Allan Sherntan's 'A Gilt of Laughter
Allan Sherman can make people
laugh. He also writes interestingly,
and his autobiography, entitled "A
Gift of Laughter," published by
Atheneum (162 E. 38th, NY 16),
has all the qualities that provide
entertainment in reading as much
as on stage.
Here is a volume packed full
of interesting episodes. The story
about Harpo Marx has great merit
and is a classic:
Similarly, Sherman's account
of how he secured a football for
his grandmother — at great in-
convenience and sacrifice to
himself — only to learn that
what the elder lady wanted was
a fruit bowl, is a masterpiece.
And the description: Chapter 5
In Which I Go to New York to
Seek Fame and Fortune and I
Marry the Girl I Love and I De-
clare War on the Lincoln Hotel
and If I Tell You Any More You
Won't Need to Read This Chapter
Altogether . . . this invites rather
than repels reading.
Such is the style throughout the
book: it possesses an excellence
that elevates Sherman to a po-
sition that often stimulates inclu-
sion in a best seller list.
Yet, one must stop and wonder
why he, like so many others, find
it necessary to poke fun at their
parents and grandparents. For in-
stance: about his grandmother, he
has this to say:
"Although my Grandma loved me
and I loved her, it wasn't in her
nature to be motherly. She was a
swinger, like my mother. She was,
in her day, a hot number. I remember
her son, my Uncle Maury, describing
his memories of how peddlers or door-
to-door salesmen would come knocking
at the door, selling one thing or
another, and wind up talking with
Grandma. Of course, it's hard to think
of your grandparents in terms of lust
and passion, and when I knew her she
looked like a sweet, wholesome,
silver-haired Jewish grandmother. But
she wasn't..Every afternoon she went
to horseparlors and bet on the races.
In the evening she played poker. And
Grandma cheated whenever she could.
She cheated because it was a much
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"Once she was playing poker with
a group of old ladies and they needed
another hand, so she got my Uncle
Maury into the game. The first hand
he picked up, he saw she had dealt
him four king's. She was a very slick
second-dealer—what they call a 'me-
chanic' in Las Vegas—and Maury knew
his mother had slipped him the four
kings, and he was embarrassed, so
he went out of the Pot. Next time it
was her deal, she dealt him four
kings again. He went out again. She
kept on dealing him the same four
kings. hoping to make him win, and
he kept going out. Finally she went
into the kitchen for a glass of water,
and he followed her and said, 'Listen,
Ma, please stop dealing me four kings.
Please. I don't want to win like that
with four kings.' So the next hand
she dealt him three kings.
"In those days the phone company
nut nickel pay phones in private dwell-
ings. Grandma had a pay phone in her
flat. She figured out many ingenious
ways to crook the phone company.
Like she'd put in a nickel, make a
call, and then get the operator and
scream, 'Onerator, you cott me opp!'
She meant the operator had cut her
off, and so she got her nickel back.
Every month a man came to open the
coin box and collect the nickels.
Grandma played Casino (she called it
'Kereseno') with him for the nickels,
and won them all back, every month."
It's funny, indeed, it is. Yet one
wonders whether he subjects him-
self to being called "a prude" for
questioning some proprieties.
And there is this added example
of the Sherman humor about his
kinfolk:
come from a typical Jewish back-
ground. My father was a typical Jew.
His name was Percy Copelon. He came
from Birmingham; Alabama. He was a
stock-car racer and an expert automo-
Has Mitch Merit . . . and Defections
bile mechanic. He had the Chicago
agency for Auburn, Essex, Hudson,
Nash and Cord. At one time he owned
the largest garage in the Windy City.
He had a rasping voice with a thick
Southern accent. He was a generous
man: I had a cellar full of toys when I
was a kid. He was a reckless, free-
spending, high-living, dangerous-living
man. He flew airplanes at a time when
only lion-heated lunatics flew planes.
He flew a pursuit plane in World War
I. He loved machinery. He loved ma-
chinery that made you move fast.
After the Armistice lie flew in air
circuses for a few years, doing Im-
melmann turns and flying upside down
at carnivals and county fairs. Around
1922 he became a small-time Alabama
bootlegger, and later he smuggled car-
goes of booze into Illinois from
Canada. His real love was machines.
He once invented a coal-mining ma-
chine that was widely used in south-
ern Illinois and Kentucky. He adapted
automobile gears to a machine that
could chew into rock and bite out
coal. saving labor.
"My daddy had a brother-in-law, a
dentist, who was a convert to nudism.
He had a whole philosophy he had in-
vented Ith-neself. It was about the
benefits of eating uncooked vegetables
and living on fruits and nuts, and
what he called 'naturalism,' which
meant you had to go around naked all
the time. His wife would answer the
doorbell without a stitch of clothing
on her. The doorbell was ringing at
her house all day long. She was one
of the most popular housewives in
the neighborhood.
"My daddy had a most interesting
family of eccentrics, but I do not
know them as intimately as I know
my mother's family, because when
my father abandoned her he also
abandoned me. When I became a
celebrity, his family discovered me
again. I have many nieces and neph-
ews and cousins throughout the South.
"My daddy did not like the garage
business. He loved flying airplanes.
And inventing. In 1928 he invented a
new type of amphibian plane. He built
News Brevities
An art exhibit
STEPHEN MANES, pianist, will
by Edith Silver-.
appear in recital 8:30 p.m. today
man will be open
in the Gold Room of Oakland Uni-
versity. This will be the artist's
to the public un-
only appearance in the area, the
til Nov. 30 at
performance presented under spon-
M e t r opoli-
sorship of the Edgar M. Leventritt
tan Hospital. Her
Foundation. The American born
65 works of art
artist has appeared with over 30
are in man y
major symphony orchestras since
media, from col-
age 9. Among his many awards
. lege to oils and
are a Fulbright grant to Vienna for
Mrs. Silverman water colors.
• * *
the 1963-64 season, Leventritt final-
ist awards both in 1962 and 1965
A proclamation was issued by
and Michaels Competition citation Mayor Jerome P. Cavanagh pro-
in 1962. Single tickets are avail- claiming Nov. 14-25 as NATIONAL
able at Oakland University, 338- RETARDED CHILDREN'S WEEK
7211.
in Detroit. Citing mental retarda-
* * *
tion as a "vast problem" affecting
The DETROIT ARTS WOOD- 5,000 citizens of Detroit, the Mayor
WIND QUINTET—five members urged all to turn their attention
of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra to the problem during the specified
—will present Haydn's Divertimen- time and learn how they can help
to and two modern works in their overcome this handicap.
concert 8:30 p.m. Tuesday in the
* *
Engineering Society of Detroit Au-
Sales of new individual life in-
ditorium. The group will perform surance by the DETROIT-GOLD
the Detroit premiere of Quintet by AGENCY of the Massachusetts
Vauclaz Trojan. The concert is the Mutual life Insurance Co. during
fourth in the Rackham Educational October amounted to $2,061,775
Memorial Concert Series .spon- and ranked the local agency sixth
sored by the University Center for among the company's 119 general
Adult Education. For ticket infor- agencies in prodUction of indi-
mation, call the Center, 831-4310. vidual life insurance.
*
*
* * *
The second semiannual FLEA
Mrs. Lee Franklin Weinstock,
MARKETS will be held 1-10 p.m. president of the DETROIT AREA
Sunday at East Detroit Roma Hall, ALUMNI CLUB OF THE STATE
and Nov. 28 at Livonia Roma Hall. UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO, N.Y.,
Attractive inexpensive items, has invited alumni and friends to
possibly bone china cups and a Potluck Harvest dinner-meeting
saucers, old vases, figurines, prim- 4 p.m. Sunday at the home of vice
itives, and collector's items such president John A. Nelson, 18304
as button hooks, - campaign buttons, Santa Barbara. For information,
post cards, stereo cards and valen- call Mrs. Weinstock, 342-9198.
tines will be there, along with an-
* * *
tiques, art glass, cut glass, jewel-
ANTONIO AND THE BALLETS
ry and other items. There will be DE MADRID, the Spanish ballet
continuous buffet and snacks. company which traveled from coast
Nominal admission charge.
to coast during its concerts last
* * *
season, will give Detroiters another
The board of directors of BANK opportunity to witness its fiery per-
OF THE COMMONWEALTH de- formance when it appears on the
clared a regular quarterly dividend stage of Masonic Auditorium,
of 50 cents per share for the fourth Dec. 3.
*
*
quarter of 1965, it has been an-
nounced by George W. Miller, pres-
The 17TH DISTRICT YOUNG
ident. The dividend is payable Jan. DEMOCRATS will hold an autumn
4 to shareholders of record Dec. party and dance 4 p.m. Sunday
17, 1965.
at the Motorama Motel, Ferndale.
*
*
The public is invited. For infor-
RUDOLF SERKIN, one of the mation on the Young Democrats
greatest pianists of his generation, and its year-round schedule of
will appear in a single perform- political, social, and educational
, ance at Detroit's Masonic Audi- activities, call Sol Plafkin, TE.
t torium Saturday night.
1-1723.
it right in this immense garage he op-
erated. It was so big, the plane, that
when it was finished he couldn't re-
move it from the garage. He would
have to wreck the garage if he wanted
to get his plane out. He couldn't af-
ford to build a new garage, so the
plane remained there, unflown, until
my father went busted. For all I
know, it's still sitting there.
"Daddy waas a tough, hard-driving,
hard-living, hard-drinking man. He
drank bourbon whiskey by the glass
like some Jews drink seltzer. Only he
didn't drink seltzer. He was about as
different from what we think of as a
Jewish type as an American Jew could
be back in 1924 when I was born in
the Lutheran Deconess Hospital on
November 30th—and there's a typical
Jewish Hospital for you, huh?"
His description of his first and
only experience with anti-Semitism
and his realization that he was
Jewish is not too enlightening and
while he had gone through prepa-
rations for confirmation one won-
ders whether he really acquired a
good Jewish education in a home
that certainly was Jewish.
Nevertheless, his attitudes on
the whole cannot be called nega-
tive, and very much of his humor
is not only entertaining but whole-
some. So—"A Gift of Laughter"
is quite a good book.
side Hollywood" favorite, staging
his own kind of satirical song re-
citals at Hollywood parties. As a
result of being heard one night at
a party, Warner Bros. recorded
ohim. To that sensational album
have been added "My Son, the
Celebrity," 'My Son, the Nut" and
"The Real Allan Sherman." These
last albums have sold over two
million copies.
He was born in Chicago ; in 1924.
At the University of Illinois he
studied journalism, wrote books
and lyrics, starred in and directed
variety shows. About this time
World War II began and the
Army, well aware of Sherman's
unbridled ferocity, stationed him
for the duration of the war deep
in the heart of Texas. Upon dis-
charge, he set out for show busi-
ness. He created special material,
mostly of the nightclub variety, for
such performers as Jerry Lester,
Joe E. Lewis, Jackie Gleason and
many others. In 1951, with partner
Howard Merrill, he had the idea
for a television panel show and
the long-running "I've Got A Se-
cret" was born. For its first six
years Sherman produced the show
for which he won two Look
Awards. He has also written and
produced a number of television
and radio shows.
The title of his book is from
the opening line of Scaramouche:
"He was born with the gift of
laughter and a sense that the
world was mad." And, too, ex-
plains the Sherman approach to
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
the matters quoted,
Sherman had long been an "in- 14—Friday, November 19, 1965
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