Here, through the courtesy of a reader of this site, is another photo from the revival of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum starring Phil Silvers. The gent at far left is Carl Ballantine, better known to the world as "The Amazing Ballantine" and performer of what is easily the funniest magic act ever to grace a stage. Carl played Marcus Lycus the Procurer in this production and he's still around, still being very humorous. I used him to voice a recurring character on the Garfield and Friends show and —
Hey, you're not running anywhere. I might as well tell the story. When we were doing the show, I had this idea about introducing a con-artist character who'd pop up from time to time as a foil for Jon and Garfield, and I cast Jesse White to do the voice. You all remember Jesse White. That would have been brilliant casting if I'd done it a few years earlier but sadly, the day he came in to record the character's first appearance was not long before Jesse passed away. He was in poor health and he really didn't sound much like Jesse White. We went ahead with the episode but I decided on the spot that the character was not my recurring con-man.
During a break, I wandered out to the lobby and I was thinking who would be a good person to play a sharp, Bilko-type operator. Sitting there, reading a magazine and waiting to record a radio spot for someone in the next studio, was Carl Ballantine. I said aloud to no one, "Perfect," went over and introduced myself…and a few weeks later, Carl recorded the first of several Garfield cartoons as Al Swindler, master charlatan. I still see Carl from time to time. I take him to lunch or run into him at the Magic Castle and he's always hilarious. Lovely man.
Okay, back to the photo: To the right of Carl is Larry Blyden, who played Hysterium (the Jack Gilford role) in the show. Blyden was a long-time Broadway star, TV actor and even a game show host. When this production of Forum went to Broadway, he was the main instigator and organizer. He prodded the producers and dug up backers and made it all happen. For it, he also won a Tony Award. In fact, on the Tony Award broadcast that year, Silvers was more excited about Blyden's Tony than about his own and he started raving on about it and Larry and he plumb forgot he was on live television and went way over in his acceptance speech. This is why the "thank yous" from winners are now rigidly timed…because of the night they couldn't shut Phil Silvers up.
Next over, we see Lew Parker kneeling. Parker was an old-time radio comedian who became an old-time Vegas comedian who became the father of Marlo Thomas on That Girl. I think the New York production of this Forum was the last thing he ever did, as he was in failing health. He missed opening night on Broadway…something most actors wouldn't do if it meant performing in an oxygen tent. Soon after, he was replaced by actor Mort Marshall, who animation buffs may know as a voice actor on New York-based TV cartoons of the sixties. (He played the zookeeper on Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales, for instance.) Parker died a few months after leaving the cast.
Lastly, of course, we have Phil Silvers. I guess I don't have to work very hard to convince most people that he was terrific in the role. He was terrific in just about everything he did. As I mentioned, I was privileged to dine with him once at Nate 'n Al's delicatessen in Beverly Hills. I wrote up some moments from that brunch/lunch and posted them here and here. One of these days, when I find the rest of the transcript, I'll post some more of our conversation.