Comedy trailblazer, Sinatra’s longtime opening act, dies
FILE - Comedian Tom Dreesen talks to the media during a news conference in La Quinta, Calif., on Jan. 18, 2011. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson, File)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tom Dreesen, who along with partner Tim Reid formed one of America’s first interracial stand-up comedy duos and later spent years as Frank Sinatra’s opening act, died Wednesday. He was 86.
Dreesen died at his home in Los Angeles, according to publicist Lori De Waal. A cause of death was not provided.
After meeting in Chicago, Dreesen and Reid, who was Black, formed “Tim and Tom” in 1969. Against a backdrop of simmering racial tension, they used humor to address social issues and promote understanding between audiences of different backgrounds. They worked together until the mid-1970s. Reid went on to solo success playing DJ Venus Flytrap on the popular TV sitcom “WKRP in Cincinnati,” where Dreesen was a guest star.
“When I was a kid I found an album he and his comedy partner did called Tim and Tom and took it home and played it and it was one of the albums that changed the course of my life. So great,” comedian and filmmaker Mike Binder wrote on X.
After splitting with Reid, Dreesen honed a solo comedy act, making over 500 national TV appearances, including 60 visits to “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.” He also was a frequent guest and sometime guest host on “The Late Show with David Letterman.”
Dreesen’s final TV appearance came last week on “Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen,” which replaced Stephen Colbert’s canceled CBS late-night show.