Del P. Close (March 9, 1934 â€" March 4, 1999) was an American actor, writer, and teacher who coached many of the best-known comedians and comic actors of the late twentieth century. In addition to a prolific acting career in television and film, he was considered a premier influence on modern improvisational theater. Close co-authored the book Truth in Comedy, which outlines techniques now common in longform improvisation, and describes the overall structure of "Harold", which remains a common frame for longer improvisational scenes.
§Life and career
§Early life
Close was born and reared in Manhattan, Kansas, the son of an inattentive alcoholic father. He ran away from home at the age of 17 to work in a traveling side show, but returned to attend Kansas State University. At age 19 he performed in summer stock with the Belfry Players at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. At age 23 he became a member of the Compass Players in St. Louis. When most of the castâ€"including Mike Nichols and Elaine Mayâ€"moved to New York, Close followed. He developed a stand-up comedy act, appeared in the Broadway musical revue The Nervous Set, and performed briefly with an improv company in Greenwich Village with fellow Compass alumni Mark and Barbara Gordon. Close also worked with John Brent to record the classic beatnik satire album How to Speak Hip, a parody of language-learning tools that purported to teach listeners the secret language of the "hipster".
§Chicago years
In 1960 Close moved to Chicago, his home base for much of the rest of his life, to perform and direct at Second City, but was fired due to substance abuse. He spent the latter half of the 1960s in San Francisco where he was the house director of The Committee, toured with the Merry Pranksters, and created light images for Grateful Dead shows. In 1972 he returned to Chicago, and to Second City. He also performed and directed the Second City show in Toronto in 1977. Over the next decade he helped develop many popular comedians. In the early 1980s he served as "house metaphysician" at Saturday Night Live, and a significant percentage of the show's cast have been Close protégés throughout its run. He spent the mid-to-late 1980s and 1990s teaching improv, collaborating with Charna Halpern at Yes And Productions and the ImprovOlympic Theater with Compass Players producer David Shepherd.
In 1987, Close mounted his first scripted show, Honor Finnegan vs. the Brain of the Galaxy, created by members of Close and Halpern's Improv Olympics from a scenario by Close, at CrossCurrents in Chicago. Running concurrently at the same theater was “The TV Dinner Hourâ€, written by Richard O’Donnell of New Age Vaudeville, featuring Close's running routine as The Rev. Thing of the First Generic Church of What's-his-name.
During this period, Close also appeared in several movies; he portrayed a corrupt alderman in The Untouchables, and an English teacher in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. He also co-authored the graphic horror anthology Wasteland for DC Comics with John Ostrander, and co-wrote several installments of Grimjack's backup feature Munden's Bar.
§Death and legacy
Close died of emphysema on March 4, 1999 at the Illinois Masonic Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. It was five days before his 65th birthday. In his will he bequeathed his skull to the Goodman Theatre, to be used in its productions of Hamlet , and specified that he be duly credited in the program as portraying Yorick. Charna Halpern, Close's long-time professional partner and the executor of his will, donated a skullâ€"purportedly Close'sâ€"to the Goodman in a high-profile televised ceremony on July 1, 1999. A front-page article in the Chicago Tribune in July, 2006 questioned the authenticity of the skull, citing inconsistencies in its dentition and the presence of autopsy marks (Close was not autopsied), among other problems. Halpern stood by her story at the time, but admitted in a New Yorker interview three months later that she had purchased the skull from a local medical supply company.
American musician and guitarist Bill Frisell recorded the tribute track "Del Close" on his 2004 album Unspeakable.
§Notable students
§The Delmonic Interviews
In 2002, Cesar Jaime and Jeff Pacocha produced and directed a film composed of interviews with former students, friends, and collaborators of Del Close. The film documented not only Del's life and history, but the impact he had on the people in his life and the art form he helped to create. It is not sold on DVD and was made as a thank you and a tribute to Del, "as a way to allow those that never got to meet or study with him, a chance to understand what he was like."
The Delmonic Interviews includes interviews with: Charna Halpern (co-founder of Chicago's iO), Matt Besser (iO's The Family; Upright Citizens Brigade), Rachel Dratch (iO; Second City; Saturday Night Live), Neil Flynn (iO's The Family; NBC's Scrubs), Susan Messing (iO; Second City; Annoyance Productions), Amy Poehler (Upright Citizens Brigade, Saturday Night Live), and Miles Stroth (iO's The Family; Del's "Warchief"). The film was shown at several national improv festivals, including the 2004 Chicago Improv Festival, the 2004 Phoenix Improv Festival, the 2002 Del Close Marathon in New York City, and the 2006 LA Improv Festival.
§Close in print
Close is featured in an extensive interview in Something Wonderful Right Away, a book about the members of the Compass Players and Second City written by Jeffrey Sweet. Originally published in 1978 by Avon, it is currently available from Limelight Editions.
From 1987 to 1989 Del Close wrote strange autobiographical stories in a comic book called Wasteland which was produced by DC Comics.
In 2004, writer/comedian R. O'Donnell wrote a feature entitled My Summer With Del published for Stop Smiling Magazine's Comedian Issue #17. It was an account of O'Donnell's visits at Del’s Chicago apartment as well as recounting highlights of their time spent at CrossCurrents, the theater that housed both their comedy groups.
In 2005, Jeff Griggs published Guru, a book detailing his friendship with Close during the last two years of his life. Due to Close’s poor health (in part caused by long-term alcohol and drug use), Halpern suggested that Griggs run errands with Close. Guru gives a particularly detailed and complete picture of Close based on those shared hours. At the beginning of their relationship, Griggs was a student of Del’s, and the book includes several chapters in which Griggs depicts Close as a teacher.
The book has been adapted into a screenplay, and as of 2006 Harold Ramis was attached to direct the script. Ramis (who died in 2014) wanted Bill Murray to play Close.
In 2007, Eric Spitznagel wrote an article in the September issue of The Believer magazine reflecting on Close's life and his propensity for story-telling.
In 2008, Kim "Howard" Johnson's full-length biography of Close, The Funniest One in the Room: The Lives and Legends of Del Close was published. Johnson himself was a student of Close, and remained friends with Close until his death.
§References
§External links
- Audio Interview with Griggs on The Sound of Young America: MP3 Link
- Del Close at Improv/Comedy
- Del Close Improv Marathon
- "As Del Lay Dying," an account of Del Close's final days (w/ video)
- Del Close at the Internet Movie Database
