John Brent (comedian)

John Brent (Madison, Connecticut, 14 March 1938 – 16 August 1985 in Los Angeles) was an American actor, comedian and beat poet.

He was part of the Second City comedy club, and then later The Committee. He is mainly known for being half the duo behind the 1959 How To Speak Hip comedy album with Del Close. Otherwise he recorded and published little since he died at a relatively young age.^[1]^[2]^[3] He also appeared as an actor in such films as Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, Catch-22, Steelyard Blues, and American Graffiti.^[4]

A one volume book of John's poetry, All Grief Be Far, was published posthumously by his friends. In it there is a poem about how he avoided going to the war in Vietnam by telling the enlistment officers that he couldn't undress himself. Not that he wouldn't, but that he couldn't.

He was once on an elevator when John Belushi boarded. Mr. Belushi knelt and kissed Brent's feet.

John Brent is survived by his son, Jeremy Paz, who resides in San Francisco, CA.

Partial filmography

Greenwich Village Story (1963) - Poet
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969) - Dave
Catch-22 (1970) - Cathcart's Receptionist
The Candidate (1972)
Steelyard Blues (1973) - Tattoo Parlor Man
American Graffiti (1973) - Car Salesman
More American Graffiti (1979) - Ralph
First Family (1980) - U. N. Official #2

References

↑ Paul Colby, Martin Fitzpatrick The Bitter End: Hanging Out at America's Nightclub 2002 p. 120 "There is little left of John Brent, who died at a very young age, very little written and nothing that..."
↑ Penny Marshall - My Mother was Nuts: A Memoir - 2012 - Page 94 "They were all creative—and nuts! John, who had made the comedy album How to Speak Hip with Del Close, kept an array of pills in a large flashlight. Every so often he dumped them out on the coffee table and said, “Let's see, two of these are ..."
↑ Kim Howard Johnson The Funniest One in the Room: The Lives and Legends of Del Close 2008 "His drug intake began to increase around the same time, likely accelerated by the proximity of John Brent. In [Brent's] apartment above mine on Hudson St., we'd get high after the Second City show—him on junk and me on speed—and he "
↑ https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0107581/

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[1] Paul Colby, Martin Fitzpatrick The Bitter End: Hanging Out at America's Nightclub 2002 p. 120 "There is little left of John Brent, who died at a very young age, very little written and nothing that..."

[2] Penny Marshall - My Mother was Nuts: A Memoir - 2012 - Page 94 "They were all creative—and nuts! John, who had made the comedy album How to Speak Hip with Del Close, kept an array of pills in a large flashlight. Every so often he dumped them out on the coffee table and said, “Let's see, two of these are ..."

[3] Kim Howard Johnson The Funniest One in the Room: The Lives and Legends of Del Close 2008 "His drug intake began to increase around the same time, likely accelerated by the proximity of John Brent. In [Brent's] apartment above mine on Hudson St., we'd get high after the Second City show—him on junk and me on speed—and he "

[4] ttps://www.imdb.com/name/nm0107581/