alternatehistory.com

Professional comedians have recently become prominent as actual or possible candidates for president or prime minister in several countries. Jimmy Morales is president of Guatemala. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Morales Al Franken is US Senator from Minnesota, and has been suggested as a presidential candidate. http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/02/opinions/al-franken-for-president-zelizer/index.html Beppe Grillo is head of the Five Star Movement party in Italy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beppe_Grillo

Are there any other comedians who might have become president or prime minister in the past? (I don't count Ronald Reagan because despite "Bedtime for Bonzo" he was not known *primarily* as a comic actor.) Maybe if Fred Grandy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Grandy had won the 1994 GOP primary for governor of Iowa (whcih he narrowly lost to the incumbent Terry Branstad...)? Nancy Kulp's congressional candidacy was doomed from the start--it was just too Republican a district. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Kulp

(Gracie Allen's 1940 campaign
was a publicity stunt, though there's an urban legend that she got a large number of write-in votes.)
Top