Robert George Schimmel (January 16, 1950 – September 3, 2010) was an American stand-up comedian who was known for his blue comedy. While the extremely profane nature of his act limited his commercial appeal, he had a reputation as a "comic's comic" due to his relentless touring, comedy albums and frequent appearances on HBO and The Howard Stern Show. Schimmel is number 76 on the 2004 program Comedy Central Presents: 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time. Early life and career Schimmel was born in the Bronx, New York City, the son of Betty and Otto Schimmel, Jewish survivors of the Holocaust. He was voted class clown during high school and was in the United States Air Force for one year during the Vietnam War era. In 1980 he was living in Scottsdale, Arizona, where he was working as a stereo salesman. His career began when, at the urging of his sister, he performed at a comedy club's open-mic night. A club owner in Los Angeles offered to make him a regular, but when Schimmel moved there he found that the club had burned down. Undaunted, and with some help from Rodney Dangerfield, who invited him to perform on his HBO Young Comedians Special, Schimmel began making a name for himself. He wrote material for In Living Color and for comedians such as Yakov Smirnoff and Jimmie Walker. In 2000 Schimmel had developed and completed a TV pilot for a show that would bear his name for the FOX network, with Brie Larson and Vicki Davis as his two daughters. The show was put on hiatus when Schimmel became ill from cancer and eventually cancelled. The opening scene is available on YouTube. Comedic style Schimmel cited Lenny Bruce as his all-time comedy hero. Schimmel incorporated many aspects of his personal life into his act, such as sex with his wife and masturbation, and even his cancer and the death of his son. In one signature bit, Schimmel joked about making obscene suggestions to a lady from the Make-a-Wish Foundation. His act was described as raunchy and sexually explicit, which he claimed as the reason he never appeared on network television. He said his inappropriate comments on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Hollywood Squares caused him to be removed, though he later returned to O'Brien's show. However, his edgy style made him a hit on The Howard Stern Show. Personal