A stand-up comedian who became a national television personality through his frequent appearances on variety, talk and game shows, Nipsey Russell delighted audiences with his funny but topical typical four-line poems and was dubbed "the poet laureate of television."

Born in Atlanta on Oct. 13, 1924, he earned a degree in English at the University of Cincinnati and originally planned to teach English but was drawn away by the lure of show business: he tap danced with the Ragamuffins of Rhythm, which helped prepare him for his later stints in musicals. He also worked as a carhop at Atlanta's