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2 articles from 1999

1 July 1999 | From Studio Briefing | See recent Studio Briefing news

In what amounts to getting "the last laugh, " legendary Second City comedian Del Close, who died last March, will be granted a final request to play Yorick in a production of Hamlet. The Chicago Tribune reports that tonight (Thursday) at the Improv Olympic in Chicago, Close's skull will be officially turned over to director Robert Falls of the Goodman Theater.

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5 March 1999 | From Studio Briefing | See recent Studio Briefing news

Del Close, the legendary improvisational comic, who helped found Chicago's Second City, directed Los Angeles' The Committee co-created SCTV, and was for many years the acting coach for Saturday Night Live, died of emphysema in Chicago Thursday at the age of 64. On the night before his death, comedian Bill Murray threw a party for Close at the hospital. Close's partner, Charna Halpern, had told the Chicago Tribune, "He wants to die on his own terms. ... He wants a party. It's (for) his 65th birthday as well as his bon voyage party. Del is being a comedian to the end."

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2 articles from 1999