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:
Funny, sure, but how will it play in Nuremburg?
I don't remember him at all. As I do, I go for the bottom rung and remark that his name with a changed spelling of his last name would be interesting.
ReplyDeleteOver my head, Andrew.
DeleteHello Kirk, I have never heard of Dick Shawn, and it's too bad he died so young. Your blog performs a good service in paying homage to performers--both the well-known and the semi-forgotten.
ReplyDelete--Jim
Jim, this is why it's one of my "Under the Radar" posts, the only kind of post where I actually put the person's name in the title.
DeleteI can see why Andy Kaufman would have admired his style of comedy!
ReplyDeleteDebra, it makes me wonder what Kaufman would have been like in The Producers.
DeleteOr Shawn in Taxi.
DeleteI forgot how funny and versatile (and clownish) he was. I also had no idea he could move so well. Great video choices.
ReplyDeleteMitchell, it looks like Shawn may have invented break dancing in that one video.
DeleteI love things from the early 1900s. Thank you 😊 so much for sharing this ❤️ 💖
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked it, Linda.
DeleteHello Kirk,
ReplyDeleteWe had never heard of Dick Shawn.....until now. But, this is certainly a somewhat morbid way of finding out more about him.
Only the other day we saw a compilation of a number of "celebrities" who have died whilst performing. This must be an occupational hazard....just too much excitement perhaps? And, it is strange to think about how one might react in such circumstances. One expects a stage performance to be unreal, so it may take an audience some time to see the real tragedy!
Jane and Lance, whenever I do posts about notable people, I usually don't bother with the manner in which the person died (not even when it's an obituary!) This time I did because it reflected Shawn's unpredictability as a performer. And I wanted his death at the beginning, so the rest of the post could "explain" why an audience may have mistaken it for make-believe.
ReplyDelete