Godfrey Cambridge
Stand-up comedian · 1933–1976

Godfrey Cambridge

Who Godfrey Cambridge is

American stand-up comic and actor from New York City whom Time in 1965 counted among the country's most celebrated Black comedians, alongside Bill Cosby, Dick Gregory and Nipsey Russell. He headlined rooms such as San Francisco's Hungry i, appeared on The Tonight Show and recorded four comedy albums for Epic between 1964 and 1968. As an actor he won a 1961 Obie Award for The Blacks and starred in Watermelon Man and Cotton Comes to Harlem (both 1970); he died in 1976 at age 43.

At a glance

Born
1933
Died
1976
Style
Racial satire, Satire
Albums
Here's Godfrey Cambridge, Ready or Not..., Them Cotton Pickin' Days Is Over, Godfrey Cambridge Toys With The World and 1 more
On screen
The Tonight Show, The Hollywood Palace, The Dick Van Dyke Show and 11 more

Specials, shows and podcasts

Albums

On screen

Comedians like Godfrey Cambridge

Each linked to them by something on the record — a stage they both came through, a bill, a show, a style or a home town.

Every stand-up comedian with a page, A to Z →

Career timeline

  1. 1933Born
  2. 1963Gone Are the Days! (Gitlow Judson, 1963) On screen
  3. 1964Here's Godfrey Cambridge, Ready or Not... (1964) Album
  4. 1965Them Cotton Pickin' Days Is Over (1965) Album
  5. 1966The Dick Van Dyke Show (Harry Bond, 'The Man from My Uncle', 1966) On screen
  6. 1966Godfrey Cambridge Toys With The World (1966) Album
  7. 1967The President's Analyst (Don Masters, 1967) On screen
  8. 1967The Busy Body (Mike, 1967) On screen
  9. 1968The Biggest Bundle of Them All (Benjamin 'Benny' Brownstead, 1968) On screen
  10. 1968Bye Bye Braverman (Taxi Driver, 1968) On screen
  11. 1968The Godfrey Cambridge Show: Recorded Live At The Aladdin, Las Vegas (1968) Album
  12. 1970Watermelon Man (Jeff Gerber, 1970) On screen
  13. 1970Cotton Comes to Harlem (Gravedigger Jones, 1970) On screen
  14. 1971Night Gallery (Jackie Slater, 'Make Me Laugh', 1971) On screen
  15. 1972Come Back, Charleston Blue (Gravedigger Jones, 1972) On screen
  16. 1975Friday Foster (Ford Malotte, 1975) On screen
  17. 1976Died
  18. 1977Scott Joplin (Tom Turpin, 1977) On screen

Questions about Godfrey Cambridge

What TV shows and films is Godfrey Cambridge in?

The Tonight Show, The Hollywood Palace, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Night Gallery, Watermelon Man and Cotton Comes to Harlem, among 14 credits.

Who are some comedians like them?

Redd Foxx (also in Cotton Comes to Harlem), Sammy Shore (also in The Hollywood Palace) and Sarah Silverman (the same style: satire).

The full SUCDb record

The full record — the career in order, the specials and credits, and the sources for each — is on SUCDb, with their place on the Legends ballots.

Their SUCDb record →

Sources

Updated 5 October 2026 · the record checked 27 September 2026