Nipsey Russell

Julius Nipsey Russell September 15 1918 October 2 2005 was an American comedian best known today for his appearances as a guest panelist on game shows from the 1960s through the 1990s especially Match Game Password Hollywood Squares To Tell the Truth and Pyramid His appearances were distinguished in part by the short humorous poems he would recite during the broadcast These lyrics became so closely associated with Russell that Dick Clark Bill Cullen Betty White and others regularly referred to him as the poet laureate of television He also had a leading role in the film version of The Wiz Russell was also a frequent guest on Dean Martins Celebrity Roasts