Legendary comic and television icon Sid Ceasar died today at the age of 91. He was an early TV star and comedian who starred in the famous NBC variety series Your Show of Shows, from 1950 to 1954. On the show he became part of a comedy team that consisted of Carl Reiner, Howard Morris and Imogene Coca, while writers of the show's sketches included Reiner, Mel Brooks, and Neil Simon. He then started another variety show called Caesar's Hour (1954-57) with a team of writers and performers that included at times Howard Morris, Neil Simon, Carl Reiner, Bea Arthur, Nanette Fabray, Mel Brooks, and Larry Gelbart. He was nominated for 10 Emmys in his career, winning 2, was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1985, and made appearances in several movies and tv shows in the 70's and 80's, including Grease and the Mel Brooks films Silent Movie, History of the World, Part 1, and Airport 1975.
Here's the "Birthday Sketch" from Your Show of Shows, a series that was essentially the birth of the variety/sketch show on television, and served as the inspiration for Carl Reiner's The Dick Van Dyke Show:
