The Comedians
Page 44
61The committee started work: Cold War, Cool Medium by Thomas Doherty, pg 108
61Florida governor Fuller Warren refused: Gorman, pg 81
61“is an ambition-crazed Caesar”: Ibid.
62It flourished during the war: Variety, June 27, 1945
62“Two staffers in the Chicago office”: Ibid., January 9, 1974
63“I heard this gruff-sounding voice”: Jerry Lewis in Person by Jerry Lewis, pgs 156-157
63“The bull slowly rose”: Ibid.
64“I have made considerable headway”: Variety, August 19, 1959
64“No one wants to”: Ibid.
65“You could identify”: Rose, pg 229
65“By the time I joined”: Where Did I Go Right? by Bernie Brillstein with David Rensin, pg 42
66“The hoodlum burst”: Berle, pg 24
66“If they like you”: Fresh Air, inteview with Henny Youngman, 1992
67“excess law enforcement”: The Agency by Frank Rose, pg 160
67“the show violates”: New York Times, November 3, 1942
67“an affront to public morals”: Variety, June 19, 1946
67“for using blue material”: Billboard, December 30, 1949
68“Under the present attitude”: Variety, November 14, 1956
68The comedians playing his club: Ibid., December 5, 1956
68“with lewd conversation”: Ibid., March 6, 1957
68“I’d heard plenty about B. S.”: It’s Not Easy Bein’ Me by Rodney Dangerfield, pg 43
69He and the club operator: Variety, November 4, 1942
69He was put on trial: New York Post, November 1, 1946
70“obscene and vulgar references”: Variety, May 19, 1965
70“Bourbon underwent a sex change”: Ibid., August 1, 1956
71“obscene and profane”: Ibid., August 16, 1956
71“Much of it was risqué”: Baby, I Don’t Care by Lee Server, pg 46
72“for staging an obscene show”: Variety, September 21, 1955
72“A curious anomaly”: Billboard, March 27, 1961
72“on suspicion of performing”: Variety, Janaury 9, 1961
72“lewdness and immoral activity”: Ibid., August 2, 1961
72“If it’s breaking the law”: Ibid., January 30, 1963
72“corrupted them morally”: Miami News, January 14, 1964
73“an area of maybe fifty”: Youngman and Carroll, pg 89
73“The Borscht Belt was a community”: Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, interview with Jerry Lewis
73“All he wanted to do”: Lewis, pg 11
73“Every summer, as the comedians”: Caesar’s Hours by Sid Caesar, pg 33
74“originated in pre-caveman”: Collier’s, November 1950
74“It was there”: Caesar, pg 32
74He circumvented war rationing: Variety, June 17, 1942
74“He sends his acts rushing”: Wilson, Cheesecake, pg 204
75“stood on stage”: How Dare You Say How Dare Me! by Pat Cooper, pg 185
75“‘Country Club’ was an appellation”: Amorous Busboy of Decatur Avenue by Robert Klein, pg 117
76“At times they would throw”: Ibid., pg 119
77“Don’t get lost”: Spitzer, pg 139
77According to New York columnist: Knows by Earl Wilson, pg 32
77“There was nothing artistic”: Rubin, pg 197
78The Paramount was arguably: Variety, November 7, 1947
78Harry Kalcheim of William Morris: Ibid., January 8, 1941
79In his place producers cast: Ibid., November 13, 1975
79“Jean Carroll, a single”: Ibid., March 1, 1944
79“Jean Carroll gives a hint”: Ibid., April 12, 1944
80One tally had it: The Kid by Richard Gehman, pg 103
80“It was in a downstairs café”: Ohmart, pg 140
81“He hasn’t even bothered”: Bud and Lou by Bob Thomas, pg 153
81“The response was almost orgiastic”: Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime by Arthur Marx, pg 142
81“This is a nothing act”: Ibid., pg 64
82“Jerry, who was supposed to be”: Ibid., pg 135
82“Then Jerry would do them”: The Box by Jeff Kisseloff, pg 328
82He fired them: Marx, pg 166
82“The greatest performers”: Been There, Done That by Eddie Fisher with David Fisher, pg 26
83“Everybody would drop in”: Henny Youngman and Carroll, pgs 133-134
83Marlon Brando and fellow actor: Variety, June 7, 1939
84“At night in Kellogg’s”: From Gags to Riches by Joey Adams, pg 299
85“It was where [gangster] Arnold Rothstein”: Variety, January 7, 1970
85“Songwriters, song pluggers”: Longest Street by Louis Sobol, pg 422
85“One seldom sees him”: Gross, pg 125
86“Lindy’s was where”: Variety, January 7, 1970
86“It’s a small place”: I Kid You Not by Jack Paar, pg 6
87“Max is a man”: Ibid.
89“I didn’t get one”: Nachman, pg 399
89“I asked Tommy”: Honey by Honey Bruce with Dana Benenson, pgs 148-149
90“It is a city where”: Time, June 25, 1951
90“One night in Kellogg’s Cafeteria”: Dangerfield, pg 115
92“According to James J. Kelly”: Long Island Star-Journal, October 22, 1955
94Rodney claimed to have picked: The Jack Benny Program, January 4, 1942
Chapter Four: Televison
95“a device that permits people”: Nachman, pg 116
95“Radio was a much more”: Josefsberg, pg 59
96Two hundred different advertisers: Radio Annual, 1948, pg 1047
96“For nine months”: Ed Wynn’s Son by Keenan Wynn, pgs 193-194
96“I think the audience”: Kisseloff, pg 317
97“Parlaying the best”: Variety, June 9, 1948
97“In 1948, [William Morris]”: Kisseloff, pg 511
98A classic Joe E. Lewis joke: Adams, pg 153
98“He started inserting old jokes”: Young, pgs 56-57
98“The rehearsals became”: NBC Book of Stars by Earl Wilson, pg 40
98“being stuck in an air raid”: This Is Your Life, June 6, 1956
99“I don’t like being on”: Howard, pg 165
99“That whistle got me”: Berle, pg 274
99“Milton is a coward”: Kisseloff, pg 307
99“I was under pressure”: Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, interview with Milton Berle
100“arrogant, demanding”: Rose, pg 145
100“It will be the first”: Kisseloff, pg 304
100“Jackie Miles, Lenny Kent and”: Adams, pg 304
101“I got the idea”: Berle, pg 99
101“impersonating a woman”: WFMU: Murder in Mink by Kliph Nesteroff
101“Knocked Berle off”: Silvers, pg 208
101“I felt drained, finished”: Berle, pg 3
102“one of the most likeable”: Variety, February 18, 1956
102He immediately entered negotiations: Collier’s, May 11, 1956
102“immensely impressed”: Variety, September 1, 1954
102“Don’t get into that”: Silvers, pg 201
102 “He’s going to be”: Variety, May 17, 1955
103“My Little Margie was stupid”: Kisseloff, pg 336
103“Sgt. Bilko holds up”: By the Way: In Conversation with Jeff Garlin, January 2013
103“He nursed me along”: Silvers, pg 44
103Coke-bottle glasses: Variety, January 8, 1958
103“He did not realize”: Silvers, pg 218
103“Without me, the Bilko show”: WFMU: King of Slobs by Kliph Nesteroff
104“Their sketch was painful”: Silvers, pg 218
104“Someone apparently didn’t have much”: Variety, September 21, 1955
104“[The president] has been”: Variety, May 16, 1956
104“That ruined his life”: Kisseloff, pg 336
105He wrote most of: Variety, October 7, 1959
105“I’m getting out”: Ibid., July 31, 1957
105Hiken met with Carl Reiner: Ibid., May 29, 1957
105“You son of a bitch”: Fein, pgs 175-76
106“Every week that summer”: Kisseloff, pg 309
106In less than twenty minutes: Billboard, February 5, 1949
107In the dressing room: It’s Good to Be King by James Michael Parish, pg 61
107Roy Atwell, Admiral’s answer: Billboard, February 5, 1949; Caesar, pg 76
107“Fundamentally the weakness”: Variety, February 2, 1949
107In addition, he was fielding: Ibid., June 8, 1949
107When those sketches appeared: Ibid., April 11, 1949
108called Great Caesar: Ibid., January 11, 1950
108“There was an enormous”: Nachman, pg 111
109“The very first day”: Kisseloff, pgs 312, 316
109“For nine years”: Caesar, pgs 119, 131-132
110“When I was listed”: Parish, pg 86
110“We wanted him to do”: Kisseloff, pg 310
110“I was aggressive”: Parish, pg 93
110“Sometimes once a day”: Caesar, pg 133
110“Caesar running out of material”: Collier’s, November 11, 1950
111“then Sid Caesar is”: Ibid.
111“Sid Caesar doesn’t steal jokes”: Ibid.
112“He calls me upstairs”: Fresh Air, interview with Henny Youngman; 1992
113“They were worried”: Burns, pg 97
113“in an age”: New Yorker, February 20, 1978
114“He didn’t need”: Kisseloff, pg 322
114“Canned laughter and applause”: Barnouw, pgs 247-248
114“I told them”: Burns, pg 257
114Further use of laugh tracks: Variety, April 7, 1965
114“It got to the point”: Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, interview with Carroll Pratt
115“If it wasn’t funny”: Arce, pg 30
116Fielding couldn’t find work: Ibid., pgs 58-59
116“That I bowed to”: Ibid., pg 87
116“Lou felt very strong”: Lou’s on First by Chris Costello with Raymond Strait, pgs 195-196
116“We have to keep taxes”: Thomas, pg 175
117Grant quit and stormed: Costello with Strait, pg 197
117“I will be dying”: Steve Allen FBI File, October 1960
117Morgan was one of 151 people: Barnouw, pg 122
118“Whatever happened to Henry Morgan?”: Variety, January 2, 1952
118“Besides the newsletter”: Kisseloff, pg 409
118“The guys who came”: Ibid., pg 410
118“Nevertheless we decided”: Ibid., pg 411
119“On the early Tonight shows”: Nachman, pg 171
119“Pat Weaver came down personally”: Kisseloff, pg 416
119Red Channels was confused: Doherty, pg 30
119Before she was cast: Kisseloff, pg 339
119Male lead Philip Loeb: Nachman, pg 245
120“He sent for me to talk”: Kisseloff, pg 427
120While it was no surprise: Empire of Dreams by Scott Eyman, pg 414
120“The entire industry”: Kisseloff, pg 403
120“Kirkpatrick has sat in”: Barnouw, pg 212
120“I’m an internationalist”: New York Herald Tribune, January 8, 1953
121“I will be proud”: Champagne Before Breakfast by Hy Gardner, pg 2
121“While the House Committee”: Doherty, pg 52
121“Lucille Ball announces”: Ibid.
121a protest against I Love Lucy: FBI memorandum, Lucille Ball file, 1953
121“The investigation is continuing”: Doherty, pg 54
121“my favorite redhead”: Ibid., pgs 55-56
122“They feel that when”: Ibid., pgs 57-58
122“The blacklist is one”: Ibid., pg 33
122“most important people”: WFMU: The Early Woody Allen by Kliph Nesteroff
123“It’s either him”: Parish, pg 97
123“I wanted my own show”: Kisseloff, pg 313
124“Do you know the competition”: And Here’s the Kicker by Mike Sacks, pgs 329-330
Chapter Five: Late Night
125“embarrassingly pedestrian”: Variety, May 30, 1950
126Lester was promptly fired: Kisseloff, pg 213
126“He wrecked the place”: Ibid., pg 117
126Lester hosted Tuesday, Thursday: Variety, August 23, 1950
127“It wasn’t like the late-night”: Kisseloff, pg 117
127Eventually NBC hired Cal: Variety, August 23, 1950
127“I went down to the Greyhound”: Kisseloff, pg 118
127“That one really got”: 7 Dirty Words by James Sullivan, pgs 16-17
128Feeling slighted, Amsterdam quit: Variety, November 22, 1950
128“but wrote great memos”: P.S. Jack Paar by Jack Paar, pg 99
129NBC put his name: Nachman, pg 185
129The guests were Wally Cox: Inventing Late Night by Ben Alba, pg 59
130During a broadcast: Variety, September 8 and 15, 1954
130“I’d have six million people”: Nachman, pg 171
130Premiering June 24, 1956: Alba, pg 279
131“looking ill at ease”: Variety, January 30, 1957
131“a disaster from the first”: Wilson, Knows
132“I met and became friendly”: Paar, pg 55
132“This Jack Paar was”: I Kid You Not by Jack Paar, pgs 44-45
133“patterned too closely after”: Variety, June 16, 1947
133“I hope he is as funny”: Wilson, Knows, pg 358
133“He hired and fired”: Josefsberg, pg 271
133“Did you ever have”: Paar, I Kid, pg 59
133“Three hours a day”: Paar, P.S. Jack, pg 96
133He shone and was hired: Variety, June 20, 1956
133“This looks like the last”: Ibid., July 31, 1957
134“Their main thought”: Paar, P.S. Jack, pg 100
134Of 131 different programs: Variety, April 7, 1958
134Boston, Cleveland, Houston: Ibid., September 11, 1957
134“Junkie Mark Twain”: A Funny Thing Happened to Me on My Way to the Grave by Jack Douglas, pg 142
135“Steve is the greatest”: Paar, I Kid, pg 66
135“The experience of his helmship”: Variety, June 4, 1958
135“a mystery comedy”: Ibid., October 5, 1959
135By the end: Life, March 9, 1959
135“get a doctor’s certificate”: Variety, September 17, 1958
135In protest Paar vacationed: Ibid., February 19, 1959
135For a substantial raise: Ibid., June 8, 1959
136He had the most profitable: Life, March 9, 1959
136“I felt the implication”: Paar, I Kid, pg 227
136“They said, ‘No, no’”: WFMU: Late Night Distemper of Our Times by Kliph Nesteroff
137“Bob Hope and Jack Benny”: Paar, P.S. Jack, pg 116
Chapter Six: The Emergence of Las Vegas
138“By 1953, forty-five citations”: Gorman, pg 95
138“Those were the Ben [Bugsy]”: King with Chase, pg 62
139“He had absolutely no voice”: La
s Vegas Is My Beat by Ralph Pearl, pgs 92-93
139By 1952 Joey Bishop: Wilson, Knows, pg 5
140“I’d watch Lewis come”: Pearl, pg 48
141“When the first two blasts”: UPI, September 25, 1952
141“He wouldn’t take out patents”: TV Radio Mirror, November 1956
142“Lenny couldn’t wait”: Bruce with Benenson, pgs 177-178
142“You’re a fine comedian”: TV Radio Mirror, November 1956
142“with the different humorous aspects”: Variety, October 25, 1961
143He bought a ranch house: TV Radio Mirror, November 1956
143Comedy writers William Friedberg and: Variety, May 2, 1956
143“Hackett is a good comic”: Ibid., September 26, 1956
143“Liebman was too strong”: Woody Allen by Eric Lax, pg 121
147“One explosive night”: Hollywood Is a Four Letter Town by James Bacon, pg 50
149“represented what I thought”: Larry King, interview with Don Rickles, 1986
151“That’s where my style came”: Rickles’ Book by Don Rickles with David Ritz, pg 56
151Rickles appealed to have: Cangold v. Don Rickles, Supreme Court of New York, February 2, 1959
151“He died heartbroken”: Pearl, pg 99
152“The dolt and the dullard”: Miami News, December 20, 1957
152“Frank Costello called me”: Mickey Cohen: In My Own Words as told to John Peer Nugent, pgs 117-118
153“He was so wrong”: Guy MacPherson, interview with Don Rickles, October 6, 2006
Chapter Seven: Stand-up’s Great Change
156“For twenty years”: Life, November 12, 1956
156“Every joke ever written”: Treadwell, pg 205
156Orben later became: A Critical History of Television’s The Red Skelton Show, pgs 89, 148
156“The end of World War II”: Laurie Jr. and Green, pg 537
157“What it did for me”: Comic Insights by Franklyn Ajaye, pg 84
158It was where Bruce met: Trials of Lenny Bruce by Ronald K. L. Collins and David M. Skover, pg 87
158“It blew my mind”: Bruce with Benenson, pg 217
160“I constructed a network”: Impolite Interviews by Paul Krassner, pg 156
160 “to show we weren’t”: Nachman, pg 9
160He did impressions: Ibid., pg 56
160“Then I got up onstage”: Ibid., pg 59
160“I was afraid no one”: Ibid., pg 61
160“In my case”: Late Night with David Letterman, January 20, 1988