Marvin Kaplan: A Prince of Comedy, Creativity, and Kindness

ISN’T THAT WHAT’S-HIS-NAME?! Maybe you remember him as a regular on two of the longest running sitcoms on television. On ALICE he played Henry Beesmeyer, the telephone repairman who hung out at Mel’s Diner. And before that as Alfred Prinzmetal, an aspiring poet, on the sitcom MEET MILLIE. Or more recently as Mr. Gordon, the long-suffering patient, on the sitcom BECKER starring Ted Danson. And who can forget that voice of the flamboyant Choo Choo on the primetime cartoon series TOP CAT. Maybe you saw Jonathan Winters throw him out of a window in MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD. Or laughed at his character in THE GREAT RACE starring Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon. Or A NEW KIND OF LOVE as Paul Newman’s sidekick. He was called a scene-stealer in his first movie ADAM’S RIB playing a court stenographer opposite Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. His filmography (included in this book) comprises dozens of television, theater, and film credits. You know who I’m talking about. Had a distinctive, whining, deadpan Brooklyn accent, wore thick round eyeglasses with those bushy eyebrows. What’s-his-name?! Marvin Kaplan. Undeniably the most beloved character actor in all of Hollywood. This is his story.