Sympathy for Sinbad

The title of our post has to do less with the fact that it’s been a good quarter century since the peak of Sinbad (David Adkins, b. 1956) than that the comedian suffered a stroke in 2020 from which he is still recovering. We’ve had occasion to mention him here from time to time, and he has played a role in the history of variety television, so we give him a shout-out.

Originally from Michigan, Sinbad attended the University of Denver and served in the Air Force prior to jumping into stand-up. He famously beat out Dennis Miller on Star Search in 1984, paving the way for his future success. Is Sinbad hilarious? I’ve never thought so, but he’s extremely likeable and he was very much in tune with his times. As early as 1986 he was cast as a regular on The Redd Foxx Show. That post Sanford and Son excursion was short-lived but the following year he guest starred on Cosby, which led to a regular role on its spin-off A Different World (1987-1991).

From 1989 to 1991 Sinbad hosted It’s Showtime at the Apollo, which is where I principally knew him from (A Different World was very much not for me). In 1990 he taped the first of his several HBO stand-up comedy specials Brain Damaged. The following year he was given his first proper movie role in the all-star sports comedy Necessary Roughness.This was followed by his Fox sit-com The Sinbad Show, which lasted from 1993 to 1994.

Supporting parts in the movies Coneheads (1993) and Robert Townsend’s The Meteor Man (1994) led to a few starring and co-starring roles in Houseguest (1995) with Phil Hartman, First Kid (1996) with child star Brock Pierce of The Mighty Ducks, Jingle All the Way (1996) with Arnold Schwarzenegger, and The Cherokee Kid (1996). A supporting part in Good Burger (1997) was his last outing in a major mainstream films. In the years following, there was continued stand-up, television guest shots, cartoon voiceover work, and appearances in minor films.

One major question has to be raised with relation to this star. Why did Sinbad never play…Sinbad? He did all of those family films, it seems a logical stunt. Granted, he’s not the svelte, swashbuckling type, but, hey, ostensibly it would be a comedy. I’ve also always thought he would be great casting as the Genie in a production of Disney’sAladdin. Granted, he’s nothing like Robin Williams, but it’s absurd to think the characater of a genie in a thousand year old fantasy story would NEED to be. (Amusingly, though, there was an internet urban myth several years ago that Sinbad had starred in a movie called Shazaam, which many people were fooled into thinking they remembered, but it didn’t exist.) At any rate, I’m afraid he’s past those kind of roles now, although he does vow a return once he’s fully back on his feet. We wish him a speedy recovery!

For more about show business historyconsult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, And please stay tuned for my upcomingElectric Vaudeville: A Century of Radio and TV Variety.