Morey Amsterdam was a veteran American television actor and comedian, renowned for his large, ready supply of jokes.

Born in Chicago, Illinois, USA, to a Jewish family, he began working in vaudeville in 1922 as the straight man for his brother's jokes. He was also a cellist, a skill which he used throughout his career. By 1924, he was working in a speakeasy operated by Al Capone. After being caught in a gunfight, Amsterdam moved to California and sought work writing jokes. His enormous repertoire and ability to come up with a joke on any subject earned him the nickname "The Human Joke Machine." He sometimes performed with an actual machine on his chest, hanging by a neck strap. When he turned a hand crank on the gadget and paper rolled out, he would then read the machine's joke -- although the paper was blank.