Aspiring comic Rupert Pupkin attempts to achieve success in show business by stalking his idol, a late night talk-show host who craves his own privacy.
<%%item_is_not_adult%%
Credits: TheMovieDb.
Film Cast:
- Rupert Pupkin: Robert De Niro
- Jerry Langford: Jerry Lewis
- Rita Keane: Diahnne Abbott
- Masha: Sandra Bernhard
- Cathy Long: Shelley Hack
- Bert Thomas: Frederick de Cordova
- Jonno: Kim Chan
- Himself: Ed Herlihy
- Band Leader: Lou Brown
- Receptionist: Margo Winkler
- Raymond Wirtz: Ralph Monaco
- Rupert’s Mom (voice): Catherine Scorsese
- Dolores: Cathy Scorsese
- Stage Door Fan: Loretta Tupper
- Stage Door Fan: Peter Potulski
- Stage Door Fan: Vinnie Gonzales
- Stage Door Guard: Whitey Ryan
- Chauffeur: Doc Lawless
- Young Girl: Marta Heflin
- Man in Chinese Restaurant: Chuck Low
- Autograph Seeker: Katherine Wallach
- Autograph Seeker: Charles Kaleina
- Caricaturist: Richard Baratz
- Herself: Liza Minnelli
- Roberta Posner: Leslie Levinson
- Man at Telephone: Alan Potashnick
- Man at Telephone: Michael Kolba
- Man at Telephone: Robert Colston
- Man at Telephone: Ramon Rodriguez
- Man at Telephone: Chuck Coop
- Man at Telephone: Sel Vitella
- Mr. Gangemi: Tony Boschetti
- Himself: Tony Randall
- Langford’s Lawyer: Jay Julien
- Street Scum: Joe Strummer
- Street Scum: Paul Simonon
- Street Scum: Kosmo Vinyl
- Street Scum: Ellen Foley
- Street Scum: Pearl Harbour
- Street Scum: Gaby Salter
- Street Scum: Jerry Baxter-Worman
- Street Scum: Don Letts
- Cabbie: Matt Russo
- Woman in Telephone Booth: Thelma Lee
- Herself: Joyce Brothers
- McCabe: Bill Minkin
- Mystery Guest: George Kapp
- Himself: Victor Borge
- Security Guard: Rob-Jamere Wess
- Cook: Audrey Dummett
- Audrey: June Prud’Homme
- Wilson Crockett: Edgar J. Scherick
- Gerrity: Thomas M. Tolan
- Giardello: Ray Dittrich
- Captain Burke: Richard Dioguardi
- Langford’s Agent: Harry J. Ufland
- Crockett’s Secretary: Scotty Bloch
- Ticket Taker: Jim Lyness
- McCabe’s Wife: Diane Rachell
- Plainclothesman: Dennis Mulligan
- Plainclothesman: Tony Devon
- Plainclothesman: Peter Fain
- Plainclothesman: Michael F. Stodden
- Plainclothesman: Gerard Murphy
- Stage Manager: Jimmy Raitt
- TV Director: Martin Scorsese
- First Man at Bar: Charles Scorsese
- Second Man at Bar: Mardik Martin
- Newsman (voice): William Jorgensen
- Newsman (voice): Marvin Scott
- Newsman (voice): Chuck Stevens
- Newsman (voice): William Littauer
- Announcer (voice): Jeff David
- Street Scum: Mick Jones
Film Crew:
- Producer: Arnon Milchan
- Production Design: Boris Leven
- Director: Martin Scorsese
- Associate Producer: Robert F. Colesberry
- Executive Producer: Robert Greenhut
- Director of Photography: Fred Schuler
- Writer: Paul D. Zimmerman
- Production Supervisor: Thelma Schoonmaker
- Casting: Cis Corman
- Post Production Supervisor: Barbara De Fina
- Location Coordinator: Amy Sayres
- Costume Design: Richard Bruno
- Sound Re-Recording Mixer: Dick Vorisek
- Scenic Artist: Edward Garzero
- Makeup Artist: Philip Goldblat
- Supervising Sound Editor: Frank E. Warner
- Set Decoration: George DeTitta Sr.
- Art Direction: Edward Pisoni
- Art Direction: Lawrence Miller
- First Assistant Editor: Richard Candib
- Music Producer: Robbie Robertson
- Steadicam Operator: Ted Churchill
- Production Office Coordinator: Shelley Houis
- Set Decoration: Daniel Robert
- Still Photographer: Lorey Sebastian
- Extras Casting: Sylvia Fay
- Second Assistant Director: Lewis Gould
- Steadicam Operator: Garrett Brown
- Sound Re-Recording Mixer: Tom Fleischman
- Hairstylist: Lyndell Quiyou
- Script Supervisor: Roberta Hodes
- Gaffer: William Ward
- Camera Operator: Dick Mingalone
- Assistant Costume Designer: Mary Ellen Winston
- Carpenter: Carlos Quiles
- Sound Mixer: Les Lazarowitz
- Property Master: Jimmy Raitt
- Title Designer: Dan Perri
- Transportation Captain: Harold ‘Whitey’ McEvoy
- Costume Supervisor: William Loger
- Boom Operator: Vito L. Ilardi
- Negative Cutter: Donah Bassett
- First Assistant Director: Scott Maitland
- Key Grip: Norman Buck
- Best Boy Electric: James Fitzpatrick
- Color Timer: Robert Raring
- First Assistant Camera: Sandy Brooke
- Second Assistant Camera: Ricki-Ellen Brooke
- Construction Grip: Joe Williams Sr.
Movie Reviews:
- Ian Beale: **De Niro as yet another deluded psycho**
De Niro is Rupert Pitkin, a comedian who seeks to be as famous as his hero, Jerry Lewis. Pupkin could be Travis Bickle’s equally disturbed brother – both of them living in New York and both of them losing their minds in unison.
After much rejection, the crazed Pupkin decides to kidnap his hero and hold him for ransom until a studio gives him a big break. Jerry Lewis is impressive as the total bastard that Pupkin so admires.
A disturbing movie that is more relevant nowadays than ever since the advent of the Big Brother tv show which places national attention on people with no talent.
– Ian Beale
- adorablepanic: Martin Scorsese’s THE KING OF COMEDY was the lowest-grossing major studio film of 1982. It isn’t difficult to see why: It’s loaded with uncomfortable situations; there is no obvious protagonist; no sympathetic characters (the one that could potentially get our sympathy turns out to be a thief); and everyone is grating and/or unpleasant (even Tony Randall plays 𝙝𝙞𝙢𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 as a demanding prick). This lack of popularity was the audience’s loss, as Paul Zimmerman graced Scorsese with a screenplay which was just as prescient on the topic of fame as Paddy Chayefsky’s NETWORK (1976) was on the future of television. In a day and age where television reality shows and online video platforms allow talent-bereft fame-seekers to offer their wares to an anesthetized public, De Niro’s Rupert Pupkin displays an uncanny ambition just by leaving his mother’s basement, much less his willingness to use crime as a means to his end.