A Wisconsin native born in 1930, Mitzi Shore (née Saidel) co-founded the Los Angeles comedy club, The Comedy Store in 1972 and took over operation of The Comedy Store in 1974. Through the club, she has had a huge influence on the careers of up-and-coming comedians for decades. Now-famous comedians like Robin Williams, Freddie Prinze, Jay Leno, David Letterman, Chevy Chase, Sam Kinison, and Jim Carrey have all worked at the Comedy Store for Mitzi Shore. Mitzi also founded Comedy Channel Inc in 1982.Her former husband, Sammy Shore, is also a comedian. The couple have four children: Peter, Scott, actor Pauly and daughter Sandy.Mitzi Shore's ownership of the Comedy Store has long been a source of contention between members of the Shore family. Sammy and Mitzi co-founded the Comedy Store in 1972. Mitzi is credited for coining the now-famous club's title. When Sammy and Mitzi divorced in 1974, Mitzi acquired complete ownership as part of their divorce settlement. Sammy Shore was later quoted in 2003 by the Los Angeles Times as explaining that he "relinquished control of the club to lower his alimony payments".Mitzi's contribution to the club's ongoing survival and day to day management extended far beyond a lucky inheritance. Shortly after she took full control, Mitzi was able to obtain a significant cash loan from comedian Shecky Greene to help ensure continued operations (comedy clubs have never been viewed as sound investments by traditional creditors). Mitzi's bookings were as non-traditional as her financing. As early as 1978, Shore had converted the upstairs section of The Comedy Store into the "Belly Room": a 50 seat audience for which she exclusively booked female comedians. At the time, professional comedy was very much a "boy's club", and bookings for comediennes were rare; opportunities for women to perform their own stand-up material under the same roof as the most popular comics in the country was unheard of. Mitzi's liberal risk-taking with booking talent has continued for decades. In the 90's, once female comics had become more established, Shore continued to cross boundaries with her audience by creating specialty nights for Latino, and gay and lesbian performers.In 1989, Mitzi Shore retained counsel James Blancarte and sued HBO for copyright infringement. Shore had owned and operated Comedy Channel Inc since 1982 - a company established to create and sell video tapes of performances at The Comedy Store. 1989 was the year that HBO would launch their (ultimately ill-fated) premium cable service "The Comedy Channel". Shore's suit claimed HBO's service was an "indirect unauthorized use" of the name and trademark "Comedy Channel".Later in her life, Mitzi Shore has sadly acquired Parkinson's disease. This would leave to more conflicts to determine who should operate the Comedy Store during times when she required treatment. Initially, responsibility for the club's operations went to Pauly Shore and his brother Peter S
While on her way to the hospital to give birth to Pauly Shore, she was yet undecided on a name for her child. She passed the Paulee Body shop and a Montgomery Ward, and that's how Pauly got his name.
$20 Million
