ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, April 26, 1997 TAG: 9704280072
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES
TYPE: NEWS OBIT
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Paulsen made his name when he appeared on ``The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour'' in 1968.
Pat Paulsen, the deadpan, droopy-faced comic whose career was launched on the Smothers Brothers' TV show and sustained by satirical campaigns for the White House, has died. He was 69.
Paulsen, who had colon and brain cancer, died Thursday in Mexico from pneumonia and kidney failure after recent surgery to remove scar tissue from previous surgery, publicist Glenn Schwartz said Friday.
Doctors had said Paulsen's cancer was inoperable. He had been undergoing alternative cancer treatment in Mexico for about a month. ``His cancer was under control,'' Schwartz said.
Paulsen made his name on ``The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour'' in 1968 when he announced that he was running for president under the S.T.A.G. (Straight Talking American Government) Party. He won an Emmy that year.
``He was a dear friend and a great part of the Smothers Brothers' success was due to him,'' Tom Smothers said Friday. ``He was one of the great comedians of our time. He will be missed.''
The Smothers show was controversial for its liberal jabs at the Vietnam War and the White House, and CBS canceled it in 1969 after three seasons.
Paulsen, however, was not through. He became a perennial presidential candidate. He was on the ballot for real in 1972. All told, he campaigned in five presidential elections and claimed to have finished second in last year's New Hampshire primary.
LENGTH: Short : 40 linesby CNB