March 12th is the birthday of one of my dear friends and colleagues for many years, Scoey Mitchlll. And I always try to remember my buddy’s birthday.
During the 1960s and 70s, Scoey was a trailblazer for African Americans in the world of standup comedy, appearing regularly on the Ed Sullivan Show and so many other variety shows and game shows. He also went on to blaze more trails, however, behind the camera as a successful writer / producer / director.
Scoey and I worked together on two network sitcom series for NBC so we spent a lot of time together, had a lot of laughs together and got a lot of laughs together. After all these years, we still spend a lot of time together. These days, though, it’s mostly over the phone – but we’re still mostly laughing.
Here are two photos, one from 1990 on a break from taping our sitcom, “13 East,” and the other is an L.A. reunion in 2014 at a memorial celebration of the life of another dear friend, actor/comedian Dave Madden.
IN CASE YOU’RE WONDERING — No, my spelling of Mitchlll with three L’s is not a typo. That’s how Scoey spells his name. Always has, as far as I can remember. All those other places online and in print where you see his name spelled with the standard “Mitchell” are just plain wrong.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SCOEY!
Scoey Mitchlll
12 March 1930
Find out more:
Here’s a YouTube link to Scoey being interviewed a few years ago by actor Robert Hooks on “Urban Roundtable.”
Last night on METV I saw an old Carol Burnett Show. Scoey was a guest. He told the joke about the “Parrot and the Plumber.” I laughed just as hard as I did when I first heard him tell that joke, oh so many, many years ago. My sister and I always enjoyed Scoey’s wonderful humor. I’m so glad to hear that he’s still alive and active.