He was called ‘the poet laureate of comedy’: 
Often called “the poet laureate of comedy,” Mr. Russell may be best known today as one of the polyester-wearing guests on TV quiz show reruns, cracking wise and rhyming couplets in the company of such B-list celebrities as Paul Lynde, Fanny Flagg and Charles Nelson Reilly. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, he was a frequent guest on “To Tell the Truth,” “Match Game 73,” “Masquerade Party,” “What’s My Line?” and “Hollywood Squares.” He hosted a daytime game show called “Your Number’s Up.”
But children in past decades probably know him from a certain musical remake of The Wizard of Oz:
In addition to his numerous TV appearances, he was the Tin Man in “The Wiz,” the 1978 black-cast remake of “The Wizard of Oz.” It was a role that allowed him to showcase his versatility as a singer, dancer, actor and comedian.
Russell’s propensity for rhyming grew out of an appearance on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, when Carson sidekick Ed McMahon asked him whether he had a poem. It was such a success that thereafter, he was expected to have a rhyming poem for any occasion, on any show. He had committed 600 of these comic rhymes to memory, working at night to perfect them.
Russell was also one of the first black comedians, along with Redd Foxx and Timmie Rogers, who refused to speak in dialect or play Stepin Fetchit roles on television, movies or on stage.
Nipsey Russell also held a BA in literature from the University of Cincinnati, in Cincinnati, OH. He maintained a lifelong interest in classical literature and foreign languages, though he had fully expected to become a teacher upon graduation.
I first saw Nipsey Russell on television on the old Car 54, Where Are You? show, playing a nutty cop, Officer Anderson, in a precinct full of nutty cops with different ethnic origins, sort of a precursor to Barney Miller. I also saw him on Dean Martin’s shows, and he never failed to bring down the house.
During his last years, he occasionally made guest appearances on Conan O’Brien’s late night show and on Chris Rock’s comedy show on HBO.
Nipsey Russell did not possess a birth certificate, said his manager, Joseph Rapp, so his age is a guesstimate. He was probably 81 or 82 years old.
His first name was Julius. ‘Nipsey’ was a nickname his mother gave him.
He died of cancer at Lenox Hill Hospital on Saturday, October 2.
I’ll miss Nipsey.
