Vic, Milt And Lou

While I was gone, three giants of the entertainment industry died. (These things always happen in threes.)

There was Vic Mizzy, great composer of the themes to The Addams Family and Green Acres. As long as people snap their fingers and raise their pitchforks, his music will live on.



Then there's Soupy Sales, Detroit and later national kids show host who threw a lot of pies and entertained a lot of adults. He was of the anything-for-a-laugh school, which is okay in my book.



Finally, Lou Jacobi, star of stage and screen, best known for his comedy (often as a crotchety old man) but who was also capable of serious drama. His distinctive voice also served him well on Jewish comedy albums of the 60s. Here's an interesting bit of trivia--he starred in the first Broadway play of both Neil Simon and Woody Allen.

One of the odder parts he played was the orotund bartender in Irma La Douce, Billy Wilder's biggest hit. He has a lot of the best lines, including the curtain, as his part was originally intended for Charles Laughton, who died before production started.