Remember Flip Wilson? One of his famous catchphrases was, "What you see is what you get!" But here's the thing: what you saw on TV wasn’t always the full picture. Sure, we all loved him as the happy-go-lucky funnyman who lit up our screens in the '70s, but behind the scenes, Flip was dealing with some heavy stuff. He carried around a lot of emotional baggage that most of us never saw.
Childhood Shadows
Kevin Cook, the author of Flip: The Inside Story of TV’s First Black Superstar, shared some insights with Closer about the man behind the comedy. "Flip was always haunted by his childhood," Cook explained. Born into poverty in Jersey City, New Jersey, Flip had a rough start in life. At just 7 years old, his mom left him, and his dad placed him in foster care. Things spiraled from there, and Flip ended up in juvenile detention. Can you imagine the weight of that experience on a young kid? It’s no wonder he spent his life searching for a sense of belonging.
The Breakthrough
At 16, Flip took matters into his own hands. He lied about his age to join the Air Force, and that's where he discovered his true calling—entertaining his fellow troops. After honing his craft in nightclubs, Flip became a household name with The Flip Wilson Show from 1970 to 1974. He had a clear mission: "My main point is to be funny," he said. "If I can slip a message in there, fine." And boy, did he deliver.
Read also:Candice Bergen Mourns The Loss Of Beloved Husband Marshall Rose
A Quiet Revolution
Even though his comedy wasn’t overtly political, Flip was quietly revolutionary. He broke barriers in a way that many hadn’t seen before. "A show hosted by a black man had never been accepted," he said. "I may have been the first black person some white viewers ever invited into their homes through the TV screen." Can you imagine the impact of that in the '70s? It was groundbreaking, plain and simple.
Family First
By the '80s, Flip decided to step away from the spotlight to focus on his family. He had five kids, and he wanted to make sure they didn’t suffer the same struggles he faced growing up. "I accomplished what I set out to do—I wanted the whole cookie, and I got it," he said. "Now I want to spend more time with my children, make sure they don’t go through what I did." And he succeeded. His son, Kevin Wilson, remembers him fondly. "He was wonderful as a father," Kevin told Closer. "He really wanted to raise us as normally as possible. We weren’t spoiled like a lot of my friends were."
