This son of Jersey City was once the hottest thing on television - Time Magazine called him “TV’s First Black Superstar” in January, 1972.
No one knew him by his given name Clerow Wilson. The comic got his nickname while serving in the Air Force, where he would entertain his barracks mates with frantic stories and outlandish accents. His mates in turn would describe him as “flipped out” and thus his nickname was born.
Following his military service, Wilson began a decade of touring comedy clubs, eventually making it to the Apollo Theater in New York. One night on the Tonight Show in 1965, Johnny Carson asked veteran comic Redd Foxx to name the funniest comic currently working. Without hesitation, Foxx replied “Flip Wilson.”
Within weeks, Wilson was booked on the Tonight Show and the Ed Sullivan Show, as well as other major TV appearances, and his career took off.
Wilson became the first Black man to host a successful variety show on television. At the height of its popularity, The Flip Wilson Show on NBC was the No. 2 rated program on television. It earned 11 Emmy nominations during its four year run - with Wilson winning the award twice. He also won a Golden Globe and a Grammy.
Wilson gave a national prime time platform to many Black entertainers and is credited with launching the careers of Richard Pryor and George Carlin.
Wilson quit the show after the fourth season and retreated into domestic life. For the rest of his career he made periodic appearances on television and in movies but mostly he faded from the public’s memory.
Liver cancer claimed Wilson in 1998 at the age of 64. He was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame in 2020.
