Sheldon "Shelley" Berman (born February 3, 1926) is an American comedian, writer, teacher, and actor.

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Berman's early years were filled with dreams of the stage. After numerous failed serious plays, Berman found himself with The Compass Players, an improv comedy troupe, where he found his first success. This troupe would later become The Second City.

He left the group in 1957 and created his own comedy style. Contrasting with the frenetic, ad libbed style popular at the time, Berman's act was perfectly timed and poignant, while remaining improvised. This would be expected, given his theater background.

His preferred mode of delivery was seated on a high stool at center stage, as opposed to his contemporaries, who tended to stalk the stage or prop themselves up on a piano or microphone stand. His honest, biting, satiric comedy style soon found its niche.

His 1959 debut album, Inside Shelley Berman, won the first non-music Grammy Award ever, and the cover of that album cemented his image as a skinny guy sitting on a high chair, cigarette in one hand and a microphone in the other. He was the first standup comedian to appear in Carnegie Hall, and went on to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show over 20 times, The Jack Paar Show, and numerous other variety and TV specials throughout the 1960s.

Berman's Broadway theatre credits include The Girls Against the Boys and A Family Affair.

In 1963, Berman allowed NBC cameras to film him for months for a documentary. During this time, Berman, known as meticulous performer, handled it like a pro when during his act a phone rang backstage. He did, however, chide his road manager that the backstage phones should be off the hook while he was performing.

A few nights later, the backstage phone rang again at the emotional finale of a piece about his father. Again he dealt with it like a trouper, but upon getting backstage he lost his temper and the camera caught his outburst. The documentary Comedian Backstage was edited to play up the outburst. The documentary had been screened by Berman and his people and there was no disapproval of the content on their part.

When it aired in March 1963, however, the public reaction to the distorted picture the documentary drew put his career into a tailspin. For decades he had trouble getting work and when he did the pay was nothing like what he had previously achieved. In 1975, news of his son's brain tumor (which caused the boy's death within 18 months) put a further strain on Berman's personal and professional life.

By 1989, he had returned to comedy by taking small roles. In 1995, Berman released a new live comedy album called Live Again! At the Improv. Since then, he has been part of numerous projects, including Curb Your Enthusiasm, Boston Legal, Friends, Arli$$, King of Queens, The Bernie Mac Show and Meet the Fockers.

Since 1982, Berman has been teaching in the Master of Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California, in the subject of Writing Humor, Literary and Dramatic. He has written three books, and continues to write and act. In 2006, he hosted the annual Chabad Telethon broadcast in several cities.

Shelley's show business story begins in 1943, when he was honorably discharged from the Navy. He then enrolled as a drama student at Chicago's Goodman Theatre, where he met Sarah Herman, another aspiring thespian. They fell in love, and were married in 1947. After graduating from the Goodman Theatre, Shelley joined the Woodstock Players, a stock theater company in Woodstock, Illinois. It was here that Shelley had the opportunity to really develop and polish his acting skills, with the support and encouragement of fellow players Geraldine Page, Betsy Palmer, and Tom Bosley. Leaving Woodstock in 1949, Shelley and Sarah made their way across the country, with Shelley in search of acting work. When those jobs were scarce, Shelley worked as a social director, a cab driver, a speech teacher, an assistant manager at a drug store, and an instructor at Arthur Murray Dance Studios. While in New York, Shelley found work as a sketch writer for the Steve Allen Tonight Show, and was doing well, when he received an invitation to join an improvisational troupe known as The Compass Players, which took him back home to Chicago. With Compass (which later evolved into Second City), Shelley worked with soon-to-be famous performers Mike Nichols, Elaine May, Severn Darden, and Barbara Harris, among others. While performing improvised sketches with the Compass Players, Shelley began developing solo pieces, employing an imaginary telephone to take the place of an onstage partner. While watching Mort Sahl perform at Mr. Kelly's in Chicago in 1957, Shelley realized he didn't necessarily have to tell traditional jokes as other comedians of the day did in order to work in nightclubs, and went on to audition at the club performing his one-man monologues and telephone routines, with great success. Those first dates at Mr. Kelly's led to other nightclub engagements around the country, appearances on national television, and a recording contract with Verve Records. INSIDE SHELLEY BERMAN, released in early 1959, became the first comedy album to achieve gold status, and the first to win a Grammy for best non-musical recording. Shelley would eventually record a total of six albums for Verve, including OUTSIDE SHELLEY BERMAN and THE EDGE OF SHELLEY BERMAN, both of which also went gold. Shelley would go on to appear on numerous TV specials, and all of the major variety shows, including Ed Sullivan (a total of 21 appearances), Steve Allen, Jack Paar, Dinah Shore, Perry Como, Andy Williams, and Dean Martin. Shelley's great success as a comedian enabled him to continue with his first love - acting. He starred on Broadway in A FAMILY AFFAIR and would continue to do stage work in productions of THE ODD COUPLE; DAMN YANKEES; WHERE'S CHARLEY?; FIDDLER ON THE ROOF; TWO BY TWO; I'M NOT RAPPAPORT; LA CAGE AUX FOLLES; THE PRISONER OF SECOND AVENUE and GUYS AND DOLLS, among many others. Comedic and dramatic acting roles on television began to come his way, including memorable appearances on episodes of PETER GUNN; THE TWILIGHT ZONE; RAWHIDE; BEWITCHED; THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.; THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW; ADAM-12; EMERGENCY; CHiPS; ST. ELSEWHERE; NIGHT COURT; MacGYVER and L.A. LAW. More recently, Shelley has graced the small screen on FRIENDS; ARLI$$; LIZZIE McGUIRE; PROVIDENCE; WALKER, TEXAS RANGER; THE KING OF QUEENS; DEAD LIKE ME; THE BERNIE MAC SHOW; GREY'S ANATOMY and BOSTON LEGAL. Since 2002, Shelley has appeared as Nat David (Larry David's father) in HBO's CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM. This show, largely improvised by cast members, has allowed Shelley the freedom to flex his improv muscles, brought him critical acclaim and introduced him to a new generation of TV viewers. Among Shelley's film roles: THE BEST MAN (with Henry Fonda); DIVORCE, AMERICAN STYLE (with Dick Van Dyke and Debbie Reynolds); EVERY HOME SHOULD HAVE ONE (with Marty Feldman); 80's cult favorite TEEN WITCH; THE LAST PRODUCER (with Burt Reynolds); MEET THE FOCKERS (with Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller); THE ARISTOCRATS and THE HOLIDAY (with Cameron Diaz and Jack Black). Shelley continues to do film and television work, as well as headline in Las Vegas several times a year. He has authored three books, two plays, several TV pilot scripts, and numerous poems. For over twenty years, Shelley has been teaching humor writing at USC in the Master of Professional Writing program. Shelley spends his (precious little) free time volunteering for various charitable organizations, and indulging in his favorite hobby, knife collecting.