Comic, Rat Packer Joey Bishop dies

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., Oct. 18 (UPI) -- Comedian Joey Bishop, the last surviving Rat Pack member, died at his home in Newport Beach, Calif., at the age of 89.

Bishop, known for his ad-libbing flair, was in failing health for some time before he died Wednesday evening, his long-time publicist Warren Cowan told the Los Angeles Times.

"I call it an open mind," Bishop once said of his on-stage work. "I just go out and talk. I don't have any mental file of jokes. If I did, I wouldn't ad-lib"

Bishop achieved fame in the 1960s, when he was emceed U.S. President John Kennedy's inaugural gala and joined Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Peter Lawford for the Rat Pack's historic on-stage "summit" at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas, the Times said. The deadpan comic also was ABC's answer to NBC's late-night talk show king Johnny Carson later in that decade.

Bishop and the rest of the Rat Pack made "Ocean's 11," a breezy caper movie employing Las Vegas as a backdrop and blueprint for a George Clooney remake.

Bishop, whose wife, Sylvia, died of cancer in 1999, is survived by his son, Larry; two grandchildren, and companion Nora Garabotti.