Biography
Pat Paulsen distinguished himself among comedians of the 1960s and 1970s with his irreverent stance toward American politics. His eccentric commentaries on the satirical variety series The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour from the late 1960s brought him widest recognition, while five separate runs for the presidency under the Straight Talkin' American Government (STAG) party further defined his public persona.
Born in the modest fishing community of South Bend, Washington, Paulsen relocated with his family at age ten to Point Bonita, California, a rugged headland overlooking San Francisco Bay. He finished secondary school at Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley and then served three years in the Marine Corps. World War II concluded before he could be sent overseas, yet he still supervised Japanese prisoners of war while posted in China. After his discharge in 1946 he held assorted positions, among them truck driver, photostat operator, door-to-door Fuller brush salesman, and gypsum mine laborer.
Paulsen enrolled at San Francisco City College intending to study forestry, but a rehearsal for a campus play altered his course and he moved into the drama department. In addition to appearing in college mountings of The Man Who Came to Dinner, The Vagabond King, and Twelfth Night, he joined the Ric-Y-Tic Players, a comic troupe based in Santa Rosa, California.
Although he briefly shared a comedy routine with his brother Lorin, Paulsen advanced furthest after striking out alone and playing folk clubs as a humorous guitarist. While performing at San Francisco’s Purple Onion he met the Smothers Brothers and sold them two original songs for forty dollars.
When the Smothers Brothers premiered their comedy program in 1967, Paulsen joined the cast. His unconventional political observations rapidly became a central feature of the show. At Tom Smothers’s urging, Paulsen declared his presidential candidacy in late 1967, stating that he sought the office because “it has a good pension plan.” The campaign drew 200,000 write-in votes and earned him an Emmy award in 1968. After the series ended in 1970, Paulsen hosted his own comedy show on ABC. That same year he and his wife settled in Cloverdale, California, and launched a winery they operated until their divorce in 1992.
Most summers Paulsen produced and starred in more than 25 plays at the Cherry County Playhouse in Traverse City, Michigan.
Diagnosed with colon and brain cancer in 1995, he sought alternative therapy in Tijuana, Mexico. He died there in 1997 from pneumonia and kidney failure. An album collecting his comic routines and songs appeared the following year.
Born in the modest fishing community of South Bend, Washington, Paulsen relocated with his family at age ten to Point Bonita, California, a rugged headland overlooking San Francisco Bay. He finished secondary school at Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley and then served three years in the Marine Corps. World War II concluded before he could be sent overseas, yet he still supervised Japanese prisoners of war while posted in China. After his discharge in 1946 he held assorted positions, among them truck driver, photostat operator, door-to-door Fuller brush salesman, and gypsum mine laborer.
Paulsen enrolled at San Francisco City College intending to study forestry, but a rehearsal for a campus play altered his course and he moved into the drama department. In addition to appearing in college mountings of The Man Who Came to Dinner, The Vagabond King, and Twelfth Night, he joined the Ric-Y-Tic Players, a comic troupe based in Santa Rosa, California.
Although he briefly shared a comedy routine with his brother Lorin, Paulsen advanced furthest after striking out alone and playing folk clubs as a humorous guitarist. While performing at San Francisco’s Purple Onion he met the Smothers Brothers and sold them two original songs for forty dollars.
When the Smothers Brothers premiered their comedy program in 1967, Paulsen joined the cast. His unconventional political observations rapidly became a central feature of the show. At Tom Smothers’s urging, Paulsen declared his presidential candidacy in late 1967, stating that he sought the office because “it has a good pension plan.” The campaign drew 200,000 write-in votes and earned him an Emmy award in 1968. After the series ended in 1970, Paulsen hosted his own comedy show on ABC. That same year he and his wife settled in Cloverdale, California, and launched a winery they operated until their divorce in 1992.
Most summers Paulsen produced and starred in more than 25 plays at the Cherry County Playhouse in Traverse City, Michigan.
Diagnosed with colon and brain cancer in 1995, he sought alternative therapy in Tijuana, Mexico. He died there in 1997 from pneumonia and kidney failure. An album collecting his comic routines and songs appeared the following year.
Albums
