Peter Bergman (comedian)

Peter Paul Bergman (November 29, 1939 – March 9, 2012) was an American writer and comedian, best known as a member of The Firesign Theatre. He played Lt. Bradshaw in the Nick Danger series. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio.

The Firesign Theatre was formed as a result of Bergman's show Radio Free Oz on KPFK. According to Bergman, "I started July 24th, 1966 on KPFK ... I had some very interesting people around me, which those folks became The Firesign Theatre: David Ossman was connected with the station, Phil Austin was connected with the station, and Phil Proctor came out to do a show and we connected in LA and that was really the genesis of that whole happening."

Bergman also coined the word "love-in" in 1967, and organized the first such event in April 1967 in Los Angeles.^[1]

Bergman was a graduate of Yale University and taught economics there as a Carnegie Fellow. As an undergraduate, he contributed to campus humor magazine The Yale Record.^[2] He also attended the Yale School of Drama as a Eugene O'Neill Playwriting Fellow and was a Woodrow Wilson Scholar. He worked with Tom Stoppard, Derek Marlowe, Piers Paul Read, and Spike Milligan.^[1]

Stage versions of Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me The Pliers, The Further Adventures of Nick Danger, Third Eye, Waiting For The Electrician, or Someone Like Him, and Temporarily Humboldt County are published by Broadway Play Publishing Inc.

Death

Peter Bergman died on March 9, 2012, at age 72, from complications involving leukemia.^[3]

References

1. 1 2 Peter Bergman
2. ↑ The Yew Norker (The New Yorker parody). New Haven: Yale Record. February–March, 1961.
3. ↑ SCPR News (March 9, 2012)

External links

• Peter Bergman at the Internet Movie Database
• Bergman's professional webpage
• Politico - Arena Profile: Peter Bergman