The King of Comedy (film) The King of Comedy (film) The King of Comedy is a 1982 American satirical black comedy film directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro, Jerry Lewis, and Sandra Bernhard. Written by Paul D. Zimmerman, the film focuses on themes including celebrity worship and American media culture. 20th Century Fox released the film on February 18, 1983, in the United States, though the film was released two months earlier in Iceland. Production began in New York on June 1, 1981, to avoid clashing with a forthcoming writers' strike, and opened the Cannes Film Festival in 1983. Rupert Pupkin (Robert
Robert De Niro Brian De Palma's 1963 film "The Wedding Party", but the film was not released until 1969. He then appeared in Roger Corman's film "Bloody Mama" (1970). He gained popular attention with his role as a dying Major League Baseball player in "Bang the Drum Slowly" (1973) and began his collaboration with Martin Scorsese when he played the small-time criminal Johnny Boy in "Mean Streets" (1973). De Niro had a pivotal role in the Francis Ford Coppola film "The Godfather Part II" (1974), playing the young Vito Corleone. Coppola had remembered his previous auditions for the roles of Sonny Corleone, Michael