Sam Kinison



Born: Samuel Burl Kinison; December 8, 1953; Yakima, Washington, U.S.
Died: April 10, 1992 (aged 38); Needles, California, U.S.
Resting place: Memorial Park Cemetery, Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.

Comedy career
Years active: 1978–1992

Website: samkinison.org

Samuel Burl Kinison (/ˈkɪnɪsən/ KIN-iss-ən; December 8, 1953 – April 10, 1992) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. A former Pentecostal preacher, he performed stand-up routines that were characterized by intense sudden tirades, punctuated with his distinctive scream. Initially performing for free, Kinison became a regular fixture at The Comedy Store, where he met and eventually befriended such comics as Robin Williams and Jim Carrey.

Kinison's comedy was crass observational humor, especially towards women and dating, and his popularity grew quickly, leading to appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Late Night with David Letterman, and Saturday Night Live. At the peak of his career in early 1992, he was killed in a car crash, aged 38.

Kinison received a Grammy nomination in 1988 for the single "Wild Thing" from his Have You Seen Me Lately? album, and a posthumous win in 1994 for Best Spoken Comedy Album, Live from Hell.

Early life
Samuel Burl Kinison was born in Yakima, Washington, on December 8, 1953, the son of Marie Florence (née Morrow) and Samuel Earl Kinison, a Pentecostal preacher. The family moved to East Peoria, Illinois, when Kinison was three months old. At the age of three years, Kinison was hit by a truck, which left him with brain damage and epilepsy.

{snip}

Death
On April 10, 1992, Kinison was driving his Pontiac Turbo Trans Am when it was struck head-on on Needles Highway northwest of Needles, California, by a pickup truck driven by a juvenile, who had been drinking alcohol. The pickup truck crossed the center line of the roadway while trying to pass another vehicle and moved into Kinison's lane. Kinison and his wife were on their way to Laughlin, Nevada, to perform at a sold-out show at the Riverside Casino.

After the crash, Kinison appeared stable, with only minor visible facial wounds. He got out of his vehicle and sat down on the side of the road, where he soon died from internal injuries. His head had smashed the windshield, because he was not wearing his seat belt. He was 38 years old. His wife received a concussion in the collision, but later recovered after being taken directly to a hospital in Needles for treatment. Kinison's last words were reportedly stated to no one in particular at the crash scene as, "why now?", then after a pause he asked, "but why?", and after another pause, said, "okay, okay, okay." A friend who was with him at the time later recalled, "Whatever voice was talking to him gave him the right answer and he just relaxed with it".

An autopsy found that Kinison sustained multiple traumatic injuries, including a dislocation in the cervical spine, a torn aorta, and torn blood vessels in his abdominal cavity, which resulted in his death within a few minutes of the crash.

The pickup truck driver pleaded guilty to one count of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and was sentenced to one year of probation and 300 hours of community service. He also had his driver's license suspended for two years in connection with the collision.

On April 15, 1992, at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Burbank, California, a funeral service was held.[38] Kinison's body was buried in a family grave plot at Memorial Park Cemetery in Tulsa, Oklahoma. His gravestone is inscribed, "In another time and place, he would have been called prophet."

{snip}