Posted on 02/12/2014 10:51:14 PM PST by nickcarraway
Sid Caesar, a comedic force of nature who became one of television’s first stars in the early 1950s and influenced generations of comedians and comedy writers, died on Wednesday at his home in Beverly Hills, Calif. He was 91.
His death was announced by Eddy Friedfeld, a family spokesman.
Mr. Caesar largely faded from the public eye in his middle years as he struggled with crippling self-doubt and addiction to alcohol and pills. But from 1950 to 1954, he and his co-stars on the live 90-minute comedy-variety extravaganza “Your Show of Shows” dominated the Saturday night viewing habits of millions of Americans. In New York, a group of Broadway theater owners tried to persuade NBC to switch the show to the middle of the week because, they said, it was ruining their Saturday business.
Albert Einstein was a Caesar fan. Alfred Hitchcock called Mr. Caesar the funniest performer since Charlie Chaplin.
Television comedy in its early days was dominated by boisterous veterans of vaudeville and radio who specialized in broad slapstick and snappy one-liners. Mr. Caesar introduced a different kind of humor to the small screen, at once more intimate and more absurd, based less on jokes or pratfalls than on characters and situations. It left an indelible mark on American comedy.
Mr. Caesar and Imogene Coca on “Your Show of Shows” in 1953. NBC-TV, via Associated Press “If you want to find the ur-texts of ‘The Producers’ and ‘Blazing Saddles,’ of ‘Sleeper’ and ‘Annie Hall,’ of ‘All in the Family’ and ‘M*A*S*H’ and ‘Saturday Night Live,’ “ Frank Rich wrote in The New York Times when he was its chief theater critic, “check out the old kinescopes of Sid Caesar.''
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I have nice memories of Sid and Imogene during his TV show, even though I was preteen then. My parents were obviously fans.
He was a television pioneer & a true legend.
Sid Caesar was hilarious in the old shtick style of slapstick, facial contortions, and just plain old fun. If I remember accurately, he had as both actors and writers Rose Marie, Howie Morris, Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks, (Woody Allen, he’s in the photo), and maybe Morrie Amsterdam (I might be confusing Rose Marie and Amsterdam from another show, not including Hollywood Squares etc).
Imogene Coca. One funny lady, the Joanne Worley of the 50’s, and the “Aunt” in National Lampoon’s “Vacation” to Wallyworld.
If you wrote a book entitled “When Comedy Was King” (different than the movie) it would included such royalty as the Sid Caesar Show, Milton Berle, Red Buttons, Red Skelton, Sam Levinson, Groucho Marx ( and the Marx Brothers), Buddy Hackett Show; Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin, George Gobbels, etc.
The humor was clean, sharp, and very funny. It was laughs for the whole family. It was, also, America. The great humorists got together to make the country laugh by being Americans, made from a melting pot of immigration and hard times, WW2, and TV.
My son, daughter and now granddaughter all laughed their young heads off at the Three Stooges, Abbot and Costello, and Laurel and Hardy (as repeats on TV). I’m sad that they never got to see those comedians I’ve listed above. Hopefully they will, in the future.
Meanwhile, a new crop of comedians came in and actually did homage to the old guys and gals by incorporating a lot of their style and acts into their 1980’s and 90’s shows, esp. “Seinfeld”.
I can also see a lot of that in Rodney Dangerfield, Jackie Mason, Flip Wilson (Uncle Milty’s cross-dressing, nu!), Red Foxx, Slappy White, Jay Leno, Johnny Carson, and the early works of Roseanne Barr, Rita Rudner, and Phyllis Diller (and Selma Diamond if you remember Mrs. Gravelly Voice who was one helluva comedian).
If you are old enough to remember Sam Levenson, the NY City teacher turned TV comedian, raconteur, and writer, you can see him reincarnated in Glenn Beck’s use of the blackboard and exhibits to teach America about what is going on in the world.
Norman Lear had it right when he created “Those Were The Days” but I’m not sure he knew it in the context of the “Sid Caesars” of the past, who made us laugh until we cried.
There is one helluva joke-telling session going on in Heaven right now. Oh to be a fly on the wall with a videocamera!
From a kid of the fifties, RIP Sid.
My high school friend is/was a fan. She posted this video on her FB page tonight:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNbT9Lf9xZo&;
I guess Lucille Ball didn’t make the cut.
I completely forgot about her. My wife liked her more than Idid. However, she and “Ethel Mertz” had some very funny scenes, esp. in the candy factory/assembly line, and the grape stomping/wine making scene.
I should have also included Carol Burnett as one of the funniest women comedians alive, or ever. With the Mel Brooks/Harvey Korman/Tim Considine/ Vicki Lawrence combination, you had some of the best comedy ever.
How about picking up my theme and naming some other comedians I left out. I can’t remember them all and I’m tired of brushing away 8 inches of snow to let my cats in. As Bill Paxton would say, “But it’s a dry snow”, thank God.
...it would included such royalty as the Sid Caesar Show, Milton Berle, Red Buttons, Red Skelton, Sam Levinson, Groucho Marx ( and the Marx Brothers), Buddy Hackett Show; Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin, George Gobbels, etc.
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Plus, Rowan and Martin’s “TWTWTW”, Ernie Kovacs, Lucille Ball, Jackie Gleason, Carol Burnett and Tim Conway. All were ‘visual’ comics that weren’t subtle.
Jonathan Winters, Phil Silvers
I became a fan of Ernie Kovacs. There was one hour-long show in which there was no speaking. Its opening scene was an overhead shot of a pair of tympani spotlighted on a darkened stage (like Lux Video Theater). The tympanist’s mallets poised high for a thunderous strike against the stark-white drum heads...instead of a sonorous boom, we heard a “plop” as we saw the mallets striking tympani filled with pancake batter.
Well said...very well said...Thanks and RIP Mr. Caesar.
Definitely. The Phil Silvers Show. Jonathan Winters (Ma Fricket) was a one man comedy wrecking crew. If you hadn’t cried your eyes out with laughter, or wet you pants, you hadn’t listen carefully enough.
He was the one comedian who always broke up Johnny Carson, often by just making a face. I also suspect that the was the idol of Robin Williams and was used to develop Williams’ comedy routines.
Thanks for listing them.
That brings us to the newer comedians, Williams, Billy Crystal, Ellen DeGeneres, Sam Kinnison (the wild man of comedy), Louie Anderson, John Candy (a comedic actor if there ever was one) and others.
Let’s not forget the record comedians/showmen - George Carlin (downright hilarious), Bob Newhart, Bill Cosby (from my old university, the class ahead of me), and later on, Jeff Foxworthy.
All quality people and quality performers. Worthy of being the successors to the greats of the 50’s and 60’s.
Ernie Kovacs and the Nairobi Trio. And remember his moustached character, a mousy little guy. or his professorial one?
He was a “master” of the art.
I’ll also add in Jackie Carson, Shecky Green, Alan King, and those who came up in the 60’s with them. Anyone remember big Sheldon Leonard (Ed Sullivan Show), or Myron Cohen?
Alan King joke: He was a member of a large family and for years he thought that he was Chinese, not Jewish. When asked why, he said that his father forgot the names of some of his children after the fifth one so when he wanted something, he would call one and say, “Hey You”, get me my paper.
I don’t recall any of those listed in this discussion as ever having used cuss words to make their work funny before public audiences. They let their intelligent humor speak for itself.
Look at what we have now.
Your Show of Shows is on DVD. We have them - they include the Imogene Coca episodes as well as Nanette Fabray (who is fabulous). It’s well worth buying if you can afford it. Some of the Abbott & Costello Shows are available as well. These are great too - and an obvious influence on Seinfeld.
As for the others you mentioned...they were all great. I recently saw Jack Carson play in a noir crime movie, and he was superb.
Bob and Ray
One of my favorite sketches from "Show of Shows". Brilliant.
Jonathan Winters is in a class by himself
“But it’s a dry snow”
LOL, now that is funny!
RIP Sid Cesar, one of the best and you will be missed.
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