BIRTH 14 Dec 1908 Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, USA
MARIAGE
DEATH 27 Oct 1996 (aged 87) Beverly Hills, Los Angeles County, California, USA
BURIAL Forest Lawn Memorial Park Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles County, California, USA Show Map
PLOT Courts of Remembrance section, Map #E30 (Unit 4, Elevation 30), Single Wall Crypt 3632; furthest north-east section
Moritz "Morey" Amsterdam (December 14, 1908 – October 28, 1996) was an American actor, comedian, writer and producer.
Amsterdam was born in Chicago, Illinois, the youngest of the three sons of Max and Jennie (née Finder) Amsterdam, Jewish immigrants from Austria-Hungary.[2]
He began working in vaudeville in 1922 as the straight man for his older brother's jokes. He was a cellist, a skill he used throughout his career. By 1924, he was working in a speakeasy operated by Al Capone.[1]
After being caught in the middle of a gunfight, Amsterdam moved to California and worked writing jokes. His enormous repertoire, and his ability to come up with a joke on any subject, earned him the nickname The Human Joke Machine.
Amsterdam died at Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, California, on October 28, 1996, at the age of 87, due to a heart attack.[1][18]
He was entombed at Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles
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Categories: American Television Actors | Ashkenazi Jews | Cellists | Comedians | Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Los Angeles, California | Lyricists | Screenwriters | Vaudevillians | Jewish Roots | California, Notables | Notables