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"I am too old to die young, and too young to grow up," he told a reporter -- a week before he died. This beloved comedian, who poked fun at himself as well as others, was born Marty Feldman, on July 8, 1933, in London, England. The son of immigrants from Kiev, Marty spent his childhood in the poverty-stricken London East End and left school at the age of 15, hoping for a career as a jazz trumpeter (his appearance in a Variety show earned him the title "the worst trumpeter in the world"). He had just started his comedy career, as a writer for BBC radio programs and TV shows in the late 1950s, when he married Lauretta Sullivan in January 1959 (they would stay married until his death in 1982). There's a saying: "Your face is your fortune"; Marty had received a double-whammy. His nose was mangled in his youthful years in a boxing match; his walleyed orbs were the result of both a hyperactive thyroid and a botched operation after a car accident before his 30th birthday, in 1963. American audiences first saw Marty in "Dean Martin Presents the Golddiggers" (1968), where he did comedy skits with Susan McIver and the Golddiggers. He appeared in a number of movies, his most-remembered role being that of Igor (pronounced: Eye-gor) in Young Frankenstein (1974). Besides acting, he made his directorial debut in The Last Remake of Beau Geste (1977). Beloved and popular, it seemed Marty was to enjoy a long career in the entertainment field. However, he died of a massive heart attack, caused by shellfish food poisoning, while filming Yellowbeard (1983) in Mexico City, on December 2, 1982... he was only 49. |
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