Photo Coverage: Friars Club Pays Tribute to Barry Dougherty
By: Stephen Sorokoff Jun. 29, 2017
Longtime communications director of the Friars Club was given a heartfelt Bon Voyage in the Milton Berle Room yesterday and many show business notables were present and in video to honor the man who has written most of the published words and history of The Friars for the last 25 years. Barry Dougherty's words...
"Sadly, I have to say goodbye to the Friars Club. Due to life's ever changing dynamic, my tenure in this wonderful, funny, wacky, irreverent and lovely place I've called home for 25 years is coming to an end. To say that I've enjoyed this crazy joint is an understatement. Where else would John Travolta have called me at home? Or Joan Rivers tearfully tell me about Edgar's passing-and then shift gears and have me in stitches. Or take a call from Johnny Carson to explain why he didn't want to be in one of my books. Or write books at all! Richard Pryor wrote the foreword for one of them for Pete's sake! Or cement a friendship with my number one crush Mary Tyler Moore. Or enjoy a special bond with Phyllis Diller that included our hosting a tour of the Friars on PBS together and her sending me one of her paintings for my new house. Or throwing me into the role of an extra on "Law & Order" and "All My Children" for a story in the Club's magazine, the "Epistle," which I wrote and edited with all the dedication of Jimmy Breslin but hopefully just a smidge of the wit of Dave Barry. Or just hanging with comedy legends Milton Berle, Henny Youngman, George Burns, Norm Crosby, Jack Carter, Freddie Roman, Dick Capri, RoBert Klein, Stewie Stone, Richard Lewis, Jerry Stiller, Bob Newhart, Don Rickles, Chuck Barris, Pat Cooper and countless others. It was my playground to toss political correctness aside and write jokes for Roasts and Toasts for these comedy geniuses. I could go on and on...but bottom line, I'll miss this very special place where I carved a unique niche that will never be surpassed. The people who touched my life, the friendships I made and the stories I have will last a lifetime and are all part of a wonderful journey that I'm so sorry to see end. But even Dorothy had to say goodbye to the lovable crazies she encountered-so I'm moving on to try a new fork in that silly yellow road. Wish me luck!"
Photo Credit: Stephen Sorokoff
Barry Dougherty, Director Communications Friars Club
Freddie Roman, Dean Emeritus
Larry King, Dean
Jean-Pierre Trebot, Executive Director Emeritus, Bob Spiotto,director special events, Freddie Roman
Jean-Pierre Trebot, Executive Director Emeritus
Michael Caputo, General Manager
Michael Gyure, Executive Director
Bob Greenberg
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