Argus Hamilton

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2020}} {{Infobox comedian |name=Argus Hamilton |image=Lord argus hamilton 1472 (6309725471).jpg |imagesize= |caption=Lord Argus Hamilton |birth_name=Argus James Hamilton III<ref name="okcrotary interview"/> |birth_date= |birth_place=Poteau, Oklahoma, United States |death_date= |death_place= |medium=Stand-up, television, writing |active=1980–present |genre=Character comedy, observational comedy, wit, satire, political satire, black comedy, sarcasm |subject=American culture, American English, everyday life, philosophy, human behavior, American politics, religion, psychology, pop culture, family |influences= |influenced= |signature= |website=http://www.argushamilton.com/argus.htm |footnotes= |module= |child=Argus Hamilton grew up a Methodist minister's son in Spiro, Oklahoma City, Lawton, and Ponca City, Oklahoma. Argus skipped the 2nd grade and graduated from Ponca City High School. He attended The University of Oklahoma, majoring in History. |grammyawards= |americancomedyawards= }}

'''Argus Hamilton''' is an American stand-up comedian, writer, and host of The Comedy Store Tonight starring Argus Hamilton.<ref>{{cite web| title=Argus Hamilton| url=https://movies.nytimes.com/person/840367/Argus-Hamilton|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130130144609/http://movies.nytimes.com/person/840367/Argus-Hamilton|url-status=dead| department=Movies & TV Dept.| newspaper=The New York Times| archive-date=2013-01-30}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine| magazine=Time| url=http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1708394,00.html| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080207145453/http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1708394,00.html| url-status=usurped| archive-date=February 7, 2008| title=Comedy at the Edge Excerpt| first=Richard| last=Zoglin| date=January 30, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| work=All American Speakers| title=Argus Hamilton|url=http://www.allamericanspeakers.com/celebritytalentbios/Argus-Hamilton|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130203223714/http://www.allamericanspeakers.com/celebritytalentbios/Argus-Hamilton|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 3, 2013}}</ref> Hamilton began his stand-up comedy career at The Comedy Store.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2012/11/19/boot-camp-for-tickling-funny-bone/| newspaper=Chicago Tribune| title=Boot camp for tickling funny bone|date=November 19, 2012| first=Dana| last=Feldman}}</ref> His specialty was comments on the news of the day.<ref name="latimes 4467"/>

Robin Williams called him "the Will Rogers of the Baby Boom".<ref name="okcrotary interview">{{cite web |url=https://okcrotary.club/humorist-argus-hamilton-interviewed-by-dr-bob-blackburn/ |title=Humorist Argus Hamilton – Interviewed by Dr. Bob Blackburn |website=Rotary Club of Oklahoma City |accessdate=April 20, 2022}}</ref><ref name="latimes 4467">{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-03-21-ca-4467-story.html |title=Comedian turns news to laughs |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=March 21, 1987 |first=Thomas K. |last=Arnold |accessdate=April 20, 2022}}</ref>

== Biography == The son of Dr. Argus James Hamilton, whose Hamilton ancestors arrived in South Carolina after losing the English Civil Wars,<ref name=BEE>[https://eu.examiner-enterprise.com/story/opinion/columns/2015/01/11/dr-argus-james-hamilton-jr/27369798007/ Dr. Argus James Hamilton Jr.: A tribute], Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, 2015, accessed May 7, 2026</ref> Hamilton is the son, grandson, and great-grandson of Methodist ministers,<ref name="okcrotary interview"/><ref name="latimes 4467"/> He has called his father “a wonderful man, a terrible golfer and a spellbinding preacher” and quotes him as saying “The church has seen a lot of changes over the last four hundred years, and the Hamiltons have been against every one of them.”<ref name=BEE/> Hamilton studied at the University of Oklahoma<ref name="buzzfeed djpeisner">{{cite web |url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/djpeisner/the-mostly-true-adventures-of-standup-comedys-legendary-frat |title=The Mostly True Adventures Of Standup Comedy's Legendary Frat House |website=BuzzFeed |date=October 21, 2015 |first=David |last=Peisner |accessdate=April 20, 2022}}</ref> and started his career as a stand-up comedian in 1976.<ref name="latimes 4467"/>

In the summer of 1979, Hamilton was the first comedian to move into the iconic Cresthill house in Beverly Hills (the house where many comedians from the Comedy Store would crash), and lived there until 1982, when he went into rehab and Thomas F. Wilson took his room in Cresthill.<ref name="buzzfeed djpeisner"/> During the 1980s, he struggled with addictions to drugs and alcohol.<ref name="buzzfeed djpeisner"/>

Hamilton has made a number of appearances on ''The Tonight Show''<ref>{{cite web| title=Carson, even in retirement, casts long shadow| website=CNN| date=May 22, 2002| url=http://articles.cnn.com/2002-05-22/entertainment/johnny.carson_1_miss-vicki-mighty-carson-art-players-tonight-show/2?_s=PM:SHOWBIZ| archive-url=https://archive.today/20130119160656/http://articles.cnn.com/2002-05-22/entertainment/johnny.carson_1_miss-vicki-mighty-carson-art-players-tonight-show/2?_s=PM:SHOWBIZ| url-status=dead| archive-date=January 19, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| newspaper=Los Angeles Times| title=Would-be Comics Try To Beat Down Door To Fame| date=October 3, 1987| first=Thomas K.| last=Arnold| url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-10-03-ca-2820-story.html}}</ref> (some 15<ref name="latimes 4467"/> or 20 appearances<ref name="buzzfeed djpeisner"/>) and has written for television series such as ''The Richard Pryor Show'' and ''Laugh-In''. Hamilton is also a syndicated comedy columnist.<ref>{{cite news| title=The News in Zingers| newspaper=Jewish World Review| first=Argus| last=Hamilton| url=http://www.jewishworldreview.com/1212/hamilton_archives.asp}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| date=July 29, 2003| title=Comedian Hamilton Added To Daily Reporter Line Up| newspaper=The Daily Reporter| location=Spencer, Iowa| page=2| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1907&dat=20030729&id=vP9GAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3f0MAAAAIBAJ&pg=1751,1592882}}</ref> He is the host of The Comedy Store Tonight starring Argus Hamilton, a talk show introducing young comics from the Comedy Store.{{citation needed|date=June 2018}}

== References == {{reflist}}

==External links== *{{official website|http://www.argushamilton.com/argus.htm}} *{{IMDb name|1009100}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Argus}} Category:Living people Category:American male comedians Category:American stand-up comedians Category:American male non-fiction writers Category:American comedy writers Category:American columnists Category:American television personalities Category:American television writers Category:American male television writers Category:American male screenwriters Category:Comedians from Oklahoma Category:People from Le Flore County, Oklahoma Category:Screenwriters from Oklahoma Category:Year of birth missing (living people)