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King, now 80, has been chosen to replace the outgoing Dean, Freddie Roman, who retired early at the age of just 76.
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Larry King / Getty
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Larry King, well known and much loved host of his long running slot on CNN will have to polish up his order keeping skills when he takes up the role of dean of New York’s famous Friars Club the long time meeting place of the witty and the famous, who go there to receive, deliver and exchange banter, usually at the expense of others.
King, who is a member of the Friars Club, and even at one time served as Abbot of the Friars of Beverly Hills, expressed his appreciation at being invited to become to be Dean of the Friars, and especially in the hot bed of Jewish humor, New York.
“I grew up in Brooklyn, so this is like coming home. It’s a great group with an important foundation that serves in many areas. So now — I’m Dean!” King enthused on hearing the news.
Larry King, who was the recipient of a Friars Club Award in November 2012, is about to feel that payback time will have come around, when he will be called in to maintain order at the Friar Club’s notorious roasts.
Roasts are a regular event at the Friars Club, where a particular celebrity is picked out by the club’s membership to be the victim of a roast, or in other words a series of always good natured insults, praise, outlandish true and untrue stories rounded of by heartwarming tributes. In the case of the Friars Club these roasts have been served up by the some of the sharpest wits and tongues in the history of comedy.
The Friars Club New York branch has been around for more than one hundred years, most of them in their club building, known as the Monastery, situated on 57 East 55th Street in Manhattan.
Veteran comedian Jerry Lewis, 87 years young, is the current “Abbott” of the Friars Club, which over the years has seen some of the most talented members of the sports and entertainment industry as its members, among them Jack Benny, Phil Silvers, Milton Berle and George Burns being just a few of the greats from the world of comedy, Frank Sinatra and all the members of his “Rat Pack” and even Rocky Marciano, one time World Heavyweight boxing champion.
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Top: The Friars Club, New York and the club in the movie “The Sunshine Boys”
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