Mark Russell, a political satirist known for his stand-up routines and song parodies, died Thursday at the age of 90.
He was known for taking shots at politicians across the political spectrum and for routines which he sang and performed on piano. He had his own PBS specials that ran from 1975 to 2004.
Each new administration and scandal presented him with a potential gold mine. "I look at the paper. I like to have a newspaper," Russell said in 2006. "Then I start reading and reading and reading. And when I see something that makes me gag, I know we're off to the races."
Russell was born on Aug. 23, 1932, in Buffalo, N.Y. He went to George Washington University but left to enroll in the Marines.
Some of Russell's favorite targets were Ronald Reagan and the Clintons."For six years, a lot of us kept saying, 'Mr. President, you're out of touch,'" Russell said jokingly in 1988 about Reagan and the Iran-Contra scandal. "He said, 'No, I'm in charge.' Now we say, 'Ah ha, you were in charge.' He says, 'No, I was out of touch.'"
In 1996, while Bill Clinton was running for re-election, he transformed "The Great Pretender" into "The Great Campaigner" and gave a nod to Hillary Clinton with "Everything's Coming up Rodham," sung to the tune of "Everything's Coming up Roses."
"Mark Russell was a D.C. institution who did the hardest thing a comic can do ... relentlessly and righteously mock his neighbors," Jon Stewart said in a statement, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
