Jack Carter

The database records a Broadway performer named Jack Carter whose stage work spanned from 1927 to 1943, with credits including Porgy, Stevedore, Goat Alley, Singin' the Blues, and Macbeth. The external biography, however, describes a different individual of the same name: Jack Carter, born Jack Chakrin on June 24, 1922, in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, New York, who died on June 28, 2015, in Beverly Hills, California. Given that the Broadway performer active from 1927 to 1943 and the comedian born in 1922 cannot be reconciled as the same person without introducing unverified claims, the following bio covers only the Jack Carter whose details are internally consistent across the external source, supplemented solely by the Broadway credits that can be attributed to him based on the external biography's own statements.

Jack Carter was born Jack Chakrin on June 24, 1922, in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, New York, to Russian Jewish immigrants Anna, née Borofsky, and Harry Chakrin, who operated a candy store in the neighborhood. Carter began dancing on tables at the age of three. He served in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II.

Carter built a comedy career characterized by a rapid-paced style comparable to that of Milton Berle and Morey Amsterdam. He hosted an early television variety program, Cavalcade of Stars, on the DuMont Network, and subsequently moved to NBC to host The Jack Carter Show, which aired as part of the Saturday Night Revue, NBC's two-and-a-half-hour Saturday night programming block. Carter's hour-long program was followed each week by the ninety-minute Your Show of Shows, starring Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Carl Reiner, and Howard Morris. Carter recommended Jackie Gleason as his replacement on Cavalcade of Stars, though DuMont did not hire Gleason until its initial choice, Jerry Lester, also departed for NBC. Carter remained friends with Caesar throughout his life and delivered the eulogy at Caesar's funeral.

On Broadway, Carter replaced Phil Silvers in Top Banana and appeared opposite Sammy Davis Jr. in the 1956 musical Mr. Wonderful. During the 1960s and into the early 1970s, he was a frequent guest on The Ed Sullivan Show and was known for his impression of Sullivan. He appeared as himself, alongside his then-wife Paula Stewart, in the comedy series The Joey Bishop Show, and served as a panelist on Match Game during the 1973–1974 season and again in the early 1980s. In 1975, he appeared as a guest star on the quiz show $10,000 Pyramid with contestant Liz Hogan Schultz. He hosted a game-show pilot called Second Guessers in the late 1960s, which did not sell.

Beginning in the 1970s, Carter participated in more than ten Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts. In 1980, he played the mayor in the horror film Alligator. The following year, he starred as Fagin in a stage production of Oliver! at the Birmingham Theater in Birmingham, Michigan, with Shani Wallis playing Nancy. In 1994, he was cast as Wilbur Cobb in The Ren & Stimpy Show, a character originally intended to be named Raymond Spum before being renamed following John Kricfalusi's dismissal from the series; showrunner Bob Camp incorporated the character into multiple episodes. Carter's television appearances spanned decades and included roles on The Dick Van Dyke Show, I Dream of Jeannie, Combat!, The Rockford Files, Sanford and Son, Diagnosis Murder, Monk, Desperate Housewives, Shameless, and iCarly, among many others, as well as voice work on King of the Hill. In 2014, he appeared as a guest on Norm Macdonald's video podcast Norm Macdonald Live.

Carter died on June 28, 2015, at his home in Beverly Hills, California, of respiratory failure.