Marty Feldman

Martin Alan Feldman (July 8, 1934 – December 2, 1982) was a British writer, comedian and film and television actor, famous for his bulging eyes, which were the result of a thyroid condition.

Related Topics:
July 8 - 1934 - December 2 - 1982 - British - Film - Television - Thyroid

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He was born in London's East End section, the son of Jewish immigrants from Kiev. Leaving school at 15, Feldman started his show-business career as a trumpet player (like Spike Milligan) but soon turned to comedy. He formed a flourishing writing partnership with Barry Took in 1954. For British television they wrote situation comedies such as The Army Game, Bootsie and Snudge, and most notably the ground-breaking BBC radio show Round the Horne, which starred Kenneth Horne and Kenneth Williams. Feldman was also a writer on The Frost Report with several future members of Monty Python.

Related Topics:
Jewish - Trumpet - Spike Milligan - Comedy - Barry Took - 1954 - British television - Situation comedies - The Army Game - Bootsie and Snudge - Round the Horne - Kenneth Horne - Kenneth Williams - The Frost Report - Monty Python

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The television sketch comedy series At Last the 1948 Show featured Feldman's first on-screen performances. In one memorable sketch, first broadcast on March 1, 1967, Feldman harassed a patient shop assistant (John Cleese) for a series of fictitious books, finally achieving success with Ethel the Aardvark goes Quantity Surveying. The sketch was revived as part of the Monty Python stage show repertoire, and on Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album (both without Feldman).

Related Topics:
Sketch comedy - At Last the 1948 Show - March 1 - 1967 - John Cleese - Aardvark - Monty Python

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Following his success on At Last the 1948 Show, Feldman had a memorable series of his own shows on the BBC, called It's Marty, which also featured Tim Brooke-Taylor and John Junkin. His performances on American television included The Dean Martin Show and Marty Feldman's Comedy Machine. He is best remembered for his role as the hunchback Igor (pronounced as eye-gor) in Young Frankenstein—in which, as usual, many of his lines were improvised.

Related Topics:
BBC - It's Marty - Tim Brooke-Taylor - John Junkin - American television - The Dean Martin Show - Hunchback - Young Frankenstein

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He also released one long playing record called I Feel A Song Going Off (1969), re-released as The Crazy World of Marty Feldman. The songs were written, not by him, but by Dennis King, John Junkin and Bill Solly (a writer for Max Bygraves and The Two Ronnies).1

Related Topics:
John Junkin - Max Bygraves - The Two Ronnies

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Feldman was an active member of the Communist Party of Great Britain.

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Feldman appeared in The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes's Smarter Brother and several Mel Brooks films, including Silent Movie and Young Frankenstein. He directed and starred in The Last Remake of Beau Geste and died from a heart attack in Mexico filming his last performance in the film Yellowbeard.

Related Topics:
The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes's Smarter Brother - Mel Brooks - Silent Movie - Young Frankenstein - The Last Remake of Beau Geste - Heart attack - Mexico - Yellowbeard

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According to Mel Brooks on the DVD commentary of Young Frankenstein, Feldman suffered a heart attack because he was a heavy smoker (smoking half a carton of cigarettes a day), drank copious amounts of black coffee, and was a vegetarian (he ate eggs and dairy products to compensate for the lack of meat, though they clogged his arteries). Also, the high altitude in Mexico forced his overtaxed heart and lungs to work harder, making a heart attack almost inevitable.

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