Mitzi Shore, whose club was a comedy mecca, dies at 87

LOS ANGELES Mitzi Shore, owner of the Los Angeles club the Comedy Store and one of the most influential figures in standup for more than four decades, has died. She was 87.

Spokeswoman Jodi Gottlieb released a statement from the club announcing Shore’s death, calling her the “legendary godmother of the world famous Comedy Store” and “an extraordinary businesswoman and decades ahead of her time who cultivated and celebrated the artistry of stand-up comedy.”

“Mom/Mitzi passed early in the morning at 4:42 a.m.,” her son, the comedian and actor Pauly Shore, tweeted Wednesday, “my heart lays heavy.”

No cause was given, but Pauly Shore had been tweeting in recent days that she had been in hospice, and legal documents filed by her family said she had Parkinson’s disease and other neurological problems.

Starting in 1974, Mitzi Shore gave comics gigs, advice, guidance, a clubhouse to hang out and talk shop in and occasionally a stairwell to sleep in.

Born Mitzi Saidel in Marinette, Wis., she took over ownership of the two-yearold club on Hollywood’s Sunset Strip after divorcing its co-founder, comedian Sammy Shore, in 1974.

She arrived at a moment when a huge stand-up boom was erupting, and became a queen over the scene, with arguably more power than anyone to make or break the career of an up-and-coming comedian.

Virtually every major comic from Richard Pryor to Robin Williams to Jerry Seinfeld used the club as a stepping-stone and returned to hone their acts after gaining fame.

In addition to Pauly, she is survived by sons Scott and Peter and daughter Sandy.