THE FIRST LEDZEP Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 Harvey Korman dies 4 months after aneurysm By BOB THOMAS LOS ANGELES (AP) — Harvey Korman, the tall, versatile comedian who won four Emmys for his outrageously funny contributions to "The Carol Burnett Show" and played a conniving politician to hilarious effect in "Blazing Saddles," died Thursday. He was 81. Korman died at UCLA Medical Center after suffering complications from the rupture of an abdominal aortic aneurysm four months ago, his family said. He had undergone several major operations. "He was a brilliant comedian and a brilliant father," daughter Kate Korman said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "He had a very good sense of humor in real life. " A natural second banana, Korman gained attention on "The Danny Kaye Show," appearing in skits with the star. He joined the show in its second season in 1964 and continued until it was canceled in 1967. That same year he became a cast member in the first season of "The Carol Burnett Show." His most memorable film role was as the outlandish Hedley Lamarr (who was endlessly exasperated when people called him Hedy) in Mel Brooks' 1974 Western satire, "Blazing Saddles." "A world without Harvey Korman — it's a more serious world," Brooks told the AP on Thursday. "It was very dangerous for me to work with him because if our eyes met we'd crash to floor in comic ecstasy. It was comedy heaven to make Harvey Korman laugh." On television, Burnett and Korman developed into the perfect pair with their burlesques of classic movies such as "Gone With the Wind" and soap operas like "As the World Turns" (their version was called "As the Stomach Turns"). Another recurring skit featured them as "Ed and Eunice," a staid married couple who were constantly at odds with the wife's mother (a young Vickie Lawrence in a gray wig). In "Old Folks at Home," they were a combative married couple bedeviled by Lawrence as Burnett's troublesome young sister. Korman revealed the secret to the long-running show's success in a 2005 interview: "We were an ensemble, and Carol had the most incredible attitude. I've never worked with a star of that magnitude who was willing to give so much away." Burnett was devastated by Korman's death, said her assistant, Angie Horejsi. "She loved Harvey very much," Horejsi said. After 10 successful seasons, Korman left Burnett's show in 1977 for his own series. Dick Van Dyke took his place, but the chemistry was lacking and the Burnett show was canceled two years later. "The Harvey Korman Show" also failed, as did other series starring the actor. "It takes a certain type of person to be a television star," he said in that 2005 interview. "I didn't have whatever that is. I come across as kind of snobbish and maybe a little too bright. ... Give me something bizarre to play or put me in a dress and I'm fine." Brooks tapped Korman's kinetic comic chops often, including roles in "High Anxiety," "The History of the World Part I" and "Dracula: Dead and Loving It." "I gave him tongue twisters because I knew he was the only one who could wrap his mouth around them," Brooks said. "Harvey was such a good solid actor that he could have done Shakespearean drama just as well and easily as he did comedy." Brooks described Korman as a "dazzling" comic talent. "You could get rock-solid comedy out of him. He could lift the material. He always made it real, always made it work, always believed in characters he was doing," he said. Korman's other films included two "Pink Panther" moves, "Trail of the Pink Panther" in 1982 and "Curse of the Pink Panther" in 1983; "Gypsy," "Huckleberry Finn" (as the King), "Herbie Goes Bananas" and "Bud and Lou" (as legendary straightman Bud Abbott to Buddy Hackett's Lou Costello). In television, Korman guest-starred in dozens of series including "The Donna Reed Show," "Dr. Kildare," "Perry Mason," "The Wild Wild West," "The Muppet Show," "The Love Boat" and "Burke's Law." Korman and "Carol Burnett" co-star Tim Conway continued working together into their '70s, touring the country with their show "Tim Conway and Harvey Korman: Together Again." They did 120 shows a year, sometimes as many as six or eight in a weekend. Korman had an operation in late January on a non-cancerous brain tumor and pulled through "with flying colors," Kate Korman said. Less than a day after coming home, he was re-admitted because of the ruptured aneurysm and was given a few hours to live. But he survived for another four months. "He fought until the very end. He didn't want to die. He fought for months and months," said Kate Korman. Harvey Herschel Korman was born Feb. 15, 1927, in Chicago. He left college for service in the U.S. Navy, resuming his studies afterward at the Goodman School of Drama at the Chicago Art Institute. After four years, he decided to try New York. "For the next 13 years I tried to get on Broadway, on off-Broadway, under or beside Broadway," he told a reporter in 1971. He had no luck and had to support himself as a restaurant cashier. Finally, in desperation, he and a friend formed a nightclub comedy act. "We were fired our first night in a club, between the first and second shows," he recalled. After returning to Chicago, Korman decided to try Hollywood, reasoning that "at least I'd feel warm and comfortable while I failed." For three years he sold cars and worked as a doorman at a movie theater. Then he landed the job with Kaye. In 1960 Korman married Donna Elhart and they had two children, Maria and Christopher. They divorced in 1977. Two more children, Katherine and Laura, were born of his 1982 marriage to Deborah Fritz. In addition to his daughter Kate, he is survived by his wife and the three other children. Associated Press Writers Alicia Chang and Raquel Maria Dillon contributed to this report. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babs Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 Rest In Peace Harvey! You were one funny bugger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lake of Shadows Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 Aww, RIP Harvey... I loved him on Carol Burnett. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puck Slapping Maple Sucker Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 "IT'S HEDLEY!!!" "Who cares, it's 1874. We can sue her!" R.I.P. Harvey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evster2012 Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 Sydney Pollack, now Harvey Korman. Who's number 3? I too loved Harvey on Carol Burnett when I was a kid. And Hedley is legendary! RIP Mr. Korman. You will be dearly missed. :'( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hickory Man Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 Sydney Pollack, now Harvey Korman. Who's number 3? I too loved Harvey on Carol Burnett when I was a kid. And Hedley is legendary! RIP Mr. Korman. You will be dearly missed. :'( I think we're working on six in May alone.... I guess I would count Dick Martin (Laugh In) as the recent third. John Rutsey Eddy Arnold Sheesh....bring on June. R.I.P Harvey, you will be missed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evster2012 Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 I think we're working on six in May alone.... I guess I would count Dick Martin (Laugh In) as the recent third. John Rutsey Eddy Arnold Sheesh....bring on June. R.I.P Harvey, you will be missed. Good point! I hadn't heard about Dick Martin and Eddy Arnold. I did hear about Rutsey, and I'm a longtime fan of the first Rush album. All sad losses. I guess the difference (if there can be such a thing) is that both Pollack and Korman were still vital, contributing artists, whereas Martin, Rutsey and Arnold had made their mark and were out of the public eye. That doesn't, however diminish their contributions or make their passing any less relevant or any less sad. Needless to say, the obit at the next Oscars is going to be yet another exercise in pathos. I still remember when they put Madeline Kahn's face on the screen. That was the moment I had to reach for the Kleenex. And the applause from the audience told me I wasn't alone. There are big stars and there are stars that really mean something to you, and we all know which ones truly affected us. Not to diminish the others, but the applause speaks for itself. Some did big things. Others meant something personal to us. Harvey Korman was one of those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmie ray Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 One of the last great comedians. He often played despicable roles, but with relish. Look at all the other great comic names he worked with, and they all praised him. Probably few here ever heard of Danny Kaye, but this world will never know a talent like that again. Every family I ever knew bonded around watching the Carol Burnett Show, where Korman really shined. Tim Conway, Peter Sellers, Mel Brooks - these are all the tops. Comedians today wouldn't be fit to shine their shoes. I've got to find that "Bud and Lou" movie, Korman would be perfect as straightman Bud Abbott. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evster2012 Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 ^^I remember Danny Kaye vividly! The Inspector General and Hans Christian Anderson are among my favorite films. Hawkins: I've got it! The pellet with the poison's in the vessel with the pestle; the chalice from the palace has the brew that is true! Right? Griselda: Right! -- but there's been a change: they broke the chalice from the palace... Hawkins: They broke the chalice from the palace? Griselda: ...and replaced it. With a flagon. Hawkins: A flagon? Griselda: With the figure of a dragon. Hawkins: Flagon with a dragon. Griselda: Right. Hawkins: ...but did you put the pellet with the poison in the vessel with the pestle? Griselda: No! The pellet with the poison's in the flagon with the dragon! The vessel with the pestle has the brew that is true! Hawkins: The pellet with the poison's in the flagon with the dragon, the vessel with the pestle has the brew that is true. Griselda: Just remember that! Yet another great loss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmie ray Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 Thanks for that, Evster - my wife's Dad's favorite movie line. He could recite it over and over, and it never got old. I liked Danny Kaye singing "Bali Hia" and doing the crazy Egyptian style dance (for lack of a better description). The man could dance, sing, make you laugh, make you think... You really had to have something to make it back then, and Danny recognized Harvey as someone he wanted beside him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evster2012 Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 ^^ You're welcome! Glad to put a smile on your face! Now I can face Friday knowing I made someone smile, if only for a moment. Now I shall give my Angi a snog and see if I can't put a smile on her face (albeit a different sort of smile. Wink wink. Nudge nudge!). Cheers! BTW: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evster2012 Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 Back on topic, I also love the way Korman could never keep a straight face in the presence of Tim Conway! For example: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zepyep Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 Hi all, Taggart: What do you want me to do, sir? Hedley Lamarr: I want you to round up every vicious criminal and gunslinger in the west. Take this down. [Taggart looks for a pen and paper while Hedley talks] Hedley Lamarr: I want rustlers, cut throats, murderers, bounty hunters, desperados, mugs, pugs, thugs, nitwits, halfwits, dimwits, vipers, snipers, con men, Indian agents, Mexican bandits, muggers, buggerers, bushwhackers, hornswogglers, horse thieves, bull dykes, train robbers, bank robbers, ass-kickers, shit-kickers and Methodists. Taggart: [finding pen and paper] Could you repeat that, sir? KB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spats Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 That's too bad. That was a funny show. The reunion show they did a few years ago brought back a lot of funny memories. There is currently a infomerical on that sells the shows on DVD. Stay up late and you might see it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmie ray Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 "Mind your bucket, pissboy - and wait for the shake!" Not very family orientated, but just shows the guy was versatile... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zepyep Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 Hi all, KB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babs Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 Harvey was brilliant as Count De Money Awww Harvey I love you man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evster2012 Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 Gangbang! Its good to be da king! Classic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LedZepChick Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 I loved Harvey Korman. So funny!! RIP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.