Sid Caesar

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Lore & Background

Sid Caesar was born in Yonkers, New York, to a Jewish family; his parents Max and Ida ran a 24-hour luncheonette. Absorbing the distinct accents, rhythms, and mannerisms of a diverse clientele, he developed his signature double-talk technique—improvised gibberish that perfectly mimicked the sound and feel of real foreign languages. He first tried it with a group of Italians, his head barely reaching above the table; they enjoyed it so much they sent him to repeat the patter in Polish, then Russian, Hungarian, French, Spanish, Lithuanian, and Bulgarian. His older brother David was his comic mentor and "one-man cheering section." Caesar took saxophone lessons as a boy and played in small bands during the Great Depression; at 14 he worked as a tenor saxophonist in the Swingtime Six band in the Catskills and occasionally performed in sketches in the Borscht Belt. After graduating from Yonkers High School in 1940, Caesar worked as an usher and then a doorman at the Capitol Theater in Manhattan. He enlisted in the United States Coast Guard in 1940, where he met composer Vernon Duke and collaborated on musical revues. During the summer of 1942, Caesar met his future wife, Florence Levy, at the Avon Lodge in the Catskills; they married on July 17, 1943, and had three children: Michele, Rick, and Karen. After military service, he moved to Hollywood, appeared in the film version of Tars and Spars (1946), and later performed in the Broadway revue Make Mine Manhattan, winning a 1948 Donaldson Award. His television career began with an appearance on Milton Berle's Texaco Star Theater in fall 1948, leading to his first series, Admiral Broadway Revue with Imogene Coca, and then Your Show of Shows.

Reader's Guide

Sid Caesar's significance lies in his role as an innovator of television comedy during the 1950s. Your Show of Shows was a 90-minute weekly program watched by 60 million people, and its cast received seven Emmy nominations between 1953 and 1954, with two wins. The show's subjects included satires of real life events and people, and parodies of popular film genres, theater, television shows, and opera; its dialogue was considered sharper, funnier, and more adult-oriented than other comedy shows of the time. Caesar was called "television's Charlie Chaplin" by some critics and "the comedian of comedians from TV's early days" by The New York Times. His style—sketch comedy rather than stand-up, with heavy use of body language and double-talk—was seen as avant garde. Many writers who later became famous, including Mel Brooks, Neil Simon, Larry Gelbart, Carl Reiner, Michael Stewart, Mel Tolkin, Lucille Kallen, Selma Diamond, and Woody Allen, wrote for Caesar early in their careers. "Sid's was the show to which all comedy writers aspired. It was the place to be," said Steve Allen. Caesar also appeared in films such as It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), Silent Movie (1976), History of the World, Part I (1981), Cannonball Run II (1984), and Vegas Vacation (1997), and played Coach Calhoun in Grease (1978) and its sequel Grease 2 (1982). He was an accomplished saxophonist, having played the saxophone since he was eleven years old, and authored several books, including two autobiographies that described his career and his later struggle to overcome years of alcoholism and addiction to barbiturates.

Did You Know?

• Sid Caesar first tried his double-talk technique with a group of Italians, his head barely reaching above the table, and they enjoyed it so much they sent him to repeat the patter in Polish, Russian, Hungarian, and several other languages.
• Your Show of Shows was a 90-minute weekly show watched by 60 million people.
• Caesar turned down the lead role in The Jolson Story because he did not want to be known as an impersonator.
• He played eight parts with 32 costume changes in the Broadway musical Little Me, earning a 1963 Tony nomination for Best Leading Actor in a Musical.
• Caesar was an accomplished saxophonist who played with Benny Goodman and performed 'Sing, Sing, Sing' with him for a TV show.