Deadpan vaudeville days, Buster Keaton developed his deadpan expression. Keaton realized that audiences responded better to his stony expression than when he smiled, and he carried this style into his silent film career. The 1980 film "Airplane!" was performed almost entirely in deadpan. Many popular American sitcoms use deadpan expressions to deliver dry humor, including "Curb Your Enthusiasm", "Arrested Development", and "My Name Is Earl". More recent examples are Andre Braugher as Captain Raymond Holt from the TV show "Brooklyn Nine-Nine", Jennette McCurdy as Sam Puckett in "iCarly", and Louis C.K. in "Louie". Another example is the comedy of Steven Wright.
Paul Smith (American actor, born 1929) such film with Smith decided to market it through the replacement of Smith's name with "Bob Spencer", Smith sued in 1980, successfully arguing that "the only thing an actor has is his name and if that's taken away, he has nothing". Paul Smith (American actor, born 1929) Paul Smith (born February 5, 1929) is an American comic character actor with a perpetually perplexed or, alternatively, bemused expression, who, during the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s, appeared in scores of television episodes, primarily sitcoms, including regular roles in five series, and was also seen in numerous theatrical features, television films