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Monday, June 28, 2010

The Comedy Genes of Gold of July 28

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Today is a great day to be born if you're hoping to make it in comedy. July 28 is the birthday to two comedy legends, and a few other comic actors and writers who are maybe on their way to the comedy hall of fame.
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(harvey korman and brooks
in "High Anxiety")
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(madeline kahn and brooks
in "High Anxiety")
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Happy 84th to Mel Brooks, who to younger audiences is known as the man behind Broadway hits, "The Producers" and "Young Frankenstein", but to most of us, he earned his comedy bonafides with a string of brilliant comedic films in the 1970's. Brooks was a writer for Sid Caesar's "Your Show of Shows" with, among other television literary greats, Carl Reiner. Reiner later went on to create "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and based the character of Buddy Sorrell on Brooks. But Brooks put himself on the map with his film, "The Producers". Remember Springtime for Hitler? He followed up with "Blazing Saddles", "Young Frankenstein" and "High Anxiety". The first three of these films are all listed in the Top 20 of the American Film Institute's 100 Greatest Comedies. All four films are brilliant; and we love how Brooks worked with a stock group of comedic greats in his films, Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, Harvey Korman, Cloris Leachman, Dom DeLuise and others. Brooks is on a very short list of entertainers who has won all four of the major awards in entertainment, an Oscar, Tony, Grammy and Emmy.
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(radner as "rosanne rosannadanna")
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Today would have been the 64th birthday of another comedic legend, Gilda Radner, who died of cancer in 1989. Radner was, of course, one of the stars of the original cast of "Saturday Night Live", and she wasn't just funny, she left us breathless with her gifts as a comedian. She created unforgettable characters, Emily Litella, Baba Wawa, Rosanne Rosannadanna, Candy Slice, Lisa Loopner and many others. After completing her five year run on SNL, she opened on Broadway in a one-woman show, the album from which ranks as one of the funniest comedy albums of all time. Remember "Let's Talk Dirty to the Animals"?, oh my. Not seeing that Broadway show is one of the great regrets of our lives. But we'll always have the reruns of SNL, and it was there that her star shone the brightest.
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(radner with her snl
co-star, john belushi)
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Today is also the birthday of John Cusack and Kathy Bates, who have certainly starred in their share of classic film comedies, but we'd like to especially wish a happy 40th birthday to one of the most gifted comedic writers in Hollywood, Mike White. White cut his teeth on the shows, "Dawson's Creek" and "Freak and Geeks", but he first got our notice when he wrote and was featured in "The Good Girl", with Jennifer Aniston and Jake Gyllanhaal. Some of the one-liners in that film are unbelievably funny, but then, White became really well known when he wrote and co-starred in the monster hit, "School of Rock" with Jack Black. We love this guy, and cannot wait to see what he does next. He also didn't do too badly when he competed on "The Amazing Race" last year, teamed with his dad.
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(mike white)

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