As one of the most talked-about figures, Sam Kinison has built a significant fortune. In this article, we dive deep into the assets and career highlights.
What was Sam Kinison's net worth?
Sam Kinison was an American Grammy-winning stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer who had a net worth of $800 thousand at the time of his death in 1992. Kinison was known for his politically incorrect humor and was once a Pentecostal preacher. Sam released the comedy albums "Louder Than Hell" (1986), "Have You Seen Me Lately?" (1988), "Leader of the Banned" (1990), and "Live from Hell" (1993), and he wrote and starred in the comedy specials "Sam Kinison: Breaking the Rules" (1987), "Sam Kinison Banned" (1980), "Sam Kinison: Live in Vegas" (1991), and "The Sam Kinison Family Entertainment Hour" (1991). He also produced "Sam Kinison Banned."
Kinison appeared in the films "Savage Dawn" (1985) and "Back to School" (1986), the television series "Married… with Children" (1989), "Tales from the Crypt" (1990), and "Charlie Hoover" (1991), and the music videos "Bon Jovi: Bad Medicine" (1988) and "Mötley Crüe: Kickstart My Heart" (1989). He was also credited as a writer on "Charlie Hoover." Sadly, Sam was killed in a car accident in April 1992 at the age of 38.
Early Life
Sam Kinison was born Samuel Burl Kinison on December 8, 1953, in Yakima, Washington. He was the son of Samuel and Marie Kinison, and he had three brothers, Richard, Bill, and Kevin. Sam's father was a Pentecostal preacher. When Kinison was 3 months old, his family relocated to East Peoria, Illinois, and he suffered brain damage after he was hit by a truck at the age of 3. Kinison's father served as a pastor at different churches around the U.S. for little pay. When Sam was 11, his parents divorced, and he was angry that Bill went to live with their father. Bill told "GQ" in 2012, "To him, we abandoned him. Even though I lived, you know, five miles away and basically saw him every day, and eventually moved back after a couple of years. So Sam got kinda angry." Kinison attended East Peoria Community High School, and he studied at the Pinecrest Bible Training Center in New York in the late '60s. After his mother remarried and moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, Sam decided to move there too. From the ages of 17 to 24, Kinison was a preacher using a "fire and brimstone" approach in his sermons, but according to Bill, "Ironically he had no stage presence. He never had one year that he made more than $5,000 being a minister." After Sam got divorced in 1980, he gave up preaching and turned to comedy. He stated, "I got divorced, which was not a good thing for a revivalist minister. It did not go down well." Kinison added, "I'd already been banned from a couple churches for my jokes. So one day I woke up and decided it was time to start living for myself."
(Photo by Vinnie Zuffante/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Career
Sam began his comedy career performing at small clubs in Houston, Texas. He was a member of the Texas Outlaw Comics at the Comedy Workshop, which includedBill Hicks, Steve Epstein, Jimmy Pineapple, and Ron Shock. Hicks credited Kinison with influencing his comedic style, stating, "He was the first guy I ever saw to go on stage and not in any way ask the audience to like him." Sam moved to Los Angeles in 1980 and took a job as a doorman at The Comedy Store before he was allowed to perform there. Sam's brother Bill later joined him in L.A. and began managing his career. In 1985, Kinison got his big break when he appeared on "Rodney Dangerfield'sNinth Annual Young Comedians Special," which aired on HBO. He later appeared in Dangerfield's 1986 film "Back to School." From 1985 to 1986, Sam appeared on "Saturday Night Live" several times, and he made his "Late Night withDavid Letterman" debut in 1985. Letterman's first introduction of Kinison went like this: "Brace yourselves. I'm not kidding. Please welcome Sam Kinison." Sam released his first comedy album, "Louder Than Hell," in 1986, and it was followed by the 1987 special "Breaking the Rules." In 1988, he released a music video of a cover of the Troggs hit "Wild Thing," and it earned him his first Grammy nomination. Kinison's final album, the Grammy-winning "Live from Hell," was released a year after his death. In 1999, the documentary "Sam Kinison: Why Did We Laugh?" was released, and it won awards at the Columbus International Film & Video Festival and New York International Independent Film & Video Festival. In 1994, Bill Kinison published the book "Brother Sam: The Short Spectacular Life of Sam Kinison," which is described as "the first full-scale, no-holds-barred portrait of the outrageous rock & roll comic."
Ultimately, Sam Kinison's financial journey is a testament to their success.
Disclaimer: All net worth figures are estimates based on public data.
