R&L Logo R&L Logo
  • GENERAL
    • Browse by Subjects
    • New Releases
    • Coming Soon
    • Chases's Calendar
  • ACADEMIC
    • Textbooks
    • Browse by Course
    • Instructor's Copies
    • Monographs & Research
    • Reference
  • PROFESSIONAL
    • Education
    • Intelligence & Security
    • Library Services
    • Business & Leadership
    • Museum Studies
    • Music
    • Pastoral Resources
    • Psychotherapy
  • FREUD SET
Cover Image
Hardback
share of facebook share on twitter
Add to GoodReads

Eccentrics of Comedy

Anthony Slide

Eccentrics of Comedy examines the lives and careers of twelve entertainers whose comedic styles were distinctly eccentric: Milton Berle, Ed Brendel, Bobby Clark, Phyllis Diller, the Duncan Sisters, Edward Everett Horton, Alice Howell, Franklin Pangborn, Old Mother Riley, Margaret Rutherford, Colonel Lemuel Q. Stoopnagle, and Ernest Thesiger. For the majority of these performers, Eccentrics of Comedy provides the first serious, detailed discussion of their work. The figures are from all areas of popular entertainment. Milton Berle is "Mr. Television." The Duncan Sisters and Bobby Clark were headliners in vaudeville and musical comedy. Alice Howell was a silent screen comedienne. Colonel Lemuel Q. Stoopnagle was a familiar figure on radio in the 1930s. Edward Everett Horton, Franklin Pangborn, Old Mother Riley, Margaret Rutherford, and Ernest Thesiger are primarily known for their work on screen. The comedic styles vary widely, but Slide highlights similarities between the entertainers.

Slide writes with enthusiasm and affection for his subjects. Both Milton Berle and Phyllis Diller offered him first-hand accounts of their careers, and in many cases he quotes from other film celebrities who worked with the comedians. Slide offers a thorough understanding of the media in which his subjects worked and brings their acts to life.
  • Details
  • Details
  • Author
  • Author
  • Reviews
  • Reviews
Scarecrow Press
Pages: 180 • Trim: 5¾ x 8¾
978-0-8108-3534-4 • Hardback • November 1998 • $87.00 • (£67.00)
Subjects: Performing Arts / Comedy
Eccentrics of Comedy is latest in a long line of informative and entertaining books by Anthony Slide, which include Early American Cinema, The Films of D.W. Griffith, Nitrate Won't Wait: A History f Film Preservation in the United States, The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville, Lois Weber: The Director who Lost Her Way in History, and The New Historical Dictionary of the American Film Industry. Slide is also the Series Editor for Scarecrow Press' critically acclaimed Filmmaker's Series.
This well-researched book is sure to fascinate and entertain, and is highly recommended for any film buff.
— Filmfax Magazine


As the author or editor of more than sixty books on the history of popular entertainment, A. Slide is at ease for dividing comedy in a variety of subgenres...
— International Theatre Informations


Given the nature of the book, reading it is a hop-skip-jump eccentric experience...I hope people will take a look at this one which offers many valuable insights.
— Communication Booknotes Quarterly


The collection of basic raw material on perfomers who have been little researched or discussed will appeal more to archivists and historians than to critics and theorists.
— Choice Reviews


Eccentrics of Comedy

Cover Image
Hardback
Summary
Summary
  • Eccentrics of Comedy examines the lives and careers of twelve entertainers whose comedic styles were distinctly eccentric: Milton Berle, Ed Brendel, Bobby Clark, Phyllis Diller, the Duncan Sisters, Edward Everett Horton, Alice Howell, Franklin Pangborn, Old Mother Riley, Margaret Rutherford, Colonel Lemuel Q. Stoopnagle, and Ernest Thesiger. For the majority of these performers, Eccentrics of Comedy provides the first serious, detailed discussion of their work. The figures are from all areas of popular entertainment. Milton Berle is "Mr. Television." The Duncan Sisters and Bobby Clark were headliners in vaudeville and musical comedy. Alice Howell was a silent screen comedienne. Colonel Lemuel Q. Stoopnagle was a familiar figure on radio in the 1930s. Edward Everett Horton, Franklin Pangborn, Old Mother Riley, Margaret Rutherford, and Ernest Thesiger are primarily known for their work on screen. The comedic styles vary widely, but Slide highlights similarities between the entertainers.

    Slide writes with enthusiasm and affection for his subjects. Both Milton Berle and Phyllis Diller offered him first-hand accounts of their careers, and in many cases he quotes from other film celebrities who worked with the comedians. Slide offers a thorough understanding of the media in which his subjects worked and brings their acts to life.
Details
Details
  • Scarecrow Press
    Pages: 180 • Trim: 5¾ x 8¾
    978-0-8108-3534-4 • Hardback • November 1998 • $87.00 • (£67.00)
    Subjects: Performing Arts / Comedy
Author
Author
  • Eccentrics of Comedy is latest in a long line of informative and entertaining books by Anthony Slide, which include Early American Cinema, The Films of D.W. Griffith, Nitrate Won't Wait: A History f Film Preservation in the United States, The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville, Lois Weber: The Director who Lost Her Way in History, and The New Historical Dictionary of the American Film Industry. Slide is also the Series Editor for Scarecrow Press' critically acclaimed Filmmaker's Series.
Reviews
Reviews
  • This well-researched book is sure to fascinate and entertain, and is highly recommended for any film buff.
    — Filmfax Magazine


    As the author or editor of more than sixty books on the history of popular entertainment, A. Slide is at ease for dividing comedy in a variety of subgenres...
    — International Theatre Informations


    Given the nature of the book, reading it is a hop-skip-jump eccentric experience...I hope people will take a look at this one which offers many valuable insights.
    — Communication Booknotes Quarterly


    The collection of basic raw material on perfomers who have been little researched or discussed will appeal more to archivists and historians than to critics and theorists.
    — Choice Reviews


ALSO AVAILABLE

  • Cover image for the book Heaven and Hell to Play With: The Filming of The Night of the Hunter
  • Cover image for the book Art Carney: A Biography
  • Cover image for the book The Film Comedy Reader
  • Cover image for the book Black Comedians on Black Comedy: How African-Americans Taught Us to Laugh
  • Cover image for the book The Sanity of Satire: Surviving Politics One Joke at a Time
  • Cover image for the book Zero Dances: A Biography of Zero Mostel
  • Cover image for the book Funny: The Book: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Comedy
  • Cover image for the book The Essential Chaplin: Perspectives on the Life and Art of the Great Comedian
  • Cover image for the book Understanding Comedy through College Comedies
  • Cover image for the book God's Fools: Laughing Saints, Delirious Prophets, and the Sacred Makers of Comedy
  • Cover image for the book Ivanov
  • Cover image for the book Comedy: An Annotated Bibliography of Theory and Criticism
  • Cover image for the book Heaven and Hell to Play With: The Filming of The Night of the Hunter
  • Cover image for the book Art Carney: A Biography
  • Cover image for the book The Film Comedy Reader
  • Cover image for the book Black Comedians on Black Comedy: How African-Americans Taught Us to Laugh
  • Cover image for the book The Sanity of Satire: Surviving Politics One Joke at a Time
  • Cover image for the book Zero Dances: A Biography of Zero Mostel
  • Cover image for the book Funny: The Book: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Comedy
  • Cover image for the book The Essential Chaplin: Perspectives on the Life and Art of the Great Comedian
  • Cover image for the book Understanding Comedy through College Comedies
  • Cover image for the book God's Fools: Laughing Saints, Delirious Prophets, and the Sacred Makers of Comedy
  • Cover image for the book Ivanov
  • Cover image for the book Comedy: An Annotated Bibliography of Theory and Criticism
facebook icon twitter icon instagram icon linked in icon NEWSLETTERS
ABOUT US
  • Mission Statement
  • Employment
  • Privacy
  • Accessibility Statement
CONTACT
  • Company Directory
  • Publicity and Media Queries
  • Rights and Permissions
  • Textbook Resource Center
AUTHOR RESOURCES
  • Royalty Contact
  • Production Guidelines
  • Manuscript Submissions
ORDERING INFORMATION
  • Rowman & Littlefield
  • National Book Network
  • Ingram Publisher Services UK
  • Special Sales
  • International Sales
  • eBook Partners
  • Digital Catalogs
IMPRINTS
  • Rowman & Littlefield
  • Lexington Books
  • Hamilton Books
  • Applause Books
  • Amadeus Press
  • Backbeat Books
  • Bernan
  • Hal Leonard Books
  • Limelight Editions
  • Co-Publishing Partners
  • Globe Pequot
  • Down East Books
  • Falcon Guides
  • Gooseberry Patch
  • Lyons Press
  • Muddy Boots
  • Pineapple Press
  • TwoDot Books
  • Stackpole Books
PARTNERS
  • American Alliance of Museums
  • American Association for State and Local History
  • Brookings Institution Press
  • Center for Strategic & International Studies
  • Council on Foreign Relations
  • Fairleigh Dickinson University Press
  • Fortress Press
  • The Foundation for Critical Thinking
  • Lehigh University Press
  • United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
  • Other Partners...