Comedian Nipsey Russell dies of cancer.

Nipsey Russell, the first black comedian to regularly appear on U.S. network television game shows, has died of cancer two weeks before his 81st birthday, his manager said on Tuesday.

Dubbed "the poet laureate of TV" for the quick-witted poems he would recite, Russell died in a New York hospital on Sunday, Joseph Rapp said.

Russell got his start after World War Two as the master of ceremonies at the Baby Grand club in Harlem. He built a following and became known to the mainstream white show business world, Rapp said. . . . . . .Full Story