1946-1994
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Born on March 29th, 1946 in New York, NYC teacher turned comedian Dennis Wolfberg brought to life the character of Gooshie in Quantum Leap. From the pilot episode "Genesis" to the series finale "Mirror Image," Wolfberg became one of the most well-loved characters from the series.
Dennis' acting and writing credits include 5 episodes of Quantum Leap, 1 movie, appearances with both Johnny Carson and David Letterman, as well as 2 short television spots during the late 1980's. Below is a filmography of Dennis Wolfberg.
·Best of the
Improv Voulme 4 (2002) Source ·Teacher
Teacher (1990) (TV) ·Frank
Chindamo's Shorts
Where did Wolfberg get his look? Well, his famous bug-eyed facial contortions were his own, but he was know to visit Riquette Hofstein, who does private beauty consultations at her Beverly Hills clinic, Riquette International. Her star-studded clientele includes celebrities such as Ally Sheedy, Joan Van Ark, David Hasselhoff, Elizabeth McGovern, Morgan Fairchild, and comedian Dennis Wolfberg, as well as studio executives, doctors and attorneys. Source
Sound and video clips! Teaching Kids During his stand-up comic days, Dennis became well-known for many of his original quotes and bits. From the Improv to "The Tonight Show," Wolfberg loved to entertain the crowds. We have a hilarious six-minute sound clip of one of Wolfberg's comedy routines titled "Teaching Kids," plus a 27-minute routine from Rascal's Comedy Club! These clips are 'Al's Place-rated' PG-13 and is not for young children's ears.
The following exerpts are quotes by Dennis from many of the venues he played during this fantastic career. "She was 102. She didn't have wrinkles, she had pleats ... There's one advantage to being 102. There's no peer pressure." Source
"We delivered our child via natural childbirth, the procedure invented by a man named Lamaze--the Marquis de Lamaze, a disciple of Dr. Josef Mengele, who concluded that women could counteract the incredible pain of childbirth through breathing. I think we can all agree that breathing is a reasonable substitute for anesthesia. That's like asking a man to tolerate a vasectomy by hyperventilating. Lamaze expects the husband--me--to be there, so that I can witness this festivity. I did not want to be there. This was remarkably painful for my wife. There was nothing my presence could really do to relieve her pain. In other words, I didn't see why my evening should be ruined too." Source
"I had to go to analysis. They told me I had an unresolved Oedipus complex, which, according to them, meant I want to sleep with my mother. Which is preposterous. My father doesn’t even want to sleep with my mother." Source
"If we had a girl, my wife wanted to call her "Sue" -- a lovely name, but which for Jews is generally a verb." Source "I didn't practice abstinence, I *perfected* it!" Source
"What they put women through today when they're having a baby! They don't want to medicate them, as compared to previous generations. When my mom had me, she had so much medication, she didn't wake up till I was 7." Source
Your post reminded me of a joke by Dennis Wolfberg - he was talking about what doctors mean when they say "You might experience some discomfort." His response was "Saying that I might experience discomfort is some what akin to telling someone in the path of a tidal wave they might experience moisture." Source
Dennis Wolfberg (who used to refer to Gooshie as "the Gooshmeister") was once promised that if there was any more Quantum Leap after "Mirror Image," he would be allowed to contribute his own dialogue for the role in future appearances. Unfortunately, that cannot happen now, because Dennis died on October 3, 1994 in Culver City, California after a two-year battle with melanoma cancer. He is sorely missed. Source
Obituary for Dennis Wolfberg Dennis Wolfberg, the stand-up comedian who played the "little guy with bad breath" Gooshie, died of cancer on Monday, October 3, 1994. The following is his obituary as it appeared in Daily Variety.
*The above information was in part found on many internet sites. Credit is given next to each exerpt borrowed from another website.
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