Del Close was born in Manhattan, Kansas, and attended Kansas State University. He spent his teenage years touring with a sideshow act before joining the St. Louis branch of "The Compass Players" in 1957. After moving to New York, he became a stand-up comic, appearing in the off-Broadway musical "The Nervous Set". In 1960, he came to Chicago, where he directed and performed at "The Second City" until being fired in 1965 due to substance abuse problems.
Close spent the next five years in San Francisco, where he worked with the "Merry Pranksters" and created light images for the Grateful Dead. He also helped organize "The Committee", a North Beach equivalent of "Second City", where he developed his ideas and techniques of long-form improvisation. Close returned to Chicago in 1970 and set up a free workshop at the Kingston Mines Company Store, where he taught students from all walks of life the basics of improv and theatre games.
Close developed "The Harold", a long-form improv technique that involved establishing themes, introducing characters, and playing off each other in comedic counterpoint. He hand-picked a dozen of his best students and moved operations to the Body Politic, naming the company "The Chicago Extension Improv Company". The best-known players to emerge from the troupe were "Broadway" Betty Thomas, Dan Ziskie, Brian Hickey, and Jonathan Abarbanel.
Before leaving Chicago again in 1972, Close and "The Chicago Extension" began exploring scenario improvs based on dreams. The techniques developed after Close left became Dream Theatre, which continued at the Body Politic for five years. Close returned to Chicago in 1973 as resident director at "The Second City", a position he kept until 1982. He taught and directed a long list of TV and film comedy greats, including John Belushi, Bill Murray, John Candy, and others.
Upon leaving the troupe, Close pursued legitimate acting opportunities with various theatres, including Wisdom Bridge, Remains, Goodman, and Steppenwolf. He won a Joseph Jefferson Award in 1985 for a radical "Hamlet" and did TV and film work, appearing in "The Untouchables" and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", among others. Close finally beat his long heroin addiction and continued to work on further development of "The Harold" and team improv.
Close died on March 4, 1999, at the age of 64, due to complications from emphysema. He left no survivors, but his legacy as one of the three titans of improvisational theatre, along with Viola Spolin and Paul Sills, continues to grow. His work on long-form improv, scenario improvs, and team improv has had a lasting impact on the field, and his students and acolytes continue to inherit the world of comedy.
