George Hopkins (comedian)  George Hopkins (July 3, 1928 –February 28, 2011) was an American comedian and musician. George Hopkins was born July 3, 1928 in Manayunk Philadelphia, to Ruth and John Hopkins Sr. He was of half Welsh and half Polish ancestry. He was the youngest of five children, three sisters and a brother. When Hopkins was 16 he lied about his age and enlisted in the United States Navy and served in World War 2 in the Pacific Theatre. Hopkins’ first professional gig was in 1946 at Jerry’s Café in West Philadelphia in the back room of the local bar. Seating capacity was about 60 the band was a blind organ player. He did one show on Friday night and one show on Saturday night; Hopkins was paid 35 dollars for both nights. Then Mr. Hopkins started to do one-nighters at various venues in Philadelphia, like 24 Club, Palumbo’s - a nightclub with a seating capacity of 400 and other nightspots in Philadelphia. George Hopkins’ first network television appearance was on Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts, telecast on a Monday night, which he won. Hopkins recalled, “I thought the female singer, Mary Sullivan was much better than me and she should have won, but the audience picked me.” Then Arthur Godfrey booked Hopkins for his Wednesday night network television show, Arthur Godfrey and His Friends and then he was on his radio show the following morning for two weeks. Hopkins was actually on the telecast when Arthur Godfrey fired Julius La Rosa on the air. Hopkins' agent Herb Marx in New York booked him into the Village Vanguard, on the bill was Eartha Kitt, Wally Cox, Orson Bean and George Hopkins. From there he started to work in a lot of New York theaters, The Jefferson 14th Street Theater, theaters in Brooklyn and the Bronx. Then he appeared at the Palace Theater on 46th and Broadway. In 1965, Hopkins returned to network television on The Les Crane Show, Omnibus, The Ed Sullivan Show and Chance of a Lifetime w/ Dennis James to name a few. In 1952 NBC signed Hopkins to a 5-year contract starting out at $2500 a week. The producer who set up the contract was Joe Bigelow. Hopkins’ first NBC appearance under contract was on a spectacular with Beatrice Lillie, Gordon Jenkins and his orchestra, 23 dancers and was hosted by George Abbott. Herb Marx had offices across West 57th Street from Carnegie Hall and in Miami Beach, Florida.