Nipsey Russell

Julius "Nipsey" Russell (15 September 1918 – 2 October 2005) was an American comedian, poet, and dancer.

He was a panelist in four incarnations of Match Game
 * The Match Game
 * Match Game (1973)
 * Match Game PM
 * Match Game Hollywood Squares Hour

Biography
Nipsey Russell was born in Atlanta, Georgia. He got his start in Rock and Roll Review and other music revues in the 1950s. In the 1960s Russell achieved his first major role as Officer Anderson in Car 54, Where Are You?. After being on the show for a year, Russell was a mainstay in variety shows, appearing in Laugh-In, The Dean Martin Show, and The Jackie Gleason Show, among many others. As the 1970s approached, Nipsey Russell became a popular game show panelist, appearing in To Tell the Truth and many others. Nipsey was known as television's poet laureate in such shows as The Tonight Show and many other popular talk shows of the day.

Nipsey's film roles were remarkably scarce, but he will always be remembered for his role of the Tin Man in The Wiz, the 1978 remake of The Wizard of Oz. The movie was a box office failure, but since that time the movie has been considered a cult classic.