Happy day of birth to America's greatest satirist, Stan Freberg, who is mumble-mumble years old today. In addition to creating brilliantly funny records and radio shows, Stan is an actor, an author, a cartoon voice specialist, an advertising genius and a personal hero. He is seen above with his lovely wife Hunter, who has been taking care of this wonderful force of nature for several years now and has done a superb job of, as the hillbillies say, youthening her man.
I've said many things elsewhere on this site about what Stan and his work have meant to me. And it isn't just me. Every time I've been with him, at least one person approaches the guy and gushes. One time, we were dining in Matteo's and the waiter brought over a note written on a napkin. Another diner in the restaurant had written, approximately, "Mr. Freberg…you don't know me but your work has meant so much to me over the years. It's an honor to pay you back in even a tiny way by paying for your dinner tonight."
Stan gets this kind of reaction wherever he goes and with good reason.
Another time, Stan and I were standing in a parking lot at a recording studio where I had just — ahem! — "directed" him in something. (How To Direct Freberg: Hire Freberg, hand him the script, let him do whatever he wants.) A shiny sportscar was racing through the back alley doing about 80 MPH. It passed us and twenty yards down, it braked to an abrupt stop, then backed up, also doing around eighty. When it got back near us, the guy in the car yelled out, "You Stan Freberg?"
"I am," said Stan Freberg.
"You're a frriggin' genius," the driver yelled. Then he zoomed off doing about ninety to make up for lost time and I thought, "Well put."
Enjoy your day, Stan. And all others that follow.