Prayer Request R.I.P Sid Caesar

Mr. Laz · 02-12-2014, 02:31 PM

.Sid Caesar, a King of Comedy, Dies at 91
By STEPHEN M. SILVERMAN
02/12/2014 at 03:15 PM EST

Sid Caesar, the deft side-splitter who helped establish the new medium of television as he also established himself as a comedy legend, has died. He was 91.

Larry King announced the news on Twitter, according to Variety. No further details were immediately available.

With a deceptively simple philosophy of humor – "I don't take myself too seriously," he told PEOPLE in 1989. "I just laugh at myself a lot and call myself a dummy" – Isaac Sidney Caesar had been eliciting laughs since the Great Depression, when he mimicked the accents of customers who came into his Russian-Jewish parents' luncheonette in his native Yonkers, N.Y.

Trained as a teenage saxophonist in the Catskill Mountains' "Borscht Belt" (so named because the beet soup was a favorite among immigrant and first-generation American resort patrons), Caesar also honed his comic craft as a Catskills tummler, a sort of on-premises master emcee who kept the hard-to-please guests entertained throughout the day.

It was also in the Catskills that he met Florence Levy, whose uncle owned the hotel where Caesar worked, the Avon Lodge. They both said it was love at sight.

"I was in my last year at Hunter College; we were still dating when Sid went into the service, the Coast Guard," Florence Caesar told the couple's local paper, the Toluca Times, in Toluca Lake, Calif., in 2009.

"Luckily he was stationed in New York so we were able to continue seeing each other, even though my parents weren't too happy about it," she said. "They never thought he would amount to anything, that he'd never have a real career or make any money. But we were married one year after we met, in July of 1943."

They not only stayed married for seven decades, but had three loving children: two daughters and a son, Michele, Karen and Rick. They, along with their mother, survive him.

A Legend Is Formed
During World War II, Caesar also made a professional marriage, with the director of the showbiz revue Tars and Spars: Max Liebman, who after the war would end up producing Caesar's TV show.

To say Caesar caused a sensation on TV is to understate the case. For eight years, beginning in 1950, he delighted America each week with a crazy salad of skits, pantomime and gentle satire. Your Show of Shows, which Caesar helped script, produced such stellar comedy writers as Larry Gelbart, Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks, Woody Allen and Neil Simon and also made a star out of his madcap sidekick, the incomparable Imogene Coca.

Yet the weekly grind took its toll. Overwhelmed by his early success, Caesar turned to drink and barbiturates. "I didn't unwind," he told PEOPLE in 1982. "I unraveled." His show suffered, was ultimately canceled, and Caesar – a self-described "violent drunk" – was never able to recapture his former glory.

"I went to a psychiatrist for 20 years and kept asking, 'What am I trying to punish myself for?' " he later told PEOPLE. "I never found out. Finally I said, 'I don't care.' "

With support from his family, he managed to reclaim his life. Staying clean and becoming a health fanatic, he spent his many remaining years popping up in a handful of movies (including It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, as an accident-prone dentist, and Grease, as the track coach) and TV shows and lecturing on a subject he knew best – comedy.

But as he grew older, and grew sober, he also became an expert on another great subject: Sid Caesar.

"I'm really, truly making it," he told PEOPLE when he turned 60. "It doesn't come in a flash but a little bit every day. I still need the Sidney part of me; he's funny, he jumps around, he has crazy ideas. But then the other me, Sid, comes in and says, 'That's enough, Sidney, I'm too punched out and I'm tired of being depressed.' Sid's the one who keeps Sidney in line."

Fairplay · 02-12-2014, 02:34 PM

Thought he was already dead.

**Baby Lee** · 02-12-2014, 02:37 PM

RIP Mr. Massive Rig.

BlackHelicopters · 02-12-2014, 02:48 PM

**gblowfish** · 02-12-2014, 02:50 PM

Dude was longtime friends with Mel Brooks, and a critically important figure in the history of entertainment television. Great man, great loss.

Jimmya · 02-12-2014, 02:50 PM

TLO · 02-12-2014, 02:53 PM

Who?

Anyway, RIP.

**gblowfish** · 02-12-2014, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big Smoke

Who?

Anyway, RIP.

Sid Caesar was as popular a Jackie Gleason in the early days of TV. Great comedian. Here's a skit where he does German double talk called "The General" from 1954 on NBC:

Dayze · 02-12-2014, 03:26 PM

he was great with the Sex Pistols

Red Beans · 02-12-2014, 04:54 PM

He made a hell of a salad.

Halfcan · 02-12-2014, 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gblowfish

Dude was longtime friends with Mel Brooks, and a critically important figure in the history of entertainment television. Great man, great loss.

RIP

Why Not? · 02-12-2014, 05:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Red Beans

He made a hell of a salad.

Hahaha. Wrong guy dumbass. This one was a bad pizza mogul.

cosmo20002 · 02-12-2014, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Red Beans

He made a hell of a salad.

I clicked on this thread specifically to make that comment. Jerk.

cosmo20002 · 02-12-2014, 05:53 PM

et tu, brief illness?

Red Beans · 02-12-2014, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cosmo20002

I clicked on this thread specifically to make that comment. Jerk.

Suck it!

02-12-2014, 02:31 PM
Mr. Laz Don't Tease Me Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: KS Casino cash: $11047037	R.I.P Sid Caesar .Sid Caesar, a King of Comedy, Dies at 91 By STEPHEN M. SILVERMAN 02/12/2014 at 03:15 PM EST Sid Caesar, the deft side-splitter who helped establish the new medium of television as he also established himself as a comedy legend, has died. He was 91. Larry King announced the news on Twitter, according to Variety. No further details were immediately available. With a deceptively simple philosophy of humor – "I don't take myself too seriously," he told PEOPLE in 1989. "I just laugh at myself a lot and call myself a dummy" – Isaac Sidney Caesar had been eliciting laughs since the Great Depression, when he mimicked the accents of customers who came into his Russian-Jewish parents' luncheonette in his native Yonkers, N.Y. Trained as a teenage saxophonist in the Catskill Mountains' "Borscht Belt" (so named because the beet soup was a favorite among immigrant and first-generation American resort patrons), Caesar also honed his comic craft as a Catskills tummler, a sort of on-premises master emcee who kept the hard-to-please guests entertained throughout the day. It was also in the Catskills that he met Florence Levy, whose uncle owned the hotel where Caesar worked, the Avon Lodge. They both said it was love at sight. "I was in my last year at Hunter College; we were still dating when Sid went into the service, the Coast Guard," Florence Caesar told the couple's local paper, the Toluca Times, in Toluca Lake, Calif., in 2009. "Luckily he was stationed in New York so we were able to continue seeing each other, even though my parents weren't too happy about it," she said. "They never thought he would amount to anything, that he'd never have a real career or make any money. But we were married one year after we met, in July of 1943." They not only stayed married for seven decades, but had three loving children: two daughters and a son, Michele, Karen and Rick. They, along with their mother, survive him. A Legend Is Formed During World War II, Caesar also made a professional marriage, with the director of the showbiz revue Tars and Spars: Max Liebman, who after the war would end up producing Caesar's TV show. To say Caesar caused a sensation on TV is to understate the case. For eight years, beginning in 1950, he delighted America each week with a crazy salad of skits, pantomime and gentle satire. Your Show of Shows, which Caesar helped script, produced such stellar comedy writers as Larry Gelbart, Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks, Woody Allen and Neil Simon and also made a star out of his madcap sidekick, the incomparable Imogene Coca. Yet the weekly grind took its toll. Overwhelmed by his early success, Caesar turned to drink and barbiturates. "I didn't unwind," he told PEOPLE in 1982. "I unraveled." His show suffered, was ultimately canceled, and Caesar – a self-described "violent drunk" – was never able to recapture his former glory. "I went to a psychiatrist for 20 years and kept asking, 'What am I trying to punish myself for?' " he later told PEOPLE. "I never found out. Finally I said, 'I don't care.' " With support from his family, he managed to reclaim his life. Staying clean and becoming a health fanatic, he spent his many remaining years popping up in a handful of movies (including It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, as an accident-prone dentist, and Grease, as the track coach) and TV shows and lecturing on a subject he knew best – comedy. But as he grew older, and grew sober, he also became an expert on another great subject: Sid Caesar. "I'm really, truly making it," he told PEOPLE when he turned 60. "It doesn't come in a flash but a little bit every day. I still need the Sidney part of me; he's funny, he jumps around, he has crazy ideas. But then the other me, Sid, comes in and says, 'That's enough, Sidney, I'm too punched out and I'm tired of being depressed.' Sid's the one who keeps Sidney in line."
Posts: 95,626

02-12-2014, 02:34 PM	#2
Fairplay A certain set of skills Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: texas Casino cash: $10026683 VARSITY	Thought he was already dead.
Posts: 25,265

02-12-2014, 02:37 PM	#3
Baby Lee Supporter Join Date: Aug 2000 Casino cash: $8028275	RIP Mr. Massive Rig. __________________ We need the kind of courage that can withstand the subtle corruption of the cynics - E.W.
Posts: 95,642

02-12-2014, 02:48 PM	#4
BlackHelicopters Spiraling down the Drain Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Dante's Ninth Circle Casino cash: $-789412	RIP __________________ "We're both part of the same hypocrisy, Senator, but never think it applies to my family." "Fredo. You are my brother, and I love you. But never take sides against the Family again. Ever." 2019 Adopt a Chief - Travis Kelce #87
Posts: 33,302

02-12-2014, 02:50 PM	#5
gblowfish Be Kind To Your Pets Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Glorious Independence, MO Casino cash: $16896178 VARSITY	Dude was longtime friends with Mel Brooks, and a critically important figure in the history of entertainment television. Great man, great loss.
Posts: 41,011

02-12-2014, 02:50 PM	#6
Jimmya Veteran Join Date: Dec 2012 Casino cash: $10014530	Rip
Posts: 2,746

02-12-2014, 02:53 PM	#7
TLO Life is changing.. Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: NW Missouri Casino cash: $-2470000	Who? Anyway, RIP.
Posts: 43,070

02-12-2014, 03:26 PM	#9
Dayze Resident Glue Sniffer Join Date: Nov 2003 Casino cash: $1859358	he was great with the Sex Pistols __________________ Life is 99% inspiration, 1% Perspiration, and 1% Attention to Detial. RIP & Godspeed: Saccoppo Lonewolf Ed Fire Me Boy
Posts: 37,459

02-12-2014, 04:54 PM	#10
Red Beans Not dead yet... Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Indian Creek Casino cash: $1669903	He made a hell of a salad.
Posts: 2,796