Comedian Tom Dreesen, who grew up in Harvey and toured with Frank Sinatra for 13 years, died Wednesday. He was 86.
A post from Mr. Dreesen’s children to his Facebook account Wednesday read: “My sister and I regret to inform you that our father passed away at 5:50 this morning. He wanted you all to know how much joy you brought him through the years. He said to tell you that he loved you all. May he rest in peace.”
Mr. Dreesen made more than 500 TV talk show appearances and was a favorite of late-night stars Johnny Carson and David Letterman, but his roots were humble.
He was raised one of eight kids in a Catholic family that was one of the only white families in a Black neighborhood in Harvey.
Needing to help take care of his seven siblings, he set pins in bowling alleys, shined shoes in taverns and sold newspapers on street corners to bring in money and help the family get by.
He then served four years in the military, starting when he was 17, before working an array of construction and other tough manual labor jobs until he finally found his calling and his happiness onstage, making people laugh.
He first made a mark in the comedy world alongside comedian Tim Reid, later known for his acting, as the duo Tim & Tom.
Reid is Black, and they were one of the nation’s first multiracial comedy acts.
Mr. Dreesen and Reid met in 1969 when both were involved in the South Side Jaycees, a civic and business leadership organization for young professionals. At the time, Mr. Dreesen was selling insurance. Reid was a salesman for a chemical company.
The two did a drug education presentation for kids. It was a hit. People said they should be professional comedians.
After rising to prominence as a comic duo in Chicago, Reid left to strike out on his own, and Mr. Dreesen, who had a wife and three kids, felt pressure to quit comedy for steadier work. But he decided nothing would stop him.
He got a big chance to make it work when he filled in at the last minute for a comedian who canceled an opening gig for Sammy Davis Jr. The Rat Packer loved Dreesen’s stuff and took him on the road. Mr. Dreesen later worked for 13 years as an opening act for another member of the famed Rat Pack, Frank Sinatra.
Mr. Dreesen mentored David Letterman and Jay Leno early in their stand-up careers at the Comedy Store in Los Angeles, became a motivational speaker and also helped countless other comedians make it in the business. He also helped lead a comedians strike of the Comedy Store in 1979 to fight for compensation for the comedians who performed at the club.
Though he lived in Los Angeles since 1974, he often returned to Chicago.
In 2003, Mr. Dreesen, then 84, spent two weeks in the Chicago area while performing his one-man show “The Man Who Made Sinatra Laugh.”
During that stay, he threw out the first pitch at a Cubs game and sang “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” — an honor he was given more times than any other comedian.
Mr. Dreesen attended Thornton Township High School and was known for going out of his way to help a charitable cause, including raising money for his alma mater.
For years, Mr. Dreesen, an avid golfer, hosted the Tom Dreesen Celebrity Invitational that featured Chicago celebrities, including Mike Ditka and Jim McMahon.
Mr. Dreesen often drew on his childhood experiences for his routines, and in 1989 released “That White Boy’s Crazy” a stand-up comedy album recorded live in Harvey before a Black audience.
Mr. Dreesen was friends with a group of Chicago guys who also made it in entertainment, including Gary Sinise, Joe Mantegna, Dennis Franz and Bill Petersen.
In a Facebook post, Sinise wrote: “This morning America lost one of our great comedians and patriots, and I lost a dear friend. Tom Dreesen died at 86 years old. He was a special person, a U.S. Navy veteran with a tremendously charitable heart.
“Tom was hilarious, always could make us laugh and such a good friend. I will miss him terribly. What a great long career he had in show business.”
When he was in his teens and attending New Trier High School, comedian Roger Rose got a boost from Mr. Dreesen.
“He would help anyone looking to get into comedy or get better at comedy and make it in comedy any way he could,” Rose said. “I met Tom when I was 15 and interning at WFLD Channel 32, and I told him I wanted to get into comedy, and he gave me his number and told me to call him if I was ever in Los Angeles.”
Rose kept in touch with him ever since.
