Marty you were the man. I laughed for years watching you.

Marty was one funny SOB. Talent like his comes along far too infrequently

True character has disappeared in Hollywood replaced by manufactured "cloned" perfect body and face celebrities.

Sad state of affairs if you ask me.

We miss you Marty.

Funny, I never thought of Marty as being ugly. He was just Marty, a force of his own personality. Maybe it's not that we have too much physical perfection today, it's that we have too little personality.

I can't help breaking up when ever I hear, "walk this way", picturing Marty (Igor) shuffling with his hump swaying in Mel Brooks' masterpiece Young Frankenstein.
Thanks for the memories, Crazy Feldman :)

So, Steve Buscemi is Hollywood Handsome?

I love these weep n' wail stories, and the following posts, about how the Golden Days of film are far behind us, usually built on a foundation of dreamy nostalgia and selective memory. Excuse me if I don't shed the crocotears. MF was great (particularly in Young Frankenstein, Brooks' best film by far) but there's a steady trail of wonderful character actors who've preceded, and followed him. Or maybe you think Tex Cobb is fighting for the same jobs as Pitt and Clooney. Praise the man, but don't bury his movie kin-it's going to be okay folks.

How funny that a man who looks like a botoxed, blow dried fake tanned male Barbie writes in praise of Mr. Feldman and the other "ugly" actors. While I think Simon's heart is in the right place, people like Lorre, Bogart, Feldman, etc. aren't "ugly." They have intriguing looks, for sure, and we certainly do need more of their ilk in entertainment, but don't call them "ugly." And that poem at the end? WTF?

Many Feldman lines were pure Groucho: In Frankenstein, Wilder, arriving at the castle accompanied by Madeleine Kahn and Teri Garr, says to Feldman: Igor, help me with the baggage. Igor replies: You take the blonde, I'll take the brunette. As well as co-writing many British radio and television shows, Feldman also had his own show on British tv in the late 60s with remarkably original sketches, parodies. Not sure whether these were seen in the US. If not, a pity for Feldman fans.

"Abbie Normal"
It broke me up!!

Someone help me out here. As a kid I can remember watching a Marty Feldman sketch comedy show, a less bawdy and more physical comedy version of Benny Hill in the early 70's. Anybody know if there are copies of that floating around?

One of his best lines I remember too well was at the Academy Awards: upon reaching the podium, he flashes his big smile at the obviously giggling audience and announces, "May I remind you that I was also created in the image and likeness of God!" And after the gales of laughter, he snapped, "You see, He has a sense of humor".

Marty was priceless as 'Eye-gore' in Young Frankenstein. I agree, his comedy was very much like a British Groucho Marx. I'm glad Mr. Doonan bothered to take the time to write about a largely forgotten and, at least here in the States, rather obscure comedian. We could use a lot more of that. It truly gets old, getting constantly bombarded with the same old ADD celebrity worship of the latest sensation.

As for celebrities being homogeneously "beautiful" while less glamorous actors are passed over, there is certainly some truth to this. But then, there has been a whole new genre of movies over the past several years where plain, uninteresting, unattractive everymen are the heroes of the story.

Let's also not gloss-over the fact that some actors have put on weight to appear more ordinary for their roles (George Clooney in Syriana, Denzel Washington in Taking Pelham 123, Sylvester Stalone in Copland).

When pining over the past I like to remind folks to consider the words of Billy Joel, "The good ol' days weren't always good, and tomorrow ain't as bad as it seems."


By the way, I found the line about the "Six packs of fags a day" interesting. In spite of not being British I knew exactly what "fags" meant. Naturally. And in spite of being a homosexual, I'm not the least bit offended at it's usage.

I mention this because I was glad to see that political correctness did not cause the article to be censored, and/or to see that it didn't lead Mr. Doonan to censor himself.

As someone who has done a fair amount of research on Feldman and written a few pieces about him, I found this article very interesting.

I'm glad to agree with a lot of the comments that essentially stated Feldman wasn't ugly, he just...was. From a woman's perspective, I personally think he was very attractive, but that's beside the point.

What I like is the general question this article poses: "where HAS all the ugly gone?" I use the term ugly in this context to mean "unconventional," mostly, not hideous. We've become a society where people are not trying to look better or more beautiful so much as they are just trying to look "similar." This makes things very boring. Particularly when you look at the stars of today. There are very few people who look, for lack of a better term, unique, as far as I'm concerned. Adrien Brody is one of the only actors I can think of who is very fascinating looking.

Sadly, I think it's partly a time period thing. When you look at the era that Feldman came up in, this 1960s, 1970s period, you'll find he wasn't the only unconventional looking person. I mean this was a time where the Woody Allens and Gene Wilders of the world were also coming up. They're real looking guys too. Women too, it seemed were allowed to be genuine looking.

It's hard when life becomes like some sort of "Twilight Zone" episode. People need to remember that the airbrush doesn't only remove the blemishes; it can also stamp out originality.

Skot01 - yes!

any time i see an article or a remembrance of marty feldman i always think of that same 70s series on TV. it was HILARIOUS. or, was it part of another show? i simply can't recall.

though sketchy in my memory, i loved a long bit he did - i think he told the "wife" he was going "out" to run an errand or to pick up a loaf of bread or something like that. what followed was a series of bits showing marty going across the continents using various modes of transportation, and then finally returning home. i'd love to see that again!

i couldn't believe it when he died; just a terrible loss for the laughs he could have brought to the world for many years to come.