Obit: Dom DeLuise, 75

[Stanislav]

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/05/05/obit.deluise/

You've no doubt heard by now, but I thought some might like to comment. Yes, he was better known for his movie work, but he did some TV: quite a few guest roles, some cartoon voices, regular appearances with Dean Martin and Glen Campbell on their shows, and of course his one major foray into series TV: Lotsa Luck on NBC (1973-74). (The latter was an American adaptation of the Britcom On the Buses.) Also hosted that brief Candid Camera revival in 1991-92.

One of his last non-voiceover TV roles was on Stargate SG-1. Since his son Peter directed a ton of Stargate episodes, it was probably inevitable that Dom would sooner or later be persuaded to make an appearance. Interestingly, I recall from Stargate fan boards that his role on the show sharply divided fans: the U.S. folks who knew and loved him tended to like the episode, while Brits and Euros who are less familiar with his work tended to find him annoying. :

He gave us many laughs over the years. R.I.P.

 

[Ultimajock]

...the following was more than half of the script for my news commentary podcast today (at http://kingdaevid.podbean.com should anyone in this neck of the cyberwoods be interested in hearing the thing)...


Finally, whenever Lenny Bruce was asked who his favourite comedian was, the expected answer was probably one of his topical contemporaries, like Mort Sahl, Dick Gregory or even Brother Dave Gardner. However, Lenny would always respond by naming George Gobel as his favourite. That would always surprise the questioner, but Lenny explained that, while Gobel was an unquestionably funny guy, he seemed to be nobody else's favourite comedian. So George Gobel became Lenny Bruce's favourite comedian. I don't know exactly what Gobel thought of that, or even if wind of that fact ever got back to him.

But I have to admit that, for much the same reason, one of my very favourite comedians was Dom DeLuise. He always seemed to be the super-silly type of comic who would do slapstick, like the night – preserved now in a YouTube video that Mark Evanier has embedded on his blog site http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2009_05_05.html#017073 – when he showed up on Johnny Carson's talk show, performed a trick involving raw eggs, and then joined Carson in messing the NBC studio, and each other, with those same eggs.

He constantly worked with Mel Brooks and Burt Reynolds in some movies that were classics – Blazing Saddles and History of the World Part One come most immediately to mind from the first collaboration – and sometimes just an excuse to have fun while making a movie – the Cannonball Run movies and Smokey & The Bandit Part 2 come to mind from the latter collaboration. He even got a chance to direct a fairly good one, the comedy Hot Stuff, back in 1979.

But what may surprise you is how brilliantly subtle he was in his first motion picture, a distinctly serious film from 1964 called Fail-Safe. In that one, a technical snafu sends American bombers the wrong codes, which leads the bombers to follow the mission the codes indicate: nuke Moscow. In the story, we see the codes being physically loaded by a Sgt. Collins at NORAD in Omaha. Modern day audiences chuckle at that moment, as we've been conditioned to – Sgt. Collins was played by Dom DeLuise.

We later see him in one other very important point in the film. His commander, General Bogan (played by another underrated actor, Frank Overton) orders Sgt. Collins to tell his Soviet counterparts on a hotline telephone hookup how they are able to knock the American bombers out of the sky. In his dialogue, Sgt. Collins does exactly that. But Sgt. Collins is also very nervous, realising that he was the one to load the codes that started this whole mess. Was it his error, or only the computer's, that put the world on the brink of nuclear catastrophe? His voice quivers at one point, he shudders at another, and as he turns to go back to his station, the expression on his face conveys the sharp anxiety he feels for having had the duty of telling those men he has been conditioned to consider his adversaries how to kill his own comrades in arms. With this brief appearances in a picture completely devoid of laughter, Dom DeLuise proved he was as fine a tragedian as he was a comedian. Acting students can do much worse than to study this short piece of film. It may have been his briefest role, but it was also one of his most effective.

Dom DeLuise was 75 years old when he died in his sleep last night. He had been battling both congestive heart failure and prostate cancer for several years. He left the world a legacy of laughter that his reflections and shadows will continue to generate for generations to come, provided we don't do what was depicted in Fail-Safe. At the very least, he definitely improved the world with his presence in it, and those of us who have faith in God, or Gods, can certainly thank our respective God or Gods for Dominick DeLuise being placed among us for the time that he was.

 

[radioman148]

His famous egg trick on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson was classic.

 

[bpatrick]

He was Jackie Gleason's summer replacement
in 1968, but in an odd scheduling move CBS
put him Wednesdays at 10 rather than Saturdays
at 7:30; the Saturday slot went to Patrick McGoohan's
"The Prisoner." Yet CBS considered "The Dom DeLuise
Show" to be Gleason's replacement.

I'm reminded of a story: one time (I think it was after
he'd made "History Of The World") he was going to be
interviewed on WCBS's 5 PM news. He called his mom
and told her to be sure to tune in to Channel 2 at 5:00.
"I watch Channel 7," she told him.

I particularly liked his Brando-as-the-Godfather impression
in "Robin Hood: Men In Tights."

He was indeed a funny man, but I think one who was
best taken in small doses, like Jerry Lewis or Jonathan Winters.

 

[mleach]

Dom DeLuise I believe was one of their first celebrities ( heck people for that matter ) who got into VTRs, as in personal Video tape recorders back in the 60s.

Dom was in a pretty good crowd back then among early VTR owners....Elvis Presley, Sharon Tate & Roman Polanski, Hugh Hefner, Tommy Smothers, Carol Burnett & Joe Hamilton, Dick Clark, Red Skelton, and of course..Bob Crane. Talk about an intresting crowd of different types of people. Imagine Skelton-Tate-DeLuise-Presley-Hefner...all at the same party?

 

[hubcity]

Dom DeLuise I believe was one of their first celebrities ( heck people for that matter ) who got into VTRs, as in personal Video tape recorders back in the 60s.

Dom was in a pretty good crowd back then among early VTR owners....Elvis Presley, Sharon Tate & Roman Polanski, Hugh Hefner, Tommy Smothers, Carol Burnett & Joe Hamilton, Dick Clark, Red Skelton, and of course..Bob Crane. Talk about an intresting crowd of different types of people. Imagine Skelton-Tate-DeLuise-Presley-Hefner...all at the same party?

One wonders how viewable that personally-recorded stuff might be...might be nice to fill gaps in the presumed-lost video history of that era. (They're still looking for video of Johnny Carson's first Tonight Show...)

(RIP, Dom.)

 

[mleach]

One wonders how viewable that personally-recorded stuff might be...might be nice to fill gaps in the presumed-lost video history of that era. (They're still looking for video of Johnny Carson's first Tonight Show...)

(RIP, Dom.)

That is a good question !! I wonder myself how viewable say the tapes Elvis Presley ( and the others ) had recorded say back in 1968, if they could even be watched today?

Back in 1991 I remember seeing an interview on local Denver TV with Jody Hamilton ( Carol Burnett's daughter ). She was saying that back in 1967 and 1968, Carol Burnett and her husband Joe Hamilton would have "video parties" where the cast of the Carol Burnett show would come over to watch the latest edition of her show..on home video tape to see how they could improve the next week's show. One day their machine went kaput and back then..well there really wasn't such a thing as "tech support" so Carol ( or Joe Hamilton ) called up Roman Polanski about how to fix their machine in time for the party. Anyway a few hours later here comes Sharon Tate with her tools saying "hey I heard you need help fixing your machine"..and she did.

About a year year later, well we all know what happened to Sharon Tate.

 

[radioman148]

One wonders how viewable that personally-recorded stuff might be...might be nice to fill gaps in the presumed-lost video history of that era. (They're still looking for video of Johnny Carson's first Tonight Show...)

(RIP, Dom.)

That is a good question !! I wonder myself how viewable say the tapes Elvis Presley ( and the others ) had recorded say back in 1968, if they could even be watched today?

Back in 1991 I remember seeing an interview on local Denver TV with Jody Hamilton ( Carol Burnett's daughter ). She was saying that back in 1967 and 1968, Carol Burnett and her husband Joe Hamilton would have "video parties" where the cast of the Carol Burnett show would come over to watch the latest edition of her show..on home video tape to see how they could improve the next week's show. One day their machine went kaput and back then..well there really wasn't such a thing as "tech support" so Carol ( or Joe Hamilton ) called up Roman Polanski about how to fix their machine in time for the party. Anyway a few hours later here comes Sharon Tate with her tools saying "hey I heard you need help fixing your machine"..and she did.

About a year year later, well we all know what happened to Sharon Tate.

I know someone who still has videotapes from 1972 and they still play pretty well.

 

[firepoint525]

I would have to wonder how "clunky" tapes from 1968 or 1972 would be now? Or if there even still exists any equipment on which to play them?

My uncle had a VCR as far back as 1977. I remember it had the same kind of "clicker" to change channels that TVs themselves had back then. And it had rather large LED for the digital clock. Although my own DVD/VHS combo now has a digital readout of the same size.

I remember a video rental place that would transfer your old home movies onto VHS tapes. They did some of our old home movies for us. This was back in the '80s. Not too long ago, I was over at my parents' house, and my dad was transferring some of those same VHS tapes over to DVD! Times change!

 

[Stanislav]

There are still machines around capable of playing those old reel-to-reel home videotapes, and there are quite a few video companies that can convert/dub them to whatever format you desire -- IF they are viable. The main problem is not the equipment, but the tapes themselves. If not stored under ideal conditions, the tape can end up stuck to itself on the reel or, if playable, starts to shed particles as it runs through the heads, literally destroying itself as it runs. Some of those tapes can be rescued, but it's a painstaking, delicate process.

 

[oldiesfan6479]

He was Jackie Gleason's summer replacement
in 1968, but in an odd scheduling move CBS
put him Wednesdays at 10 rather than Saturdays
at 7:30; the Saturday slot went to Patrick McGoohan's
"The Prisoner." Yet CBS considered "The Dom DeLuise
Show" to be Gleason's replacement.

So The Prisoner was Jonathan Winters' summer replacement?
Weird.

You could trace this whole chain of events back to the failure
of Dundee And The Culhane in the fall of 1967, Wednesdays at
10/9 Central (8 Mountain--at least in Phoenix and Tucson).

 

[wbhist]

He was Jackie Gleason's summer replacement in 1968, but in an odd scheduling move CBS put him Wednesdays at 10 rather than Saturdays at 7:30; the Saturday slot went to Patrick McGoohan's "The Prisoner." Yet CBS considered "The Dom DeLuise Show" to be Gleason's replacement.

And after that summer, Gleason never had a summer replacement; the last two years had strictly color Honeymooners reruns over the summer.

Many have noticed in DeLuise's last years a slight resemblance to Chef Paul Prudhomme.

 

[Ultimajock]

In the story, we see the codes being physically loaded by a Sgt. Collins at NORAD in Omaha.

...self-correction: of course, it was SAC in Omaha and (as it was depicted in Wargames) NORAD in Colorado Springs...