Mark Russell (born August 23, 1932) is an American political satirist and comedian. He is best known for his series of semimonthly comedy specials on PBS television between 1975 and 2004. His routines were a mix of political stand-up humor covering current events and musical parodies in which he accompanied himself on his trademark American flag-themed piano.

Early life

Mark Russell was born Joseph Marcus Ruslander and grew up in Buffalo, New York, where he graduated from Canisius High School. After high school, his family briefly moved to Florida, then to Washington, D.C., where he enrolled at George Washington University, but stayed for only a month before joining the Marines.

Career

Beginning in the early 1960s, he was a regular entertainer at the Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. and did his first PBS show in 1975. From 1979 to 1984, he was a correspondent on the NBC reality TV show…Read more on Wikipedia