Born Charles Elmer Taylor Jr. on the 13th January 1935, in Washington D.C. USA, Rip is an actor, known to the world for his flamboyant personality, which he has managed to showcase in his acting endeavors portraying such characters as Sheldon the Sea Genie in the TV series “Sigmund and the Sea Monsters” (1973), Mr. Langford in the film “Indecent Proposal” (1993), and also for his own live theater act “It Ain’t All Confetti” (2010). His career started in the early ‘60s.
Have you ever wondered how rich Rip Taylor is, as of early 2017? According to authoritative sources, it has been estimated that Taylor’s net worth is as high as $3 million, an amount earned through his successful career in the entertainment industry.
Rip Taylor Net Worth $3 Million
Rip is the son of Charles Elmer Taylor, Sr. and his wife Elizabeth. Coming from an artistic family, as his father was a musician, soon enough he turned towards performing arts. Later in life, Taylor spoke of his childhood, depicting all the troubles he went through, including molestation while in foster care, and being bullied in school. Before he started a career in the entertainment industry, Rip worked as a Congressional page, and served in the Korean War as a part of the US Army Signal Corps. While with the Corps, Rip started his career as a comedian, performing in clubs abroad, though he didn’t have his own material yet, as he copied acts, parts and jokes from other comedians. Nevertheless, he managed to gain attention by pretending to cry as he begged the audience to laugh; well, this started his net worth!
His growing popularity brought him a short stint on “The Ed Sullivan Show”, and on “Jackie Gleason: American Scene Magazine” in the early ‘60s. From there he moved on to acting, landing a minor role in the film “I’d Rather Be Rich” in 1964. He continued with both acting and comedy, making appearances in such shows as “The Merv Griffin Show” (1965-1968), “The Joey Bishop Show” (1967-1969), and “The David Frost Show” (1969-1972), which only brought him a step further towards success. When it comes to his acting engagements in the ’60s, he made an appearance in the popular TV series “The Monkees” (1968), and lent his voice to Grump in the animated TV series “Here Comes the Grump” (1969-1971). Little by little, Taylor was becoming more popular and wealth, which led to his appearing in several game shows during the ‘70s, such as “Match Game 73” (1974), “The Hollywood Squares” (1976), and also his acting career was improving, as he was cast in the role of Sheldon the Sea Genie in the TV series “Sigmund and the Sea Monsters” (1973), and portrayed Jack Merrill in the TV series “The Brady Bunch Variety Hour” (1977).
Rip continued with the same pace in the ‘80s, seeking engagements in variety shows and film and television productions, which led to his appearances in “The New Battlestars” (1982), “The New Hollywood Squares” (1986), and “Super Password” (1988), while he showed his acting skills in productions such as “The Gong Show Movie” (1980), “Things Are Tough All Over” (1982), and in the soap opera “Santa Barbara” (1989), among many others, all of which added to his net worth.
However, in the ‘90s, he became more focused on acting than on variety shows, and as a result he made several notable appearances, including as the voice of Uncle Fester in the animated TV series “The Addams Family” (1992-1993), then as himself in the comedy film “Wayne’s World 2” (1993), and as Mr. Laurel in the parody to “Silence of the Lambs” (1991), entitled “Silence of the Hams” (1994), among many other appearances, which only further increased his net worth.
Since the start of the new millennium, Rip has focused more on voice acting and as a result came several voice roles such as the one of Mr. McMcmc in the TV series “Whatever Happened to Robot Jones” (2002), than Mr. Wackypants in “What’s New, Scooby-Doo” (2002), and as The Royal Record Keeper in “The Emperor’s New School” (2006-2008). His last known screen appearance was as Norman in Jason Lockhart’s horror “Silent But Deadly” in 2012.
Apart from a career on screen, Rip has also had success in the theater; back in 1966 he toured with Judy Garland and Eleanor Powell through Las Vegas, and then in 1981 made his first Broadway appearance, when he appeared instead of Mickey Rooney in “Sugar Babies”, a burlesque-themed musical comedy. Most recently, in 2010 he started his own one-man show, entitled “It Ain’t All Confetti”, during which he speaks of his life and career.
During his live performances, he became known for his confetti showering, and got the nickname King of Camp and Confetti.
Regarding his personal life, Rip is often regarded as gay, however, he has denied that allegation, but still, he was grand marshal of Washington, D.C.’s Capital Pride parade in 2006.
Taylor married showgirl Rusty Rowe, but they later divorced; no further details are available about their marriage.
