Listen to me on TV CONFIDENTIAL:
As always, the further we go back in Hollywood history, the more that fact and legend become intertwined. It's hard to say where the truth really lies.
July 2,
1947
Lawrence "Larry" Gene David the American
actor, writer, comedian, producer, and film
director. David is the co-creator and producer of two successful television
comedies, Seinfeld
(1989-1998) and Curb Your Enthusiasm (1999-present) is
born.
In 1989, he teamed up with Jerry Seinfeld to co-create the television series Seinfeld, where he also acted as head writer and executive producer. David's work won him a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series in 1993. In 1999, he created the HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm, a mostly improvised sitcom in which he stars as a fictionalized version of himself.
Formerly a standup comedian, David
went into television comedy, writing and starring in ABC's Fridays, as well as writing briefly for Saturday Night
Live.
Jul 4, 1927
Playwright and
screenwriter Neil Simon born in the Bronx section of New York City.
In one of his earliest jobs, in the 1950s, Simon wrote for Sid Caesar’s live comedy television program Your Show of Shows, alongside other future greats such as Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner. As Simon went on to write for the stage and big screen, humor would continue to play a major role in his work. Simon’s first Broadway play, Come Blow Your Horn, opened in 1961. He went on to write over 30 plays, including Barefoot in the Park (1963), The Odd Couple (1965), The Last of the Red Hot Lovers (1969), The Sunshine Boys (1972), Chapter Two (1977), the autobiographical trilogy of Brighton Beach Memoirs (1983), Biloxi Blues (1985) and Broadway Bound (1986), Lost in Yonkers (1991) and The Goodbye Girl (1993).
In one of his earliest jobs, in the 1950s, Simon wrote for Sid Caesar’s live comedy television program Your Show of Shows, alongside other future greats such as Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner. As Simon went on to write for the stage and big screen, humor would continue to play a major role in his work. Simon’s first Broadway play, Come Blow Your Horn, opened in 1961. He went on to write over 30 plays, including Barefoot in the Park (1963), The Odd Couple (1965), The Last of the Red Hot Lovers (1969), The Sunshine Boys (1972), Chapter Two (1977), the autobiographical trilogy of Brighton Beach Memoirs (1983), Biloxi Blues (1985) and Broadway Bound (1986), Lost in Yonkers (1991) and The Goodbye Girl (1993).
Simon wrote the screenplay for many of his stage
productions that were adapted for the big screen. In 1967, Robert Redford and
Jane Fonda starred in a cinematic version of Barefoot in the Park, about
a young newlywed couple in Manhattan. Redford had also appeared in the original
Broadway cast. In 1968, Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau starred in a film
version of The Odd Couple, about the mismatched roommates Felix Ungar, a
neurotic neat freak, and Oscar Madison, a slob. Matthau also played Oscar
Madison in the original Broadway production. The Odd Couple later became
a popular TV sitcom that aired from 1970 to 1975 and starred Tony Randall and
Jack Klugman. In 1998, Lemmon and Matthau reunited for The Odd Couple II.
(The pair appeared in a number of comedic films together, starting with 1966’s The
Fortune Cookie and including 1993’s Grumpy Old Men and its 1995
sequel.)
Simon has received four Academy Award
nominations for Best Screenplay: for The Odd Couple, The Sunshine Boys
(1975), which starred Matthau and George Burns, The Goodbye Girl (1977),
which starred Richard Dreyfuss and Marsha Mason (whom Simon was married to from
1973 to 1981) and California Suite (1978), which featured Jane Fonda,
Alan Alda, Michael Caine and Richard Pryor.
July 6,
1927
Patrick “Pat” Layton Paulsen was born.
The comedian and satirist notable for his roles on several of the Smothers Brothers TV shows, and for his campaigns for President of the United States in 1968, 1972, 1980, 1988, 1992, and 1996, which had primarily comedic rather than political objectives, although his campaigns generated some protest votes for him.
The comedian and satirist notable for his roles on several of the Smothers Brothers TV shows, and for his campaigns for President of the United States in 1968, 1972, 1980, 1988, 1992, and 1996, which had primarily comedic rather than political objectives, although his campaigns generated some protest votes for him.
July
7, 1927
Carl Hilding "Doc" Severinsen the pop and jazz trumpeter is born.
He is best known for leading the NBC Orchestra on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Severinsen was born in Arlington, Oregon, the son of Minnie Mae and Carl Severinsen, who was a dentist. He was nicknamed "Little Doc" after his father, and had originally wanted to play the trombone. But the senior Severinsen, a gifted amateur violinist, urged him to study the violin. The younger Severinsen insisted on the trombone, but had to settle for the only horn available in Arlington's small music store a trumpet. A week later, with the help of his father and a manual of instructions, the seven-year-old was so good that he was invited to join the high school band.
He is best known for leading the NBC Orchestra on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Severinsen was born in Arlington, Oregon, the son of Minnie Mae and Carl Severinsen, who was a dentist. He was nicknamed "Little Doc" after his father, and had originally wanted to play the trombone. But the senior Severinsen, a gifted amateur violinist, urged him to study the violin. The younger Severinsen insisted on the trombone, but had to settle for the only horn available in Arlington's small music store a trumpet. A week later, with the help of his father and a manual of instructions, the seven-year-old was so good that he was invited to join the high school band.
To
quote the Bicentennial Minute, "And that's the way it was".
quote the Bicentennial Minute, "And that's the way it was".
Stay Tuned
Tony Figueroa
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