Lord Buckley

Lord Richard Buckley (born Richard Myrle Buckley; April 5, 1906 – November 12, 1960) was an American stand-up comedian and recording artist, who in the 1940s and 1950s created a character that was, according to The New York Times, "an unlikely persona ... part English royalty, part Dizzy Gillespie."

Michael Packenham, writing in The Baltimore Sun, described him as "a magnificent stand-up comedian... Buckley's work, his very presence, projected the sense that life's most immortal truths lie in the inextricable weaving together of love and irony—affection for all humanity married to laughter."

Buckley's unique stage persona anticipated aspects of the Beat Generation sensibility, and influenced contemporary figures as varied as Dizzy Gillespie, Lenny Bruce, Wavy Gravy, Del Close, and, even after Buckley's death, Ken Kesey, George Harrison, Tom Waits, Frank Zappa, Robin Williams, and Jimmy Buffett.

Bob Dylan, in his book Chronicles, said "Buckley was the hipster bebop preacher who defied all labels."

Buckley's father, William Buckley, was from Manchester, England.

He stowed away on a ship that eventually arrived in San Francisco.

In California, William met Annie Bone.

They married, and their son, Richard, was born in Tuolumne, a small town near Sonora, in a mountainous region where lumbering was a major industry.

As children, Buckley and his sister, Nell, would often perform on the streets of Tuolumne, singing for coins from passersby.

When he was a bit older, Buckley got a job in the local lumber camps as a "tree topper," which was considered an especially dangerous position.

It involved climbing up to the very top of a tall tree, cutting off the tip and then securing ropes that would guide the rest of the tree as it was felled.

By the mid-1930s, he was performing as emcee in Chicago at Leo Seltzer's dance marathons at the Chicago Coliseum, and worked his own club, Chez Buckley, on Western Avenue through the early 1940s.

During World War II, Buckley performed extensively for armed services on USO tours, where he formed a lasting friendship with Ed Sullivan.

In the 1950s, Buckley hit his stride with a combination of exaggeratedly aristocratic bearing and carefully enunciated rhythmic hipster slang.

He was known for wearing a waxed mustache along with white tie and tails.

He sometimes wore a pith helmet.

Occasionally performing to music, he punctuated his monologues with scat singing and sound effects.

His most significant tracks are retellings of historical or legendary events, like "My Own Railroad" and "The Nazz".

His final marriage was to dancer Elizabeth Hanson (whom he referred to in public as "Lady Buckley"), with whom he had a daughter Laurie (b. 1951) and a son Richard (b. 1952).

The latter, first recorded in 1952, describes Jesus' working profession as "carpenter kitty."

Other historical figures include Gandhi ("The Hip Gahn") and the Marquis de Sade ("The Bad-Rapping of the Marquis de Sade, the King of Bad Cats").

He retold several classic documents such as the Gettysburg Address and a version of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven."

In "Mark Antony's Funeral Oration", he recast Shakespeare's "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears" as "Hipsters, flipsters, and finger-poppin' daddies: knock me your lobes."

Reportedly, some of his comedic material was written for him by Hollywood "beatnik" actor Mel Welles.

Lord Buckley appeared on Groucho Marx's popular TV program You Bet Your Life in 1956.

In 1959, he voiced the beatnik character Go Man Van Gogh in "Wildman of Wildsville", an episode of the Bob Clampett animated series Beany and Cecil.

(The character reappeared in several episodes made after Buckley's death, when he was voiced by Scatman Crothers.)

Buckley adopted his "hipsemantic" delivery from his peers Cab Calloway, Louis Armstrong, Redd Foxx, Pearl Mae Bailey, Count Basie, and Frank Sinatra, as well as Hipsters and the British aristocracy.

Buckley enjoyed smoking marijuana.

He wrote reports of his first experiences with LSD, under the supervision of Dr. Oscar Janiger, and of his trip in a United States Air Force jet.

Lord Buckley claimed to have been married six times.

He had a son, Fred Buckley.

In the autumn of 1960, Buckley's manager Harold L. Humes organized a series of club dates in New York City, and arranged for him to make another appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show (that was broadcast from the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York).

However, on October 19, 1960, while Buckley was making a public appearance at the Jazz Gallery in St. Mark's Place in Manhattan, the New York Police Department (NYPD) stopped him over allegations he had "falsified information" on his application to get a New York City cabaret card; specifically he had omitted to record a 1941 arrest for marijuana possession.

Cabaret cards had been a legal requirement since Prohibition for anyone, including performers, who wished to work in New York's nightclubs or the entertainment industry.

Because working without a license could mean arrest, revoking cards could permanently end careers – a threat that had been used in the past for political purposes or to solicit payoffs from performers.

At a hearing two days later to have his card reinstated, Buckley was supported by more than three dozen major figures in the entertainment and arts world.

However, it developed into a confrontation between NYPD Commissioner Stephen P. Kennedy and Buckley's friends and supporters, including Quincy Jones, George Plympton, and Norman Mailer.

Three weeks later, on November 12, 1960, Buckley died from a stroke at New York City's Columbus Hospital.

His funeral was at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel at 81st Street and Madison Avenue in New York City on November 16, 1960.