David Brenner

David Brenner was an American stand-up comedian, actor and author who passed away at the age of 78 on March 15, 2014, from cancer. Most known for being a stand-up comedian, he is thought to be one of the most frequent guests on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson." Born 1936 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Brenner studied mass communication at Temple University from 1956 to 1960. His first gig was at the Improv in 1969 but he made his national debut on “The Tonight Show” in 1971. He ended up being the show's most frequent guest, at 158 appearances. He also guest-hosted for Johnny Carson over 75 times, making him 5th on the list of Carson's most frequent guest-hosts. Later in his career he recorded the 1983 comedy album “Excuse Me, Are You Reading That Paper?” and he also penned five books. A year later, he was recognized for his excellence by The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia naming Brenner their Person of the Year in 1984. Then in 2003 Brenner was inducted into the Broadcast Pioneers of Phi