Free Republic

Here are 100 reasons to love the comedy writer, director and star who’s celebrating a milestone on Sunday. No. 1 He started a novel titled “Springtime for Hitler.” No. 2 He turned that into a play. No. 3 He turned that play into a flop film titled “The Producers.” No. 4 He won a screenplay Oscar for that flop … No. 5 … turned that flop into a Broadway hit … No. 6 … then tried to destroy “The Producers” on “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” No. 7 He never did a serious movie because to him comedy was serious. No. 8...

Sid Caesar, one of the first stars created by television via his weekly live comedy program “Your Show of Shows,” has died at 91. TV host Larry King announced the news on Twitter. Caesar, partnered with Imogene Coca, is credited with breaking ripe comedic ground with the 90-minute live program: It didn’t rely on vaudeville or standup-inspired material but rather on long skits and sketches written by an impressive roster of comedy writers including Mel Brooks, Woody Allen, Neil Simon, Larry Gelbart, Lucille Kallen and Mel Tolkin. “Your Show of Shows” was “different from other programs of its time because...

Mel Tolkin, the long-suffering head of Sid Caesar’s celebrated television writing team, who was present from the cramped, sweaty, malodorous beginning, died yesterday at his home in Century City, Calif. He was 94... As the lead writer for “Your Show of Shows” and its successor, “Caesar’s Hour,” Mr. Tolkin presided over a team that at one time or another included Mel Brooks, Lucille Kallen, Neil Simon, Larry Gelbart and Woody Allen. “Your Show of Shows,” starring Mr. Caesar and Imogene Coca, was broadcast on NBC from 1950 to 1954. A wellspring of American television comedy, the show endures to this...