Sid Caesar - The First Piano Recital / Edvard Grieg "Piano Concerto in A-Minor No. 1"

[From "Kovacs Corner" on YouTube.com] - In another display of his great pantomine skills, Sid Caesar plays a budding concert pianist performing his first solo recital of Edvard Grieg's "Piano Concerto in A-Minor No. 1".

This clip was culled from the NBC Special "Some of Manie's Friends". In 1959, NBC broadcast a 90-minute prime-time posthumous tribute to a man few outside of entertainment circles had ever heard of, Manie Sacks. Originally a Columbia Records executive who later work for RCA and NBC-TV, he died of leukemia in 1958 at the age of fifty six.

Mounting a show like this was unbelievable for a network to do even in 1959. Today it would be unthinkable. What made it possible was the star power behind the special, Manie himself. With sage advice and a penchant for matching material with artist, Manie endeared himself to a slew of popular music and other entertainment heavyweights who he had mentored. Out of respect for their endearing relationship for him after his death, many lent their star power to the occasion and raised $200,000 for leukemia research. Perry Como, Dinah Shore, Frank Sinatra, Eddie Fisher, Kay Starr, Bob Hope, Sid Caesar, Danny Thomas, Rosemary Clooney, Jane Wyman and Harry James all showed up in a big way for Manie, and the money Liggett & Myers Tobacco Co. paid for its ads in the show was donated to the cause as well.

You can read more concerning Manie Sacks and this NBC production at http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,825673,00.html .

Category:

Comedy

Tags:

• Sid
• Caesar
• piano
• pantomime
• recital
• orchestra
• Maie
• Sacks
• Columbia
• Records
• RCA
• NBC
• leukemia
• Edvard
• Grieg
• Piano
• Concerto
• in
• A-Minor
• No
• 1.
• Norway
• Norwegian

[honkytonkpiano]

Brilliantly funny!

[paulostroff99]

Now all we need is Milton Berle and Red Skelton to revive the last 60 or so years.lol

TY rolko62 for posting,.

[IrenaMV]

Hilarious!!! It's all Sid Caesar! He was unbelievable...

Thank you Richard,

Irena M

[shanghaibenny2]

So funny it had me gaging.