Mel Brooks, who was a longtime collaborator with the late Sid Caeser, said, “From my vantage point, which was sometimes no further than an inch from his face, and one time nose on nose, he was inarguably the greatest pantomimist, monologist and single sketch comedian who ever worked in television. His ability to mimic foreign languages in double talk was extraordinary.”
Caesar even brought his multilingual shtick to the Chabad telethon, the Jewish “Show of Shows,” as seen here:
Born in Yonkers to immigrant parents from Poland and Russia, Caeser began his career playing the saxophone and doing some comedy work in the Catskills. His break out gig was the weekly live comedy program “Your Show of Shows.” Writers for the 1950s sketch show included Brooks, Woody Allen, Neil Simon, and Carl Reiner.
“Inarguably he was the greatest single monologist and skit comedian we ever had,” Reiner told The Hollywood Reporter. “Television owes him a debt of gratitude for his pioneering work and the great shows he gave us all. Render onto Caesar what is his due. He deserves real applause from the American people.”
From Brooks: “Sid Caesar was a giant — maybe the best comedian who ever practiced the trade. And I was privileged to be one of his writers and one of his friends.”
Below is Caeser’s skit with Reiner and Imogene Coca as a bull fighter.
