Under the Radar: Dick Shawn

 

Shawn was born on this day in 1923, but it's his death in 1987 that remains noteworthy (albeit in a morbid sort of way):

Apparently, no thought it all that unusual when the Shawn fell face first onto the stage right in the middle of his act. After all, he had a very physical, manic comedy style noted for its utter unpredictability. As far as the audience was concerned, it was a supreme act of slapstick that put Dick Van Dyke's trip over the ottoman to shame. Except in Shawn's case, Mary Tyler Moore and Morey Amsterdam didn't run out and help him to his feet. Shawn just laid there for a few minutes until a stagehand (who at first also thought it was part of the act) came out to check on him. Someone in the audience, thinking the stagehand was part of the act, yelled out, "Take his wallet!" Soon a doctor showed up, and then paramedics. The audience was asked to leave, though a few in the theatre stuck around a little while longer, maybe thinking there that, sooner or later, there must be a punchline.

At this point you may be thinking, "Well, if I were in that audience, I would have known something was wrong right away." Well, you know what they say, hindsight is a TV newsmagazine. Meanwhile, here's Dick Shawn sometime in the 1950s. And don't worry. He survives this one:

  

Watching that, it's hard for me to know if he was parodying old-time show biz or in fact embodying it. One person reportedly influenced by Shawn was Andy Kaufman (whose own death from cancer was thought by some to be a put-on.) After viewing this clip, I can believe it.

Their paths crossed?! I luv it!

Growing up I was unaware of Dick Shawn's stage act. Instead, I knew him as someone who kept popping up in 1960s comedies. It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World was one. What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? was another. And then there this much more briefly titled 1967 film:

If you squint at the row of pictures at the bottom, you'll see Shawn, third from the right.

Years later, in this interview conducted by Eight is Enough star Dick Van Patten (?), Shawn was asked about Brooks first directorial effort: 

The character of Lorenzo St. DuBois (LSD) was jettisoned from the 1990s Broadway adaption. I don't know why, but it's just as well. Shawn was gone by then, and I think he may have been the only one who could have done the role justice. Watch:

 

Funny, sure, but will it play in Nuremburg?