Having the last laugh... R.I.P. Dom DeLuise

We lost another icon of stage and screen with the passing of the great Dom DeLuise.  Mr. DeLuise left this mortal coil on Monday, leaving behind a legacy of comedy that is beats the best of them.

His passing plus that of Bea Arthur and Danny Gans makes three celebrities (and we all know the rule).    

Among his many awards is, probably my favorite, his 1982 Razzie for his portrayal of Aunt Kate in Haunted Honeymoon.  This movie was a staple of my childhood, along with An American Tail, Oliver and Company, Spaceballs and... perhaps my all-time favorite... The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas!  But his adventures on the small screen will always remind me of what an incredible comedian he was.  His timing was like no other.  Proof positive is here in this 1977 clip from The Muppet Show as the head of Shephards Institute of Animal Protection.  This is funny television people!

He big break came in the late 1960s when he appeared as "Dominick the Great", a terribly inept magician, on the Dean Martin Show - a role he would much later reprise on Sabrina the Teenage Witch.  Luckily his talents (and magic) live in on his children, in particular his son David who stars as a hapless father of teenage wizards in Disney Channel's Wizards of Waverly Place.  

Thank you for a thousand laughs (at least) Mr. DeLuise!

Thank You for Bea-ing a Friend

Broadway and television legend, Bea Arthur, passed away on April 25th at 86. The general public discovered Bea in 1971 when she became Edith Bunker's outspoken sister Maude on

All In The Family.  The following year she took off in
her own series, appropriately titled after her altruistic, yet decidedly aggressive, character.  In 1985, Bea was joined by fellow commediennes Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty in NBC's hit sitcom The Golden Girls.

But Bea Arthur had a long career before taking over the small screen. Her stage career included the 1954 Off-Broadway premiere of Kurt Weill's Threepenny Opera, 1964's Fiddler on the Roof on Broadway where she put audiences in stitches as Yente the Matchmaker and in 1966 she was awarded the Tony® Award for her portrayal of Vera Charles to Angela Lansbury's Mame - which she reprised for the 1974 film version starring Lucille Ball.  I was lucky enough to see her in her final concert on Broadway in Bea Arthur on Broadway.

With this all said, I still love her the most as the self-loathing (and yet proud and determined) Dorothy Zbornak on The Golden Girls. 

In honor of her long career, I wanted to include a few favorite moments from the show plus a highlight from her role in Mame.  Rest in peace Bea!

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Blanche: What do you think of my new dress? Is it me?
Sophia: It's too tight, it's too short, and it shows too much cleavage for a woman your age.
Dorothy: Yes, Blanche. It's you.

Dorothy: So you're five years older. So am I, so is Blanche. Alright, so you have a few more wrinkles. So do I, so does Blanche. OK, so you're a little thicker around the middle. So is Blanche!

Blanche: No, no, no please. I cannot bear that again. She was listening to her car radio, Big Band, not all talk. There was a contest. Something about a little voice, a lucky number and a dime in a door handle, then Bim Bam Boosh, won the tickets.
Dorothy: Take a lesson Rose. That's how you tell a story.

Rose: Well, I'm here if you want to pick my brain.
Dorothy: Rose, honey. Maybe we should leave it alone and let it heal.

Blanche: I do love the rain so. It reminds me of my first kiss.
Dorothy: Ah, you're first kiss was in the rain?
Blanche: No it was in the shower.

Dorothy: The woman keeps a chicken in her home, how normal can she be?
Rose: I kept a chicken in my home.
Dorothy: You see my point?

Blanche: Rose and I are taking a dirty dancing class.
Dorothy: Really.
Blanche: It's become quite popular since that movie came out.
Rose: What movie is that?
Dorothy: Lawrence of Arabia, Rose.

Rose: Dorothy, you owe me an apology. Your ad's right here!
Dorothy: Oh, Rose, this is the personals ad!
Rose: So?
Dorothy: So? You put an ad in the personals that says I will do anything for eight dollars an hour!
Blanche: Girls? There's a busload of Greek sailors outside. They want to know how many drachma there are in eight dollars.

Dorothy: One sperm with a sense of direction and I'm paying for it for the rest of my life.

Mame: Could you be persuaded to have a drink, dear?
Vera Charles: Well, maybe just a tiny triple!

About damned time! Bea inducted!!

Bea Arthur (love her... no seriously, love her dammit) is being inducted into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' Hall of Fame!

The AHall of Fame Committee also selected Dan Burke, Larry Gelbart, Merv Griffin, Tom Murphy and Sherwood Schwartz.

But Bea is by far the most significant (for me). I grew up on Mame, Maude, and the Golden Girls.

Check out this footage of Bea in her Mame glory, performing "The Man in the Moon" from 1994's Jerry Herman's Broadway at the Bowl concert. Pure gold!