A Sou for Cy Howard

September 27 was the birthday of comedy creator Cy Howard (Seymour Horowitz, 1915-1993), apparently no relation to the Howards from the Three Stooges, who were also born Horowitz. This Howard conquered radio, television, and films, as writer, director, and producer. Many of the projects he worked on were widely known and appreciated in his time; very little has withstood Time’s Cruel Gauntlet.

Originally from Milwaukee, Howard studied at the Universities of Wisconsin and Minnesota, where he was a tennis champion and majored in economics. After school, he worked briefly as a salesman in Chicago before moving to New York, where he tried his luck as an actor, and got his foot in the door as a radio gag writer for Jack Benny, Danny Thomas, and Milton Berle. From 1944 through 1947 he was married to bib band singer Nan Wynn.

In 1947 Cy Howard broke through in a big way with a comedy franchise that was all his. My Friend Irma starring Marie Wilson wasn’t only a hit radio show, but was also adapted into films (1949-50) and then a TV series, which ran from 1952 through 1954. Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis made their cinematic debut in the Irma movies. Howard also wrote their first starring movie vehicle That’s My Boy (1951). He produced the radio and TV sit-com Life with Luigi (1948/1952-53) starring J. Carrol Naish while Irma was still on the air. In 1953, Howard broke with CBS over a contract dispute.

From 1954 through 1957, Howard was married to movie star Gloria Graham. Throughout the late ’50s he was on staff at Desilu as a script supervisor and staff producer. He sold two new series in 1960, each of which lasted a single season. Guestward Ho! starred Joanne Dru and J. Carroll Naish from Life With Luigi as a couple of New York show biz types who run a dude ranch. Harrigan and Son featured Pat O’Brien and Roger Perry as a father-son law partnership. This was followed by Fair Exchange (1962-63), a series in which British and American parents swap their teen girls! Eddie Foy, Jr was on this show, as was a young Judy Carne.

After writing and producing numerous filmed but unsold pilots, Howard wrote for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (of all things) from 1967 and 1969, and also wrote Pat Paulsen’s 1968 special Pat Paulsen for President. I say “of all things” of course because that show was associated with young hippie writers. Howard was in his 50s! But his involvement with the show earned him an Emmy.

In the ’70s, Howard shifted gears yet again by becoming a director. In 1970 he helmed the screen version of Joe Bologna and Renee Taylor’sLovers and Other Strangers, starring Gig Young, Bea Arthur, Bonnie Bedelia, Diane Keaton, and Richard S. Castellano, who was nominated for an Oscar for his performance. In 1972 he co-wrote and directed the mafia comedy Every Little Crook and Nanny starring Victor Mature (the crook) and Lynn Redgrave (the nanny). Two years later came his TV movie It Couldn’t Happen to a Nice Guy. I saw this when it originally aired in 1974! It starred Paul Sorvino as a man who gets raped and becomes frustrated by everyone’s refusal to take him seriously. That was the big comedy premise! A man gets raped! I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t fly now.

Howard’s last project is pretty well known, if not notorious. He co-wrote the all-star comedy Won Ton Ton, The Dog That Saved Hollywood (1976), which I’ve had occasion to mention many on Travalanche a time, because it was the final screen credit for many an old time Hollywood star.

In 1977, Howard married Barbara Warner, daughter of Hollywood mogul Jack Warner. They had to have been pretty well set up. Jack died in 1978; Howard retired around this time.

For more on the history of show business,consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, for more on classic comedy please check out my book: Chain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube. And stay tuned for my upcomingElectric Vaudeville: A Century of Radio and TV Variety.