Monthly Archives: February 2011

As you may have heard, Joanne Siegel — the wife of Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel — has died at the age of 93.

Some said she was the model for Lois Lane, eventually if not at inception. She certainly had the courage and strength to face the deadliest menaces Lois ever encountered. That was in addition to the obvious beauty and charm. If you never met her, you missed meeting someone very special. If you did meet her…well, you know.

I want to write something longer about her but I think I need to collect my thoughts and finish a script that's due first. In the meantime, here's a link to a newspaper report.

Most of the obits will remember Kenneth Mars for two Germanic roles in Mel Brooks movies: Franz Liebkind, the Nazi author of the play in The Producers, and Inspector Kemp in Young Frankenstein. I remember him for those parts and so many others…like the neighbor on He and She, W.D. "Bud" Prize on Fernwood Tonight, the Stockbroker on the PBS production of Steambath and so many others. He was darn good in everything he did.

I guess Franz Liebkind was the role that put him on most folks' maps. He originally auditioned for the role of Roger DeBris, the crossdressing director. This was back when Mel was still figuring he might play the role of Franz himself. The day of the audition, they were running behind and Mars was in the waiting room long enough to read the entire script and to realize he was reading for the wrong role. He asked if he could audition for Franz, they let him…and boy, they couldn't have done better. What a perfect match of actor and part.

Ken did a lot of cartoon voice work so naturally, I had to book him for a Garfield cartoon. The day he came in, he had no idea what the role was. I told him, keeping as straight a face as possible, that I wasn't sure how to cast the part so since I respected him so much, I just decided to gamble that he could handle it. He asked, "What's so special about this part?" I told him, "Well, I'm really hoping you can do a German accent."

For about four seconds, he gave me a shocked look that screamed, "Don't you know who I am?" Then he got that I was kidding and he laughed.

And when he was done laughing, he asked me, "Which German accent? There are hundreds of them." He then proceeded to demonstrate about ten different ones with uncanny ability.

I couldn't choose among them but the part was that of a rocket scientist…so I asked him, "Where was Wernher von Braun from?" He told me and we agreed that would be it. His character had two assistants and as an inside joke, I named them Bialystock and Bloom…but the one line where he said the names was later cut for reasons of time.

He was, of course, absolutely flawless in the role, wringing everything an actor could wring out of every line. He was that way in everything he did. I don't think I ever saw him be bad in anything. Next time you watch The Producers, watch him…and yes, I know it's hard to do when you have Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder in the scenes, pulling focus, fighting for your attention. But Ken Mars scored with every single syllable he uttered in that movie and there isn't a false beat in a spoken word or a word of body language. He's a big reason that movie became a cinema classic.

Just wanted to note the passing of actress Betty Garrett at age 91 and to say I always thought she was a talented, classy lady. She was a staunch supporter of live theater in L.A. and for a time, it seemed like every play I went to, I'd find Betty Garrett in the audience if not on the stage. Everyone revered her for her skills but also for the kind of person she was — friendly, approachable and willing to talk or advise anyone. She had an amazing career…a couple of them, if you note that the blacklist stopped the first one and forced her to pretty much start all over.

I think the last time I saw her perform was a production of My One and Only mounted by the Reprise! group up at U.C.L.A. She played a role usually played by a short black guy and stole the show, especially with a soft shoe dance routine near the end. Of course, she was a much younger woman at the time she did this. She was only 86.

I heard her talk on a few occasions…mostly about her late husband Larry Parks, who became a star playing Al Jolson, then saw his career and life destroyed by the House Un-American Activites Committee. His crime? Being Liberal, she said…and in those days, that was a felony. She was still a bit amazed that she'd overcome all that to not only work again but to work so much…and on two of the most popular TV shows of all times, All in the Family and Laverne & Shirley. Still, the sense of triumph was incomplete because Larry had not lived to see it and experience his own. She also talked with great pride and enthusiasm about her days in M.G.M. musicals. How great was it to be a part of that?

Such a lovely woman. I'm glad we had her around as long as we did.