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The Old Philosopher

Eddie Lawrence Dies at 95; Comedy’s ‘Old Philosopher’

Eddie Lawrence, Comedian, Actor and Pitchman, Is Dead at 95

By WILLIAM YARDLEY 

MARCH 30, 2014

Eddie Lawrence Credit GAB Archive/Redferns

When Eddie Lawrence first performed his new comedy routine for his agent and a few entertainment executives, they told him that they loved it but that it was too clever for most people to understand. Mr. Lawrence had more faith in his audience.

He began the routine in a nasally whimper, a voice he later described as “sort of a crying Jolson.”

“Hiya, folks,” he said. “You say you lost your job today? You say it’s 4 a.m. and your kids ain’t come home from school yet? You say your wife went out for a corned beef sandwich last weekend — the corned beef sandwich came back but she didn’t? You say your furniture’s out all over the sidewalk cause you can’t pay the rent and you got chapped lips and paper cuts and your feet’s all swollen up and blistered from pounding the pavement looking for work? Is that’s what’s troubling you, fella?” Then, as banal background music gave way to a marching band, Mr. Lawrence abandoned the whimper for a bellow.

“Lift your head up high!” he thundered. “Take a walk in the sun with that dignity and stick-to-it-iveness, and you’ll show the world, you’ll show them where to get off. You’ll never give up, never give up, never give up — that ship!”

And so was born “the Old Philosopher,” a character and routine that became Mr. Lawrence’s bread and butter. Mr. Lawrence, who died on Tuesday in Manhattan at 95, structured the routine like a song, alternating tales of his fictional victims’ strange troubles with his clichéd refrain to carry on.

Released in 1956 as a three-minute single, “The Old Philosopher” rose into the Top 40 of the Billboard charts. Decades later, it continued to provide Mr. Lawrence (and some imitators) with a flexible framework for comic sketches, commercials and many television appearances. Many people became familiar with the routine, or variations on it, even if they did not know Mr. Lawrence by name. But it brought him new opportunities. He worked as a lyricist, pitchman, actor, writer and director. In the 1930s, he performed in variety shows at the Roxy Theater. In the Army in World War II, he was a disc jockey. Soon after the war, he did impersonations on radio, including on a show with the actor John Marley, and he began recording albums of comedy routines in the 1950s, many of which included versions of “The Old Philosopher.”

He became a regular on “The Steve Allen Show” and appeared on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.” In the 1980s, he adapted “The Old Philosopher” for commercials for the Claridge Hotel Casino in Atlantic City.

Decades earlier, he appeared off Broadway in “The Threepenny Opera” and had a prominent role on Broadway as a bookie in “Bells Are Ringing.”

In 1965, Mr. Lawrence wrote the lyrics for what became something of a pop standard, “I’ll Never Go There Anymore.” Stephen Sondheim once listed it among songs he wished he had written, but it was also linked to one of Mr. Lawrence’s most frustrating experiences, the 1965 musical “Kelly.” Inspired by the story of Steve Brodie, who supposedly survived jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge in 1886, the show became the biggest flop Broadway had ever seen at the time.

Mr. Lawrence wrote the book and the lyrics, and Moose Charlap composed the music. It was a labor of love for both of them, intended as a nuanced, unconventional story that reflected their serious artistic ambitions. But after producers decided to make substantial changes, Mr. Lawrence and Mr. Charlap sued, trying to stop the production from going forward. The cost ballooned from $450,000 to $650,000, considered exorbitant at the time.

The show opened on Broadway on Feb. 6, and closed after that one performance.

The experience was a lifelong sore point for Mr. Lawrence. He was pleased many years later when a concert version of “Kelly,” as originally written, was produced by the York Theater Company, with Brian d’Arcy James in the lead role.

Eddie Lawrence was born Lawrence Eisler on March 2, 1919, in New York, the oldest of two brothers. His father, Benjamin, was a banker, and his mother, the former Bess Garbowsky, was a garment worker. He graduated from Boys High School in Brooklyn and he later studied art at Brooklyn College, where he graduated in 1940.

After the war, he used the G.I. Bill to study painting in Paris with Fernand Léger. Mr. Lawrence painted throughout his life. He exhibited in galleries and signed his works Lawrence Eisler.

His survivors include his wife, the former Marilyn White, and his son, Garrett Eisler, who confirmed his father’s death.

Mr. Lawrence sometimes said no when asked to perform his signature routine to pitch products.

When that happened, it was not unusual for him to later hear an imitator on the radio, hawking whatever it was he had decided against pitching. But he often said yes. In 1974, he was surprised to get a call from John Lennon. Mr. Lennon had produced a record by Harry Nilsson and he asked Mr. Lawrence to do a promotional riff for the record. He gave Mr. Lawrence creative control.

“Hiya, pussy cat,” Mr. Lawrence said in the 30-second spot. “You say you opened up a bicycle wash and the first six customers drowned, and they picked you up in the wax museum for trying to score with Marie Antoinette? Is that what’s got you down, pussy cat? Well, rise up, get yourself Harry Nilsson’s new album, ‘Pussy Cats,’ produced by John Lennon. Nilsson’s latest — ‘Pussy Cats.’ On RCA records and tapes. Meow, and purr.”

Source: NYT