Eddie Lawrence
This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
Eddie Lawrence (born Lawrence Eisler; March 2, 1919 – March 25, 2014) was an American
Early career
Born Lawrence Eisler in
By the early 1950s, now known as Eddie Lawrence, he continued to appear in clubs of minor reputation[
The Old Philosopher
In September 1956, a single titled "The Old Philosopher" rose to the
Speaking in a comically downtrodden, empathetic voice, and accompanied by an accordion rendition of "Beautiful Dreamer", he begins "Hiya, folks," followed by "You say you lost your job today..." and then a litany of improbable disasters like "ya say your wife went out for a corned beef sandwich last weekend, and the corned beef sandwich came back but she didn't," "Your daughter's goin' out with a convict," and "Your wife just confessed she gave your last 60 dollars as a deposit on an airplane hangar" or "you say you can't pull your car outa the mud and you're in the middle of nowhere and it's pouring rain and you can't get the top back up, and your paycheck's all blurred, and your foot went right through the gas and your girl's screaming bloody murder she's scared of the dark, and a stroke of lightning splits your motor in half and your suit's shrinkin up fast, and you start up the windy road on foot and 60 yards of barbed wire hits you right smack in the puss, and you both fall down in the mud and then a wild animal comes over and runs away with your shoes, and your car blows up suddenly and your windshield wiper ends up in your mouth, and you can't move and the mud's rising up to your nostrils and you're sinkin fast, and you don't hear your girl screaming any more" - a pause as the background music retires, and Eddie asks plaintively, "Is that what's troubling you, friend?"
Suddenly, cymbals crash and a brassy rendition of "National Emblem" plays as Eddie declaims in full voice,
Well, lift your head up high and take a walk in the sun with that dignity and stick-to-it-iveness and you'll show the world, you'll show them where to get off, you'll never give up, never give up, never give up— [two drumbeats] —that ship!
Those sentiments are followed by a recitation of another round of silly misfortunes and foolish optimism, then another rallying cry, and then still another round. After three rounds of this routine, Lawrence ended his number by saying, "And now, this is the Old Philosopher, saying so long, folks." This was followed by a short series of drum beats and a sound of a struggle, indicating that he used a gun on himself to commit suicide.
The success of the single made Eddie Lawrence a minor celebrity and helped the sales of his two previously released LPs. The initial one, The Garden of Eddie Lawrence (
While writing the routines for a follow-up album, he was rehearsing for his first full-fledged Broadway show. Bells Are Ringing, a new musical by Jule Styne, Betty Comden and Adolph Green, which opened at the Shubert Theatre on November 29, 1956, with Judy Holliday in the lead. In the supporting cast for most of its run, Eddie Lawrence played Sandor, with the role preserved for posterity on the original cast album (Columbia OL 5170). Closing night, more than two years and 924 performances later, was March 7, 1959.[citation needed]
The second Coral LP, The Side-Splitting Personality of Eddie Lawrence (CRL 57371) came out in 1957. It contained only one "Old Philosopher" track, but the other routines were the usual bizarre mix that pleased his fans. Especially deft were the parodies of The Untouchables ("The Unbreakables") and Casablanca ("Play the Music, Sol"), with an inspired impression of Peter Lorre. There were two "Old Philosopher" tracks on The Kingdom of Eddie Lawrence (Coral 57203), his next LP, which came out just before Christmas. Taking note of the season, one of the other tracks, "That Holiday Spirit" was a bizarre routine with a character whom listeners may judge to be a combination of "The Old Philosopher" and Ebenezer Scrooge, denouncing Christmas and various other holidays, including Halloween, while an annoyed, Wally Cox-like, voice is heard piping up occasionally with "... will you shut up?". The album cover depicts Eddie sitting in a throne-like chair, wearing what appears to be a white bathrobe and a Prince Valiant wig held by a metallic ring shaped like the base of a crown, while gazing sideways with an exasperatedly worried expression on his face.[citation needed]
1959 saw the release of Eddie the Old Philosopher (Coral 57155) which contained four "Old Philosopher" routines as well as "Memories of Louise" in which a sentimental Eddie remembers his boyhood love — " ... who could predict then that from a little fibber you'd grow into a dangerous paranoid liar? ... ah, the way you used to stick your finger in my eye ... " Another well-remembered routine, "Television Highlights", was a series of parodies which sent up popular television commercials of the era. 1987–1992 saw the return of his role on
Lawrence also did a Christmas version of the "Old Philosopher" routine.
Cartoon series at Famous Studios
In 1960 he began a six-year association with
All of the films, except one, clocked in at 7 minutes. An extended-length title, Abner the Baseball, was a 16-minute special seen in November 1961, based upon a tale which was among the tracks on The Kingdom of Eddie Lawrence LP. It is a first-person account by an
. Bizarre whimsy, as usual, was the order of the day.It was also in evidence in 1963's 7 Characters in Search of Eddie Lawrence (Coral 57411), his fifth and final Coral LP. It had three new "Old Philosopher" routines, including "The Lawyer's Philosopher" — "Hey there, Mouthpiece. You say you represent a man for jaywalking and they hang him? ... Is that what's marrin' your day, Darrow? Well, lift your head up high and sway that jury in a high baritone voice ... remember — if crime didn't pay, you'd be out of work!"
Children's television host
Concurrent with his work on the Famous Studios cartoons, for a 13-month period from September 1963 to October 1964,
Broadway: Kelly and Sherry!
The hosting stint, however, came to a premature end because of another Broadway show. Lawrence had written the book and lyrics for a musical entitled Kelly. Moose Charlap was the composer, Herbert Ross the director and choreographer, and David Susskind and Joseph E. Levine the producers. With such high-powered names at the helm, there was high expectation of success and Eddie Lawrence, the show's author, was expected to assure it by attending all the rehearsals. The first preview was set for February 1, 1965 and opening night for February 6. At the end of October 1964, he hosted his final "Three Stooges show", said goodbye to his loyal viewers, and exited, trailing a banner across the television screen, emblazoned with the word KELLY.[citation needed]
Kelly became embroiled in controversy when producers Susskind and Levine began to demand extensive changes during rehearsals and out-of-town tryouts. While originally signing onto Lawrence's and Charlap's edgy concept of a darkly comic musical about corruption in old New York, they soon panicked over its perceived lack of commercial appeal, despite some good reviews on the road, and hired new writers in spite of the authors' objections. By the time Kelly's February 6 opening night at the
One lasting legacy from Kelly has been the song "I'll Never Go There Anymore", recorded by many artists over the years.
A few months after the Kelly disappointment, one last LP appeared, Is That What's Bothering You Bunkie (Epic LN 24159). Taking its title from "The Old Philosopher"'s catchphrase, Bunkie contained five new "Old Philosopher" monologues and six other routines.
Eddie Lawrence continued to perform in clubs and, in 1967, joined the cast of yet another Broadway musical,
Eddie Lawrence in the movies
Eddie Lawrence's film appearances were, at best, an afterthought to his other activities. Between 1968 and 1978, he had small roles in five features, starting with
On February 22, 1971, Eddie appeared as a guest on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show (which, until May 1972, was based in New York), performing a five-minute Old Philosopher routine at the end of which Carson was laughing loudly and repeating some of its lines and, in 1974, he was heard as the announcer on a television advertisement for John Lennon and Harry Nilsson's album, Pussy Cats, which also included contributions by Ringo Starr and Keith Moon.
Eddie Lawrence's remaining three films were
Later years
Fourteen years after Sherry!, Eddie Lawrence had one final encounter with Broadway. At the age of 62, he was again the writer and, in his sole such outing, director of a Broadway show. The comedy Animals consisted of three one-act plays, The Beautiful Mariposa, Louie and the Elephant and Sort of an Adventure. The first of nine previews at the Princess Theater was on April 14, 1981. Like Kelly, Animals closed on its opening night, April 22. There was no cast album.[citation needed]
Thirteen years later and thirty years after Bunkie, his 1964 Epic release, the 75-year-old Eddie Lawrence had his first new album. 1994's The Jazzy Old Philosopher (Red Dragon JK 57756) showed that the veteran monologist had not lost his unique touch. The CD consisted of 58 minutes of the traditional and the new, with names such as Mick Jagger, Axl Rose, Boy George and Sinéad O'Connor dropped into the routines — "You say your grandpa's in the hospital again because he tried to make a citizen's arrest of Mick Jagger? Is that what's got you down in the dumps, homeboy?" He died in Manhattan on March 25, 2014, twenty-three days after his 95th birthday.[3]
Discography
- 19** - The Kingdom of Eddie Lawrence (Coral CRL 57203)
- 1957 - 'The Old Philosopher (Coral CRL 57103)
- 1965 - "Is that what's bothering you, Bunkie?"
References
- ^ "Eddie Lawrence papers 1948-1999".
- ^ Evanier, Mark. "Eddie Lawrence, R.I.P." NewsFromeMe.com. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
- ^ Yardley, William (March 30, 2014). "Eddie Lawrence, Comedian, Actor and Pitchman, Is Dead at 95". New York Times. Retrieved June 8, 2016.
- Ragan, David (1992). Who's Who in Hollywood, page 943. New York: Facts on File. ISBN 0-8160-2009-4(this reference lists Eddie Lawrence's year of birth as 1921).
External links
- Eddie Lawrence at IMDb
- Eddie Lawrence at the Internet Broadway Database
- Eddie Lawrence at Internet Off-Broadway Database[dead link]
- An interview with Eddie Lawrence, July 2011
- Discussion of phrases used by Eddie Lawrence in his Old Philosopher routines
- Eddie Lawrence papers at the American Heritage Center