FRANK SINATRA - RAT PACK SURVIVOR JOEY BISHOP DIES

RAT PACK SURVIVOR JOEY BISHOP DIES

Joey Bishop, the last surviving member of the Rat Pack, which also included Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Peter Lawford and Sammy Davis Jr., died Wednesday at age 89. He played the host of a TV talk show on The Joey Bishop Show, which ran on NBC from 1962 - 1964, then moved to CBS from 1964 - 1965. In 1967, he actually became a talk-show host on ABC, with Regis Philbin as his sidekick, but failed in his effort to compete against NBC's late-night champ, Johnny Carson. (On one show, a teary-eyed Philbin announced that he was quitting the show after critics blamed him for its poor ratings. The next night Bishop said that he had persuaded Philbin to remain.) After the show was canceled, Bishop went on to substitute frequently for Carson.

19/10/2007