When Caesar Was King - by David Margolick (Hardcover)

About the Book

"In the spring of 1954, Sid Caesar was America's number one mensch. Each Saturday night, the 31-year-old sketch comic from Yonkers performed for a crowd of twenty million, some crammed into Manhattan's cavernous Center Theater, but most plopped on their couches, where Caesar beamed back at them through some of the first TVs to light up living rooms. For many Americans, Caesar was television. And Your Show of Shows, the 90-minute variety program that catapulted him to stardom, was his magnum opus. Onstage, Caesar could be anyone: a befuddled suburban husband, a pretentious expert fibbing through an interview, a gumball machine, a bottle of seltzer. And he could make anything funny. But behind the entertainer was the man: introverted and tongue-tied, an actor whose hardest role was to simply be himself. Few could have known that, within just a few years, Caesar would be off the air. Television's first true star was also its first fall from grace. But in his wake would come the talents he personally nurtured, including Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, and Neil Simon, and the generations of comedians he inspired. In When Caesar Was King, veteran journalist David Margolick conjures Caesar like few writers can. Deeply researched and brimming with love for its subject, this rollicking and affecting book charts the meteoric rise and fall of a true legend, and his lasting impact on what makes us all laugh"-- Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

From longtime New York Times and Vanity Fair writer David Margolick comes the first definitive biography of Sid Caesar: founding father of television comedy and icon to generations of Americans.

By the spring of 1954, Sid Caesar was the most influential, highly paid, and enigmatic comedian in America. Every week, twenty million people tuned their TVs to his NBC extravaganza, Your Show of Shows, and witnessed his versatility and virtuosity in sketches and film spoofs, pantomime and soliloquy. Onstage, Caesar could play any character and make it funny: a befuddled game-show contestant, a pretentious expert, a beleaguered husband (opposite his redoubtable co-star Imogene Coca), even a gumball machine and a bottle of seltzer.

To his mostly urban audience, Caesar's comedy was an era-defining leap forward from the days of vaudeville, launching a new comedic style that was multilayered, language-drunk, full of character, and uproarious. To his rivals, Caesar was the man to beat. To his fellow American Jews, his show's success meant something more: It was a post-Holocaust symbol of security and a source of pride. But behind all that Caesar represented was the real Sid. Introverted and volatile, ill at ease in his own skin, he could terrorize his collaborators but reserved his harshest critiques for himself. Soon enough, he would be off the air. Beset by exhaustion, addiction, a fickle viewership, and his own impossible standards, TV's first true star was also its first fall from grace.

But in his wake he left the disciples he personally nurtured--including Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, and Neil Simon--and an indelible impact on what still makes us laugh. In When Caesar Was King, veteran journalist David Margolick conjures this complex man as never before. Deeply researched, brimming with love for Caesar and the culture from which he sprang, and reanimating a New York City that has all but vanished, this rollicking and poignant book traces the rise and fall of a legend.

About the Author

DAVID MARGOLICK is a longtime contributing editor at Vanity Fair, where he writes about culture, the media, and politics. He served as national legal affairs editor at The New York Times, where he wrote the weekly At the Bar column for seven years. He is the author of Beyond Glory and Strange Fruit: The Biography of a Song. He lives in New York City.