Forgive my many typos. How embarrassing! I will be rereading more carefully in future.

Well, I bet we are not finished with Bobbie Barrett. I have a feeling she and Peggy will reach out to each other - maybe more Peggy reaching to her than she to Peggy. Bobbie has a daughter, so she may feel motherly towards Peggy and being grateful for what she did after the crash, may decide to be a mentor to her. Peggy needs somebody tough to show her how to handle Don and the other guys, and Bobbie is just the gal to do it.

I really can't see that being Mort Sahl
can you just picture Mort Sahl doing that Utz Commercial? I can't

I think it is Jerry Lewis have thought so all along

I remember watching Mort Sahl as a kid growing up he sure was funny

Maybe he's based on Jackie Mason - he could sure be pretty rude. I never liked him, myself, as I am not fond of insult comics, not even Don Rickles.

Weren't Jackie Mason and Mort Sahl humorous? Jimmy was the unfunniest, joke-telling bastard on TV!

Hi Maddicts! Speaking of Don Rickles...how did you think he looked on the Emmys? How old is he now? Anyone know?

I just about wet my pants when Kathy Griffin (after walking Don out on stage) screamed "GET UP" to the audience to give Don a standing ovation!! I think she is hysterical, one of the funniest female comics today!

60s child, I watched that. It seemed one of the few times I have seen her look uncomfortable on stage. She knew she had her hands full and yet also was, I think, in awe. I also thought...and don't make too much of this in MM terms, that Mrs. Rickles look amazingly like Bobbi. But, I just saw a profile.

Mr. Warmth is 82. His style, at least the early years, was compared to that of Jackie Leonard. He's still doing standup in Vegas. He and his wife Barbara have been married for more than 40 years and the Rickles' are best friends with the Newharts (as in Bob).

Pardon me, that's "Jack E. Leonard."

I thought it was one of Kathy Griffin's biggest honors to walk side by side with Mr. Warmth. His age of 82 did not seem to impair his rapier wit at all. Does ANYONE know what the cause of death was of Mort Sahl's son at age 19? It is nowhere to be found on the web and Sahl will not speak of it, even now.

"CARROLL O'CONNOR WANTS me to join forces with him," Mort Sahl told me on the eve of Sunday's funeral services for his son, Mort Sahl Jr., another young victim of drug addiction. Sahl told me his son had been in rehab (again) and was suspended "when he took a hike in the hills," Mort said sadly. "And he had been clean for five weeks and told me, 'This time I'm going to kick it.' " He was multitalented, a musician and sharp-witted like his dad. Tragically, Mort Jr. joins a list of the famous' sad second generation."

VARIETY April 1 1996

Wow, Auburn Annie, I had no idea Mort Sahl had a son who died of a drug overdose. That was really kept quiet.

Do you remember a gorgeous French actor named Louis Jourdan (was in Gigi with Leslie Caron)? He also had a f**ked up son who died some years ago. Another second-generation Hollywood f**k-up.

How sad. Gregory Peck's son, too.

And add our dear friend Paul Newman's son to that list. Paul later established a fund called The Scott Newman Foundation.

Hi Auburn Annie!
Carroll O'Connor's interviews about his son's drug addiction and death were heart wrenching. I was especially touched by the ad he did when he said "get between your kids and drugs anyway you can"
He said he blamed himself for not doing enough for his son. I don't think he could have done anything more!

Street drugs were available in the 50s and 60s. Even prescribed drugs like Dr. FeelGood gave were used by many people. But, if I had to pick one downfall in society since then that changed the world for the worst, I would think it is the drug culture and the lives it has taken.

I also didn't know about Mort's son. Sad to hear. How recently did this happen?

I can't believe Lenny Bruce said that Mort was his influence when they were popular at the same time. I think Lenny's influence was from his mother's humor and from working in jazz joints. I have all of his records (LPs) and loved him, even though I never liked foul language from anyone else. I also have his autobiography "How to Talk Dirty and Influence People."

Jackie Leonard! Haven't heard his name since "Broadway Open House" days, which I believe was the first tonight show, prior to Steve Allen's. I had the nickname "Dagmar" (another player on BOH) in high school which was hard to get rid of until I dyed my hair black and cut it short. Then they called me Jane Russell. I have auburn hair now in the November of my years and wear orthopedic shoes. Ah to be young again.

Hi Sizzie! You are right about street drugs. I also remember the prescription (legal) drugs and the damage they caused.

My parents were always fighting their weight.
My mother tells the stories of how she would go to her family MD and get a shot of "something", and take these great black capsules to lose weight. I think we call them Black Beauties?!
She told me she didn't know what she was taking, but, she wasn't that hungry, and as an added bonus, she would be awake all night doing housework!!! Uhhh, yes, that was speed...

Unfortunately, some of my relatives in my parents generation who took "diet pills" became addicted, and suffered from severe mood swings. They may have already been mentally ill, but, I don't think the meds helped.
Of course, how many women were used as experiments in the early birth control pill days? Too much of the HRT caused cancers, blood clots.
Then there are the "downers" The Stones called "Mother's Little Helper." Valium, Milltown, etc.
LSD was used legally in mentally ill patients up until the Timothy Leary days.

OK...enough from me, that's my contribution to the legal drug culture of the 1960's.

Forgot to mention I also saw Lenny Bruce in person at the Village Theatre (later to become Fillmore East). He came from the back of the theatre in a Nehru suit and saluted the curtain, which was red & white striped. He was taken off the stage that night and arrested then and there. Poor Lenny!

In the 1960s,I also was a victim of amphetamines (pills my doctor gave me to lose a few pounds). After taking them for 2 months I felt that I had lost enough weight and stopped taking them. I did not connect my phobias and constant tremors, etc. with the pills and went to a psychiatrist (hiding, because it was taboo then).

Art Linkletter's daughter too ... jumped off a tall building while high on LSD or so I read

Wow. Great Blog. I know none of this, but it's a very educational read. I was wondering myself if Jimmy Barrett's character was based on an old-school insult comic of the era. I've only heard of Jerry Lewis (the telethon guy) so I'll check out Mort Sahl on YouTube.

I'd like to see Barrett and Triumph The Insult Comic Dog go at it.

Jimmy Barret is modeled after Joey Bishop, the famous loud mouth Jewish comic who was part of the Rat Pack (his real name was Joseph Abraham Gottlieb and he was from the Bronx.)

It is not Jerry Lewis!

Hyperboliz, my cousin knows for a fact that it is Mort Sahl. I can also tell you that is the only tidbit of any kind of information he will tell me. He is fond of Mr. Sahl.

Interesting-- sound to me like the writers at MM sculpted the Jimmy Barret character as an amalgamation of all mentioned here.

If you want to catch the actor who played Jimmy in another role, check out "Victor" in this piece from YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1sE1E3z7jU