Early career Taylor's career in show business began when he joined the U.S. Army, where he started performing stand-up in clubs and restaurants abroad while also performing for the troops. After his military service, and back in the U.S., he focused on a nightclub career. His mainstay material was "
pantomiming records"; his favorites were
Yiddish folk songs and
Spike Jones tunes.
Television and film In addition to the
Ed Sullivan Show, Taylor appeared on
The Jackie Gleason Show in several guest appearances during the 1963–1964 season as "the crying comedian". Taylor's signature
confetti tossing gag came from an appearance in the 1960s
The Merv Griffin Show where he was bombing as a stand-up comedian. He continued to work as a
voice performer in the 1970s cartoon series
Here Comes the Grump, as the title character, and in the second edition of
The Addams Family cartoon series in 1992, as the voice of
Uncle Fester. Throughout the 1970s, Taylor was a frequent celebrity guest panelist on television game shows such as
Hollywood Squares,
To Tell the Truth, and
The Gong Show, and substituted for
Charles Nelson Reilly on
Match Game. He became a regular on
Sid and Marty Krofft's
Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, playing Sheldon, a sea-genie who lived in a conch shell. In addition, Taylor was also a regular on
The Brady Bunch Hour, Taylor appeared as a celebrity on the 1990 version of
Match Game. In 1979, he was the voice of C.J. from the
Hanna-Barbera television movie
Scooby Goes Hollywood. Taylor's other appearances also include
The Kids in the Hall, where he was referred to as Uncle Rip by
Buddy Cole, the show's most flamboyantly gay character. He also appeared as himself in the movie ''
Wayne's World 2, one of the special guests invited to "WayneStock" after being visited in a dream by Jim Morrison. Taylor made "dozens of mayhem-filled appearances" on both The Tonight Show and The Mike Douglas Show.'' In 1997, Taylor appeared in a segment on the show
Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction. He played the role of Elmo Middleton in the segment "The Man in the Model T". Also in 1997, he appeared as himself on the sitcom
Brotherly Love in the episode "Easy Come Easy Go". He also portrayed Chief Undersecretary Wartle in the graphical adventure game
Zork: Grand Inquisitor in 1997. In 2003, Taylor also appeared as himself on
Will & Grace. In 2005, he appeared as himself on an episode of
George Lopez. Taylor guest-starred as chef "Rappin' Rip" in four episodes of
Life with Bonnie. He is also in some episodes of ''
The Emperor's New School as the voice of the Royal Record Keeper. He was also in the Jetix animated series Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!''. He made a special guest appearance at the end of the 1,000th episode of
G4's video game review show
X-Play. He made a guest appearance on a 2012 episode of
The Aquabats! Super Show!, where he played a genie reminiscent of his character on
Sigmund and the Sea Monsters. in 2010 In 1995, Taylor performed the intro for the
Bloodhound Gang's
Use Your Fingers album. In the early 2000s,
Johnny Knoxville asked Taylor to be in the film
Jackass: The Movie (2002) and in the final scene, he wielded a pistol that, when fired, released a sign that read "The End." He did the same thing at the ending of
Jackass Number Two, and
Jackass 3D. In the credits of the
2005 remake of The Dukes of Hazzard, Taylor appears in the blooper reel. Taylor made occasional appearances in movies, usually in broad comedies like
The Happy Hooker Goes to Washington (1977) and the R-rated
Deep Throat parody
Chatterbox (1977). In
Cheech & Chong's
Things Are Tough All Over (1982), he picks them up in the middle of nowhere driving a convertible full of props. He then proceeds to drive them to Las Vegas and telling jokes the whole way and moving Chong to tears from laughter (and, later, tears because he won't stop). In
Amazon Women on the Moon (1987) a funeral service turns into a
celebrity roast when guest Rip Taylor shows up to "honor" the deceased. In 1992, Taylor voiced Captain Kiddie in
Tom and Jerry: The Movie. In 1993's
Indecent Proposal, he appeared as
Demi Moore's boss, Mr. Langford.
Live theatre In 1981, Taylor appeared on Broadway when he replaced
Mickey Rooney in the burlesque-themed musical comedy
Sugar Babies. He was a frequent co-star with
Debbie Reynolds in her live shows in Las Vegas; Reno, Nevada; and Lake Tahoe. Taylor performed frequently in Atlantic City as well. In 2010, he appeared in the one-man show ''It Ain't All Confetti'' in North Hollywood, where he shared personal stories about his life and career. == Personal life and death ==