Tom Dreesen, actor and standup comedian and Chicago-area native, dies at 86
Tom Dreesen, a pioneering actor and comedian and Chicago area native, died Wednesday.
Dreesen's family announced on social media that he died early Wednesday morning. He was 86.
Dreesen was born Sept. 11, 1939, and grew up in Harvey, Illinois, a south Chicago suburb. As he told the Special Fathers Network, Dreesen was the third child in a poor family of eight, and began working at a young age selling and delivering newspapers, shining shoes in taverns, and setting up pins in bowling alleys.
Dreesen attended Thornton Township High School, but he told the network he dropped out of high school as a sophomore and got in with a rough crowd, and went on to join the U.S. Navy at the age of 17.
While still in the Navy, Dreesen married his first wife, Maryellen Subock, and his oldest daughter, Amy, was born, published reports noted. Son Tom and daughter Jennifer followed.
Dreesen told the Chicago Tribune that he worked a variety of jobs to support his family, from construction to bartending. His older brother urged him to switch careers to life insurance sales and to join the Jaycees, where he met fellow comedian Tim Reid, Dreesen told the Tribune.
Reid and Dreesen teamed up as Tim and Tom in the late 1960s. They notably appeared together at Mister Kelly's on Rush Street in Chicago.
"Together, they became one of America's first interracial comedy duos, using humor to break barriers and open doors during a time of great social change," a statement said.
Dreesen and his family went on to move to California. He made more than 60 appearances on "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson," and served as Frank Sinatra's opening act for 13 years, reports said.
Dreesen also shared the stage as the opening act for Frankie Avalon, Sammy Davis Jr., Gladys Knight, Liza Minnelli, Tony Orlando, and Smokey Robinson, among others.
Meanwhile, Reid went on to join the cast of "WKRP in Cincinnati" as radio DJ Venus Flytrap, and Dreesen at one point guest-starred alongside Reid on the sitcom as magazine writer Rick Jesperson.
Dreesen's TV credits also included appearances on "The Facts of Life," "Murder, She Wrote," "Baywatch Nights," "Touched by an Angel," and the TV movie "Columbo: Murder in Malibu." On the big screen, he appeared in "Spaceballs" and "Man on the Moon," among others.
Dreesen also made regular appearances on "The Late Show with David Letterman" on CBS and sometimes filled in for Letterman.
Altogether, Dreesen had more than 500 appearances on television as a stadium comedian.
Dreesen also took the stage for a one-man show, "The Man Who Made Sinatra Laugh," and worked as a motivational speaker, according to a biography.
Dreesen also hosted an annual golf tournament, the Tom Dreesen Celebrity Golf Classic. His memoir, "Still Standing… My Journey from Streets and Saloons to the Stage, and Sinatra," was published in 2020 by Post Hill Press.
With former Chicago Sun-Times sports columnist Ron Rapoport, Reid and Dreesen also co-authored the book, "Tim and Tom: An American Comedy in Black and White," published in 2008.
"[Dreesen] gave generously of his time, supported countless charitable causes, and inspired others through his motivational speaking, his writing, and his personal example," a statement said. "Tom Dreesen's legacy will live on through the laughter he created, the barriers he helped break, the entertainers he inspired, and the countless lives he touched."