Veteran US comedian, Sid Caesar, dies aged 91
Sid Caesar, star of Golden-Age US television and the hit Grease films, has died
10:14AM GMT 13 Feb 2014
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Sid Caesar, US comedian and star of the hit musical film Grease, died yesterday at the age of 91, according to US reports. His death was reported to Reuters by his friend and former collaborator Carl Reiner.
Caesar was one of the first stars of US television in the Golden Age of the Fifties, co-starring in Your Show of Shows, a live 90-minute comedy-variety show, which aired on NBC from February 1950 to June 1954, and regularly won millions of viewers in its Saturday night slot. He was also known for the show’s successor, Caesar’s Hour, which satirised historical events and parodied Hollywood films.
For international audience’s, however, perhaps his most memorable performances were as hapless Coach Calhoun in the hit musical filmsGrease and its sequel Grease 2.
Although Caesar’s career spanned six decades, he faded from the spotlight in latter years, and Reiner reported that the comedian had been ill for at least a year before his death.
Reiner said of his friend: "He was the ultimate, he was the very best sketch artist and comedian that ever existed […] His ability to double talk every language known to man was impeccable."
