Shecky Greene, the legendary standup comic who was lord of the Las Vegas strip for decades, has died at age 97. Greene was a gifted improviser who could thrill crowds for hours at the biggest casino showrooms on the Strip from the 1950s through the 1980s. He was especially beloved by his fellow entertainers, including Johnny Carson, Bob Hope and Frank Sinatra, who made Greene his opening act. The Chicago-born comic had roles in films and sitcoms, and was a frequent guest and sometime co-host on TV talk shows, but never clicked on screen the way he did on stage.
