By Bill Forry
Managing Editor

Norm Crosby has packed a lot into his 79 years. His sardonic brand of stand-up comedy made him a regular on the Ed Sullivan and Johnny Carson shows. For two decades, Crosby was a Las Vegas fixture, performing seven days a week alongside Robert Goulet and Dean Martin. And, who could forget his late 70s cameos on The Love Boat.

Okay, so maybe his sitcom stint wasn't what earned him his star on Hollywood's Walk of fame (which happens to be on the same block as that of fellow OFD thespian Leonard Nimoy). Crosby, who will be honored with a lifetime achievement award at the Boston Comedy Festival, says he's always just been happy to be asked.

A native of Corbett Street, just off of Morton Street going towards Codman Square, Crosby says he hasn't spent much time in Boston since his comedy career took off in the early 1960s. But the Dorchester High graduate, now a transplanted Los Angelino, still has his memories- and a brother, Buddy, who lives in Jamaica Plain.

"I remember it wonderfully well. It was a totally mixed ethnic neighborhood. If a kid became a priest, everybody went to the Mass. If a Jewish kid was getting Bar Mitzvahed, everyone went to that too. I don't think we even locked the front door. That's the kind of growing up that left a marvelous impression on me," Crosby says.

While attending the Thompson middle school as an adolescent, Crosby was a drum major and recalls leading the band past his house to give his mother a thrill.

His first real steps into show business came much later, he says, while he was working as a commercial artist for a "big shoe company" in Boston.

"I started working on the weekends at local places around Lowell, Worcester and Lawrence. Then I had to make a choice: I chose to do the comedy."

His first big-time gig came when a Boston connection arranged for him to perform for a week at New York's Latin Quarter.

"It turned into an 18-week run. By the end of it, I had an agent, the William Morris Agency signed me to a contract, and I had a career. It snowballed from there."

Soon, Crosby was playing to a national audience on the Ed Sullivan Show. For three years, he teamed up with crooner Robert Goulet on club dates that took him all over the States.

"He really taught me a lot and allowed me to grow. After that, I worked with all the major singers: Tony Orlando, Dionne Warwick Tony Bennett. I started to do a lot of TV, too: Dean Martin's show, Ed Sullivan, Johnny Carson- we became good friends. And, Dinah Shore. I became a co-host on all those shows."

These days, when he's not co-hosting Jerry Lewis' telethon, as he just did again last weekend, you're likely to catch Crosby on board a Royal Caribbean or Carnival cruise ship. He and his wife of 40 years, Joanie Crosby, are frequent passengers.

"It's unbelievable. They put us up for a week- first class treatment- and I work for one night. Not bad!"

"I'm still out here. And somehow, I'm still keeping busy. I've been in this business so long. But, for some reason, I work on: TV, movies, cruises."

Still, Crosby misses the golden age of television.

"I miss the variety shows and I don't understand why with all of the channels we have today, there's no more variety show. Nothing like Ed Sullivan or Merv Griffin. Everything now is a sitcom or reality show. I think it's not right. There should be a place for young talent to develop."

So, who is Crosby's favorite stand-up comedian these days?

"George Carlin. He's brilliant. Steven Wright is a brilliant mind, too. Seinfeld, he's very clever.

"New young comics turn me off. Too much dirty words. Richard Pryor was clever. He didn't just spout profanity- there was real thinking behind it."

Crosby says he is sometimes asked to host comedy shows- and is always on the lookout for new talent coming up behind him. He's likely to see plenty of that next Friday night, when he will be honored during the finals of the Boston Comedy Festival's competition.

"I am looking forward to coming back to Boston. I live in LA, if you're successful and doing well everyone wants you around. We've been so fortunate out here. Boston didn't care if you were up or down."

"This (award) is particularly important to me, because it's from Boston. It's from my neighborhood."

Norm Crosby will be honored on Friday, Sept. 18 during the final night of Boston Comedy Festival at Emerson's Cutler Majestic theatre.

Crosby will be on hand as eight vie for $10,000 in prize money. For more information or a complete schedule, of Boston Comedy Festival events, call 617-782-8100 or go to bostoncomedyfestival.com.