Back from an evening at the Motion Picture Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. The occasion was a memorial/tribute for the great comedy writer, Larry Gelbart who left us last September. Family members spoke. Co-workers spoke. (Among those you've heard of: Kirk Douglas, Mel Brooks, Sid Caesar, Norman Lear and Alan & Marilyn Bergman.) Clips were shown from TV shows Larry wrote (M*A*S*H) and movies (Oh, God!, Tootsie, etc.) The program got monotonous in a good way as person after person spoke of Larry's generosity, his lightning wit and his enduring talents.
Many funny stories of Larry were told. My favorite was recounted by Gene Reynolds, who was Executive Producer of M*A*S*H. He was going through a bitter divorce with a nasty battle over the division of property. One day during it all, he was having lunch in a Japanese restaurant and the waitress brought over a gift from a diner in another booth. It was Gelbart and what he sent over was one chopstick.
Perhaps the most touching moment came from Sid Caesar. I'll say this as delicately as I can: The great Caesar is not in great shape. He is frail and largely confined to a wheelchair. Unable to get up on stage, he delivered his speech from the front row of the audience, helped to his feet by an aide.
Now, in the best of health, Sid Caesar was never good at speaking as Sid Caesar. In fact, earlier in a clip that was shown, we'd seen Gelbart talking about how uncomfortable Sid was when not enveloped in some sort of character. Now, he tried…but the words just wouldn't come. He started a sentence, lost his way in the middle of it and just froze up. The audience squirmed uncomfortably…
…and then a smart person in the front row — someone said it was Mel Brooks but I don't think it was — called out, "Sid, try it in Italian!"
Instantly, Sid began speaking in the double-talk Italian for which he's so famous. It was utter gibberish but it was wonderful, eloquent gibberish that was somehow infused with love for his friend, Larry. The audience went crazy. Because we love Sid and always will…just as we'll always love Larry.