When Caesar was king : how Sid Caesar reinvented American comedy / David Margolick.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Margolick, David, Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Caesar, Sid, 1922-2014.

Caesar, Sid.

Comedians--United States--Biography.

Comedians.

Jewish comedians--United States--Biography.

Jewish comedians.

Entertainers--United States--Biography.

Entertainers.

Jewish entertainers--United States--Biography.

Jewish entertainers.

Your show of shows (Television program).

Sketch comedy television programs--United States.

Sketch comedy television programs.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

384 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 25 cm

Edition:

First hardcover edition.

Other Title:

How Sid Caesar reinvented American comedy

Place of Publication:

New York : Schocken Books, 2025.

Summary:

When Caesar Was King tells the story of Sid Caesar, television's first true star and the genius behind Your Show of Shows. David Margolick traces Caesar's meteoric rise, his struggles behind the scenes, and his eventual fall from the airwaves--while highlighting his lasting influence on comedy through proťǧs like Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, and Neil Simon.

"By the spring of 1954, Sid Caesar was the most influential, highly paid, and enigmatic comedian in America. Every week, twenty million people tuned their TVs to his NBC extravaganza, Your Show of Shows, and witnessed his virtuosity in sketches and film spoofs, pantomime and soliloquy. Onstage, Caesar could play any character and make it funny: a befuddled game-show contestant, a pretentious German professor, a beleaguered husband (opposite his redoubtable co-star Imogene Coca) -- even a gumball machine and a bottle of seltzer. To Caesar's mostly urban audience, his comedy was an era-defining leap forward from the days of vaudeville, launching a new style of humor that was multilayered and full of character, yet still uproarious. To his rivals, Caesar was the man to beat. To his fellow American Jews, his show's success meant something more: a post-Holocaust symbol of security and a source of great pride. But behind all that Caesar represented was the real Sid. Introverted and volatile, ill at ease in his own skin, he could terrorize his collaborators but reserved his harshest critiques for himself. After barely a decade, he was essentially off the air, beset by exhaustion, addiction, his own impossibly high standards, and changing viewership as television spread to the American heartland. TV's first true comic creation was also its first spectacular flameout. But in his wake came the disciples he personally nurtured -- including Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Neil Simon, and more. Caesar left an indelible impact on what still makes us laugh. In When Caesar Was King, veteran journalist David Margolick conjures this complex man as never before. Deeply researched, brimming with love for Caesar and the culture from which he sprang, and reanimating a New York City that has all but vanished, this rollicking and poignant book traces the rise and fall of a legend." -- Publisher's website.

Contents:

Introduction

Origins

On to television

Your show of shows

Weekly rituals

A "Jewish" show?

Restlessness

That championship season

Caesar's hours

'S wunnerful

The (nearly) fatal bowl of coleslaw

Bottoming out

Epilogue.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Margolick, David When Caesar was king

ISBN:

9780805242553

0805242554

9780805212174

0805212175

OCLC:

1528595109