini-sermons, as recorded live during his stand-up routine at Second City. He was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame in 2003.
Steinberg currently hosts Sit Down Comedy With David Steinberg on TV Land in the US, an informal interview-style show that has David Steinberg talking with famous comedians and comic actors such as Larry David, Jon Lovitz, Martin Short, Bob Newhart, and Ray Romano. The program is filmed before a live audience at UCLA.
David Steinberg is not to be confused with David Steinberg, graduate of Columbia University and foreign clerk to President of the Israeli Supreme Court, Justice (Shofetet) Dorit Beinisch and winner of $50,000 on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.
