HIirschfeld's World of Comedy

 Here are some of my favorite comedians as seen by Al Hirschfeld:

Charlie Chaplin                                                      Buster Keaton 

Harold Lloyd

                                                                                                                        The Marx Brothers

Laurel & Hardy
 

W.C. Fields, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Groucho Marx

 ZaSu Pitts

The Marx Brothers

                                                                                Danny Kaye

   Bob Hope

Abbott & Costello

Martin & Lewis

Jerry Lewis Woody Allen

                              The cast of "What's New, Pussycat?"

The cast of SEINFELD

AL HIRSCHFELD

One of my most admired cartoonists has always been Al Hirschfeld.

His way of capturing likenesses and translating them into simple, flowing and dynamic lines is absolutely amazing and even poetic.

His caricatures are widely known and renowned, and almost every self-respecting cartoonist has learned part of his craft by studying Hirschfeld's renderings.

                                       

Yesterday, I paid a visit to the famed Algonquin Hotel located at 59, West 44th Street in Midtown Manhattan and was greeted by some framed examples of Al Hirschfeld's artwork.

  

The story of the Algonquin Hotel is part of New York City's folklore and so is Mr. Hirschfeld.
Al Hirschfeld was born in St. Louis, Missouri on June 21, 1903 and died January 20, 2003 at the age of 99.           

In 1943, Hirschfeld married famous European actress Dolly Haas and they had one daughter, Nina, born in 1945. After her birth, Hirschfeld developed the habit of hiding her name, spelled in capital letters, on most every drawing he did thereafter. The number of NINAs concealed in every drawing was shown next to the artist's signature.  It quickly became a favorite pastime to try and find out the hidden NINAs in the cartoons.

The Genius of Peter Sellers!

Admittedly a very controversial and enigmatic person in private, Peter Sellers was nevertheless, a master of comedy and a fine, versatile actor. His multiple roles in a wide variety of films reveal him to be a prolific and highly talented performer.

THE PINK PANTHER (1964) and its sequels, type-cast Sellers as the bumbling inspector Clouseau; however, his skills reached even further as witnessed by his next to last performance in 1980's BEING THERE.

Gone much too soon and missed by legions of adoring fans, Sellers rightfully earned his place among the pantheon of great film comedians.

Among his many film credits, are THE MOUSE THAT ROARED, THE LADYKILLERS, LOLITA, DR. STRANGELOVE OR: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB,

THE PARTY, AFTER THE FOX, THERE'S A GIRL IN MY SOUP, WHAT'S NEW, PUSSYCAT?, CASINO ROYALE, MURDER BY DEATH and of course, the five PINK PANTHER movies.                                                                     
             
                                    

MAD MAGAZINE ceases publishing.

                          MAD Magazine #95, from June 1965, the first Mad Magazine I ever read!

I was 14 years old when I read my first MAD Magazine. I became hooked instantly to its insane parodies and sarcastic brand of humor. My biggest idol was Mort Drucker and his spot-on caricatures. I also became a fan of Sergio Aragones, Don Martin, Jack Davis, Dick DeBartolo, Dave Berg, Joe Orlando, Wallace Wood, George Woodbridge, Paul Coker Jr., Jack Rickard, Angelo Torres, Al Jaffee and the rest of the Usual Gang of Idiots who contributed for the magazine up until the late nineties. My sense of humor was greatly influenced by all of them and I Iearned the craft of cartooning by studying their artwork.
It's sad to see the magazine disappear from the newsstands but I am not sorry to see it go as I had actually stopped reading it by 2005. The magazine ceased to be as sharp and funny as it originally was and none of the newer artists appealed to me as much as the older ones had.
For me, MAD Magazine had pretty much died as soon as the 21st century began.
Long Live MAD!

Thank You All!

The Mighty 68!

                                          Another great moment in my birthday history!