He served in the US Navy in Korea, and became a Golden Gloves boxing champion, before returning to Waterbury to set up a salon and nightclub.
He became involved in local radio in Waterbury, and then in Hartford, Bridgeport and Providence, before joining station WILD in Boston, Massachusetts, in about 1958.
Besides his radio appearances, he started performing in local clubs alongside comedians such as Flip Wilson, Redd Foxx, and Pigmeat Markham, who encouraged his move into full-time work as an entertainer.
He also established a reputation as a promoter and master of ceremonies, bringing to Miami top entertainers such as James Brown, Jerry Butler, and Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes.
The only film in which he had a starring role was the controversially-titled The Six Thousand Dollar Nigger, also known as Super Soul Brother, directed by Rene Martinez, Jr., in 1978,[3][4] in which he played a homeless drunk injected by a mad scientist with a serum that gives him enhanced powers.