Gene Baylos, 98; Comedian Hailed by Contemporaries

Gene Baylos, 98, a nightclub comic greatly admired by contemporaries, including Alan King and Milton Berle, died Monday in Manhattan of natural causes.

Although not widely known, Baylos worked steadily and was a favorite of celebrity comedians. King described him as “the court jester of the Friars Club” and said, “Put him in a room with 20 comedians, and nobody gets laughs except Baylos.”

He began working in the clubs of the Catskill Mountains in the 1930s and traveled the nightclub circuit from New York City to Los Angeles.

He also had modest success in television, performing his stand-up routine on variety shows, including “The Hollywood Palace.” He had small roles in the comedy television series “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and “Car 54, Where Are You?” and the Jerry Lewis movie “The Family Jewels.”