Writer For 'The Carol Burnett Show' And Emmy Winner Gene Perret Passes Away At Age 85

Gene Perret, winner of three Emmys

Gene Perret, a great joke writer and writer who won an Emmy for his work, has passed away. He was 85.
According to his daughter Linda Perret, who spoke with The Hollywood Reporter, he passed away on November 15 at his home in Westlake Village due to liver failure.
The professional comedy writer had a career spanning five decades, during which time he wrote for a number of popular television shows, including All in the Family, Welcome Back, Kotter, and Three's Company, amongst others. For his work on The Carol Burnett Show, he was awarded three Emmys for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy-Variety or Music Series, the category for which he was nominated.
According to the website of the late comedian, he was a joke writer for a wide variety of comedians, including Phyllis Diller, Bob Hope, Carol Burnett, Bill Cosby, and Tim Conway. Beginning in 1969 and continuing until the renowned performer's retirement in 2004, Perret was Hope's primary lyricist and writer for the last 15 years of her career.

The Comedy King

Perret, who was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the author of more than 45 books on humour and has contributed to various publications, such as Reader's Digest, Good Housekeeping, Toastmasters, and Arizona Highways. He is also known as "The Comedy King."
In an interview that took place in 2016 for the publication The Writer, the question of how Perret determines whether or not something is funny on the page was brought up.
The truthful response he gave was, "You don't really." "In order to establish what is humorous, comedy writers rely on their innate sense of humour as well as their previous life experiences. But at this point, all we can do is speculate. There may be many occasions in which a joke that you adore will be turned down by the customer or the other members of the writing crew. It's important for writers to trust their gut feelings, but in the end, the audience is the one who decides what they find hilarious."
Bob Hope's acknowledgement

When asked where he got his sense of humour from, Perret made reference to the people who he admired. He added that in the same way that young people learn how to play sports by watching the athletes they look up to, comedians and writers learn how to be funny by copying the comedic styles of their heroes.

"Bob Hope freely acknowledges that he imitated the mannerisms of the vaudevillian Frank Fay. Woody Allen has said in interviews that he modelled his on-screen presence after that of Bob Hope. Johnny Carson was proud of the fact that he resembled Jack Benny throughout his career. Since I had always been a fan of comedy, I decided to try my hand at it. It was nearly impossible to avoid, "Perret stated.

The Hollywood Reporter states that Perret is survived by his wife of 64 years, Joanne, as well as his children Joe, Terry, Carole, and Linda, who is also a comedy writer. He also leaves behind six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.