Sid Caesar on PERSON TO PERSON with Edward R Murrow (Oct 1, 1954)

A real treat for Sid Caesar fans, this is a 12 minute segment from Edward R. Murrow's "Person to Person" featuring Sid and his wife, Florence. Though Sid talked about her often, and always in the most glowing terms, this is the first I've ever seen her interviewed on camera. We also get a precious glimpse of Sid with his son Richard and daughter Michelle.
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[@philsooty61]

I'm a brit but must say this guy is one of the funniest men I've seen, and when he was at is most highest we in the UK didn't see him cos his shows weren't available to us, now after all these years thanks to KZbin I'm seeing just how hilarious he was, and also the cast in his shows where brilliant as well.

[@Experternas]

Sid has been my favorite comedian for years when i discovered him and this clip cemented my beliefe that he was a wonderful human as well.

[@Gypsyqueen-lt7tq]

I've been a Sid Caesar fan my entire life as the first movie I ever remember loving was "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World." That said, I've only recently begun to appreciate what a distinctive artist he was -- I can't think of anyone else who better joined the worlds of vaudeville & early television with latter-day sketch comedy. He was a maestro, and I don't think his contributions to entertainment & culture will ever be fully recognized . . . .

[@SB-hc1nt]

This happens to be one of my favorite person to person interviews. My great great aunt always loved Sid Caesar. I still love "Show of Shows" the man was a comic genius. The deer story was different, but he knew his weapons. I still love the story Mel Brooks tells about Caesar hanging him be his feet upside out side of a hotel room window and asked he felt cooler now. I wouldn't put it past him he was extremely physically strong and imposing.

[@Gypsyqueen-lt7tq]

Love the part where Sid kisses his lovely wife's hand and says, "she's beautiful, and ya gotta pay attention!" So sweet!! He wasn't always the best husband, but I do think he loved -- and respected-- her very much. In fact, in an interview after she died, Sid praised her for being "so much smarter than" he was and for giving him an appreciation for literature and art. I appreciated his modesty and his feminist tendencies, which put him very ahead of his time. Thanks for posting.

[@davidstrickler5362]

Just finished Sid's autobiography. He put himself through so much torture for feeling guilty about being more successful than his father, and he took it out on everyone, but then he was so brilliant that he figured out his own way to heal.

[@giles422]

fantastic, beautiful, priceless, thanks!

[@sidcaesaryourshowofshowsca2250]

giles422 You're welcome-- glad you enjoyed it! :)

[@11redlions]

i was a very little girl but i loved him so much

[@LenHummelChannel]

*Sid was definitely a comedic giant. a genius. but his life really spun out of control for many years. He never managed the transition from TV to movies.*

[@daniellack3559]

In watching many interviews with Sid (on youtube), his complete love was for live television (as it was done almost exclusively in the very earliest days of tv)...that is what really got him going...but the pressures were so enormous as the star, to come up live for 90 minutes/week for 39 weeks, that drink and pills were the only way he found to make it happen...movies never really interested him, following a script with multiple takes for mistakes, were never his thing....he just peaked at such an early age...that was the sadness...

[@Gypsyqueen-lt7tq]

So very much enjoying all the intriguing insights presented here! Y'know, I watched this interview @ 18 months ago, and it really inspired me to revisit Sid Caesar's life and career. I absolutely love how he & his wife come across as a highly intelligent, yet introverted & unassuming couple. What's more, I find it refreshing that neither of them is cracking jokes or otherwise trying to be "on" -- though Sid's line "about not being a comedian at home" sounds almost apologetic. Everything I've read by and about him suggests that he was a shy man who felt somewhat overshadowed by all the boisterous raconteurs & smart-alecks whose company he kept. (And, truly, I can only imagine how draining it must have been for an introvert to have to spend so much time w/ the likes of Milton Berle & Mel Brooks -- not to mention all the studio execs who were always pressuring Sid to change -- i.e., "dumb down" -- the formats of his shows.) No wonder he felt so anxious & inadequate -- and, consequently, drank & popped pills to excess. Ironically, Sid likely would've been better remembered if he'd OD-ed -- or otherwise flamed out & died -- ala Lenny Bruce or John Belushi. Regardless, I for one really admire Sid for conquering his demons and persevering -- even when he had to suffer the indignity of being professionally usurped by so many of the folks who'd once worked w/ him. I read once where poor Sid admitted he was jealous as he** -- but he didn't begrudge them their success. All in all, he was a survivor & a class act -- not to mention a consummate artist. Though obivously best-remembered for comedy, he also was a first-rate dramatic actor, who probably could've won an Oscar -- like fellow TV legend & Yonkers resident, Art Carney -- if only personal & professional crises hadn't intervened.

[@daniellack3559]

I was under the impression that during the '50s as Sid was really starting to make very big money that he and his family lived in the beautiful Long Island NY suburb of Great Neck (Kings Point)..perhaps he also had an apartment in NYC or maybe when doing Caesar's Hour he moved back to NYC?

[@MatsThyWit]

I imagine he had an apartment un the city to move the family to for the several weeks of television he would have been doing at that time. I imagine the lake house was for when he was off.

[@RubberChickenFilms]

Sid Caesar hunting is an odd image, but then again he was a pretty interesting cat.

[@Gypsyqueen-lt7tq]

LOL -- I really love that part of the interview! Mr. Sid was one of a kind . .. .

[@thomaswolf723]

I always thought that Jews (of which I am one) did not engage in hunting.

[@Gypsyqueen-lt7tq]

Interesting observation. Unlike his protege, Mel Brooks -- or Woody Allen, for that matter -- Sid didn't emphasize his Jewishness, at least not publicly. (I have no idea how it informed his private life.) That said, I've read elsewhere that Sid was so traumatized by killing the deer that he later gave up hunting. (Though, apparently, he saved the robust gun collection for firing at seltzer cans in the Catskills.) I still can't quite get over the weird juxtaposition of all those firearms in a Park Avenue penthouse, LOL . . . .

[@DJWOLFLIVE]

A little known fact, Richard Pryor appears in one of his first movies with Sid Ceaser in 1966 or 1967. I forgot the name of the movie.

[@lisah670]

The Busy Body :)

[@Gypsyqueen-lt7tq]

Haven't seen "The Busy Body" all the way through -- though I did enjoy the excerpts featuring Sid & the late, great Richard Pryor. Interestingly, I was reading a Pryor biography that referenced "Body" as being *his* debut film -- but also mentioned that it tanked at the box office, in part b/c audiences were turned off by Sid's dramatic weight loss. And, to be honest, this film marked a turning point where Sid *did* start looking frail and sickly. That disturbed me b/c I always thought he was such a strapping hunk in his younger days. (To me, he looked like a cross b/t Robert de Niro & Alec Baldwin . . . only hotter!) Sadly, in later interviews, Sid often disparage his younger self for being a glutton, which suggests he might've had (unfounded) body-image issues & subsequently developed an eating disorder -- much like fellow comedic great Peter Sellers.

[@Gypsyqueen-lt7tq]

Thanks, :Lisa -- and please take care of yourself!!!

[@jojoUK120]

5:42 😱 Oy gevalt!!!

[@NuttyIsa]

It's strange the way Sid is different in this interview, compared to the loud characters he plays in his shows. I heard several interviews where coworkers mentioned Sid's shyness but it's actually the first time I see that myself in a interview. Sid confessed he was not a good father but seeing him playing with his son Rick kinda melted my heart, the way he laugh joking with his son was pure, maybe he was sober in that moment... I hope he became a better father arter quitting alcohol in the 70s. My 2 cents about Florence being a little uncomfortable speaking about their private life I think is even because Sid problems were a secret only few people knew about and I can see by her face how hard is giving an answer like "he is not funny all the time", she loved him so much but she also suffered a lot. Are there any other interviews from the 50s? I would LOVE to watch them!

[@Gypsyqueen-lt7tq]

Thanks for adding your reflections on this great man. I truly loved Sid -- he was definitely shy -- i.e., "not a comedian, actually" by the standards of his time. I've heard & read a lot about how in his early years he was friendless & didn't exacty inspire confidence in his teachers (one of them actually called him stupid & hoped he'd one day "at least be able to at least drive a truck"). Absorbing all that made me realize how frustrated & determined he must have been to "make his mark" someday -- and I daresay he did. There's a sweetness & authenticity that comes through in this interview. Maybe b/c I'm an introvert myself, I absolutely love how sweet & awkward both Sid & his lovely wife, Florence, are here. Their kids are cute, too -- both quite big & slightly chubby for their respective ages (which reminds me of my own). Sid definitely conveys his love for his family here -- and while subsequent interviews are a reminder that he was far from the greatest husband/father, I give him kudos for admitting that -- and I also think he might have actually sold himself short. He wasn't the greatest, by any means, but it's clear he put his family first from several anecdotes where Mel Brooks (amongst others) tried to get him to try his chances in Hollywood -- but he couldn't bring himself to get out of a highly lucrative contract & uproot his famly in NY. He was, like so many of us, trying to get by & support his family the best way he could -- and he understandably felt like he couldn't take too many chances ('cause, in his early years, he'd been flat broke & knew how horrible that was -- the residuals of that desperation informed his comedy & lent so much to its poignance & enduring relevance). Thanks so very much for posting.

[@savethetpc6406]

Sid and his wife both seemed very nervous to be doing this interview, didn't they? A bit awkward at times, but some interesting insights.

[@sidcaesaryourshowofshowsca2250]

He was totally uncomfortable speaking as himself, out of character. You can even on his own shows that he rushed through the intros he had to do to get into the actual routines as quickly as possible.

[@rayjr62]

Agreed. Though it appears as though he did have some hobbies (hunting and being an outdoorsman seems to be two of them) where he could unwind from the pressures of work in show business.

[@daniellack3559]

From the interviews on Y/T with Sid and others who worked with him for years, Sid was a perfectionist who was consumed with the pressures of getting a 90 minute live tv program on the air every week for an amazing 39 weeks /yr..I don't think he ever allowed himself the luxury of any hobbies...the pressure of course was so overwhelming, that Sid resorted to booze and pills, to try to get some sleep ...and by the end of his fabulous run in the late '50s, he was a washed out wreck...

[@Brace67]

You are absolutely right. I recall my dad who was a big fan of Sid Caesar saying exactly the same thing to me many years ago. My dad observed that Caesar seemed uncomfortable with dialog that wasn't scripted or was off the cuff. He often stumbled or stammered when speaking out of character and yet could speak with seeming perfection when playing a character in a comedic sketch. Mel Brooks, one of his writers at the time, called Sid Caesar the greatest comedic sketch artist of all time.

[@Gypsyqueen-lt7tq]

Wasn't Peter Sellers also loathe to appear as "himself" (i.e., out of character). Actually, the same can probably said of a lot of performers in general -- and comedians in particular. Poignantly, I read that Sid didn't learn to talk until he was @ 4 =-- and that was also the year he had to start first grade (b/c the rest of his family all had to work -- and, presumably, couldn't afford child care). Anyway, I read that Sid was perceived by his teachers & fellow students as being mute & rather dim-witted. That probably did wonders for his self-esteem (sarcasm) -- but it might've made him a better comedian, since he probably gravitated towards alternative forms of communication (like double-talk & pantomime). Plus, even in character, Sid did always exude a rather embattled & neurotic vibe -- as exemplified by his turn as "Melville" the dentist in "Mad World," where he implored his lovely wife, "Monica," to "have a little confidence in [him]!?" Think a lot of that insecurity was probably rooted in being derided as "dumb" when he was a child.

[@nonenoneonenonenone]

It's shocking to see his gun room.

[@davidstrickler5362]

He had a lot of pent up aggression, and it helped him alleviate some of it.