Born on this day in 1915, a man who couldn't have existed in ancient times because they hadn't yet invented the concept of zero:
Zero Mostel! The great comedian, singer, and actor on stage and the screen starred in such classics as
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, The Producers, The Front and more, and he played the voice of Spell Binder in 650+ episodes of
The Electric Company, where he surely met Spider-Man! And, and I almost forgot: who could forget his unforgettable star turn in the you-can't-forget-it
Fiddler on the Roof, which of course led to this:
cover of MAD #156 (January 1973), painting by Norman Mingo
Which brings us to yet another application of
the second rule of comics:
from "Antenna on the Roof" in MAD #156, script by Frank Jacobs, pencils and inks by Mort Drucker
Happy birthday, Zero! You're our hero!
from Movie Love #18 (Eastern Color, December 1952), pencils and inks by Frank Fogarty
Damn, he should have played in the Fiddler film, too!
ReplyDeleteFirst, he was blacklisted, and then he was discarded by a film director that thought he was "too fun" for a comedy musical.