There a saying that tells people that the quickest way to a woman’s heart is by making her laugh. If that were the case, then one of the most romantic Casanovas in the world is a man named “Bobcat”.

Of course, “Bobcat” isn’t really his name. This talented and versatile guy is actually named Robert Francis Goldthwait. However, he thought of his name as too common and unwieldy, and started to use the moniker “Bobcat” whenever he would perform on stage. This great comedian is best known for his black humor, energetic personality and very gruff talking voice, which is a stark contrast to his physical appearance: Just your regular average Joe, whom you think would have a regular voice.

Bobcat is known as a lot of things: actor, director, comedian and screenwriter. He was born in Syracuse, New York, to blue collar parents. His mother, Kathleen, was a department store employee, while his father, Tom, was a sheet metal worker. Bobcat used comedy to find the good sides of life, growing up in a conservative, Catholic middle classed family. It was during his first year that he met Tom Kenny, a future fellow comedian and who would someday voice the popular cartoon character, Spongebob Squarepants. They were soon known as a duo, Bobcat and Tomcat, and were a part of a comedy troupe called The Generic Comics.

Before 1980, Bobcat parted ways with The Generic Comics and began his career as a solo standup comedian. By the time 1980 rolled around, he had already produced two television comedy specials, one for HBO (Share the Warmth) and one for Cinemax (Don’t Watch this Show), and had made his mark on the world of stand up comedy.

Bobcat also appears in a host of comedy movies such as One Crazy Summer and Burglar. He also had a recurring role in the movie Police Academy, and its subsequent sequels. Not only is this talented man an actor, he also wrote, directed and starred in the movie Shakes the Clown. He even tried his hand in the music business, when he had a cameo appearance on two Twister Sister music videos, namely Be Chrool to your Scuel”, and “Leader of the Pack”. His work was also popular that during the 1993 fall tour by Nirvana, they asked Bobcat to do some stand up comedy as an opening act for their concert.

In 2005, Bobcat announced his formal retirement from the world of stand up comedy, and performed his final show in Las Vegas in September 2005. The tickets to his show were sold out two weeks before the show was supposed to be aired. Since then, Bobcat would give brief shows at long intervals, but never really returned to the world of professional comedy.

However, for all his contributions to the art of the funny, Bobcat has been honored by Comedy Central as the 61st most funny comedian of all time. He also won best comedy film during the 2009 Just for Laughs Film Festival for his work in the film Windy City Heat.