Sam Kinison Biography

1980s comedian Sam Kinison sold out concert halls and earned raves from other comics with an over-the-edge stage act of absurdly angry rants punctuated by loud screams. Raised in Illinois in the family of a Pentecostal minister, Kinison spent some time as a preacher himself before finding his way to stand-up comedy. Kinison was short and rotund and kept his long straggly hair covered by scarves and berets, and in his drug-fueled diatribes he gleefully stomped past the lines of what was considered polite, decent, or otherwise socially acceptable. Kinison showed up on Saturday Night Live, Howard Stern and David Letterman, and was in the movie Back to School (1986, starring Rodney Dangerfield), but controlling his energy and profanity for mainstream audiences proved difficult. He died from injuries after a drunk teenager ran into his car on 10 April 1992. His recordings include Louder Than Hell (1986), Have You Seen Me Lately? (1988) and Leader of the Banned (1990).