‘The Second City’ founder Paul Sills dies at 80
CHICAGO – Paul Sills, founder of Chicago’s famed improvisational comedy group “The Second City,” has died at age 80. His wife, Carol Sills, told the Chicago Tribune that Sills died early Monday at his home in Baileys Harbor, Wis., from complications from pneumonia.
The comedy troupe says in a statement on its Web site that Sills’ influence on American theater “cannot be exaggerated” and “his work will certainly live on forever.”
Sills helped start Second City in 1959. The humor mecca has turned out some of America’s best-known comedians, including John Belushi, Bill Murray and Gilda Radner.
Sills’ play, “Story Theatre,” was nominated for a Tony Award in 1971.
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