[post 459]
I recently came across two more Sid Caesar pieces that I liked so much that I had to share them here. And that's even though I've already written about Caesar several times over the years:
Sid Caesar Was My Father
And Imogene Coca my mother. But only for a day or two, and not as publicly as I might have liked. The year was probably 1958.....
Sid Caesar (1922–2014).... was one of the truly great American comedians. He was also the King of Gibberish, fluent in faking many a foreign language....
Gibberish (Say What?
Perhaps the best gibberish comedian was "my father" Sid Caesar. His one-sided duel with Drew Carey on Whose Line Is It, Anyway? has been yanked from YouTube, but...
But, nothing! I was inspired to track down a copy of this, and added it as a bonus here, as well as restoring it to that older post.
Sid Caesar (1922–2014)
The king is dead. You can read the whole NY Times obituary here and...
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So... let's go straight to that Caesar appearance at the age of 79 on Whose Line Is It Anyway?, a funny-enough improv game show that ran for eight seasons a decade ago. Our hero talked circles around Drew Carey, no slouch himself, but what I really enjoyed was Caesar's use of gesture and facial expressions, as he acted out every nationality. And as I wrote in that earlier post, in real life Caesar spoke only two languages, English and Yiddish!
Beethoven's 5th
I love this 1954 pantomime marital battle between Caesar and Nanette Fabray, choreographed to the opening music of Beethoven's Fifth, which I just learned is known as the fate motif. That seems quite fitting here! Fabray (1920–2018) grew up as a singing and dancing child vaudevillian who performed as Baby Nanette, and later studied opera at Juilliard.
I love this 1954 pantomime marital battle between Caesar and Nanette Fabray, choreographed to the opening music of Beethoven's Fifth, which I just learned is known as the fate motif. That seems quite fitting here! Fabray (1920–2018) grew up as a singing and dancing child vaudevillian who performed as Baby Nanette, and later studied opera at Juilliard.
A Streetcar Named ????
Elia Kazan's movie of Tennessee Willliams' play A Streetcar Named Desire was a big hit when it opened in September, 1951, with Marlon Brando sensational as the tough, blunt-spoken Stanley Kowalski fighting for his wife's allegiance against the intrusion of his demure, Southern belle sister-in-law, Blanche DuBois, played by Vivien Leigh.
Elia Kazan's movie of Tennessee Willliams' play A Streetcar Named Desire was a big hit when it opened in September, 1951, with Marlon Brando sensational as the tough, blunt-spoken Stanley Kowalski fighting for his wife's allegiance against the intrusion of his demure, Southern belle sister-in-law, Blanche DuBois, played by Vivien Leigh.
In this parody from April, 1952, it's Caesar doing battle royale with Imogene Coca, with Betty Furness caught in between.
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