Buddy Hackett

Comedian Buddy Hackett will be grand marshall for the Garden Grove Strawberry Festival's 40th anniversary parade, part of the May 22-25 festivities at the Village Green on Euclid Avenue. On opening day, actor Billy Barty will again host the Tiny Tot King and Queen contest at 4 p.m. What's touted as the largest strawberry shortcake ever assembled will be cut at 6 p.m. The parade will begin at 10 a.m. May 23 and feature an assortment of local groups and celebrities.

DENNIS LIM takes a cheap shot at deceased producer-director Stanley Kramer in his review of the new Sony film collection of Kramer's work ["A Guest Who Just Won't Go Away," Feb. 10]. Lim declares "many of" Kramer's films "suffered from a stiffness and simple-mindedness that was antithetical to convincing drama" -- this about a film library that includes "Champion," "The Men," "The Caine Mutiny" and "High Noon." Lim lauds the dreadful " . . . Mad World" which obscured the comic talents of no less than Buddy Hackett, Sid Caesar and Dick Shawn to name a few; only Buster Keaton managing a hilarious 30-second silent vignette.

Comedian Buddy Hackett watched sea gulls so much that he learned to look like one. "I was a method sea gull," Hackett says. "I climbed up on the window and jumped." The character of Scuttle the sea gull in Disney's new film "The Little Mermaid" was modeled after the comedian. Hackett studied the birds at Malibu beach after he signed to provide the voice of the character. He told People magazine in this week's issue that he learned sea gulls are "terrorists."

I have a very special memory of that latex-faced jester Buddy Hackett, with jokes coming out of one side of his mouth ("So We Hop In and Buddy Drives," by Paul Brownfield, July 6). I can confirm that he took laughs wherever he could get them and that was anywhere. When I heard about his death, I thought of one hot afternoon in Las Vegas when I had walked from the Sahara Hotel to Caesars Palace to attend the Alan King Tennis Classic and was told that the event was sold out. As I was leaving, I saw a couple of kids sneaking in by climbing over a wall, disappearing into the shrubbery.

Buddy Hackett, who broke into comedy as a young waiter-performer in New York's Catskill Mountains and went on to achieve iconic status as a raunchy nightclub performer and rubber-faced clown in movies including "The Music Man" and "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," died Monday at his home in Malibu. He was 78. The cause of death was not immediately clear.

"The Love Bug" -- The obituary of Buddy Hackett in Tuesday's California section and a photo caption on A1 mistakenly referred to his film "The Love Bug" as a 1968 hit. It was released in 1969.

I have a very special memory of that latex-faced jester Buddy Hackett, with jokes coming out of one side of his mouth ("So We Hop In and Buddy Drives," by Paul Brownfield, July 6). I can confirm that he took laughs wherever he could get them and that was anywhere. When I heard about his death, I thought of one hot afternoon in Las Vegas when I had walked from the Sahara Hotel to Caesars Palace to attend the Alan King Tennis Classic and was told that the event was sold out. As I was leaving, I saw a couple of kids sneaking in by climbing over a wall, disappearing into the shrubbery.

You are in the "world famous" Friars Club of Beverly Hills sitting at a long white table. At the bar lurks a man whose cratered mug has been in every gangster movie since "Little Caesar." A few feet away, two women in motorized vehicles that look more like Harleys than wheelchairs are negotiating the buffet with its glass bowls of Thousand Island dressing and croutons. The air shimmers with the smell of butane and the sound of Donna Summer singing "God Bless America."

DENNIS LIM takes a cheap shot at deceased producer-director Stanley Kramer in his review of the new Sony film collection of Kramer's work ["A Guest Who Just Won't Go Away," Feb. 10]. Lim declares "many of" Kramer's films "suffered from a stiffness and simple-mindedness that was antithetical to convincing drama" -- this about a film library that includes "Champion," "The Men," "The Caine Mutiny" and "High Noon." Lim lauds the dreadful " . . . Mad World" which obscured the comic talents of no less than Buddy Hackett, Sid Caesar and Dick Shawn to name a few; only Buster Keaton managing a hilarious 30-second silent vignette.

I like USC Coach Paul Hackett. In fact, if Conan O'Brien is ever replaced, I would recommend my buddy Hackett. You know what UCLA fans are going to say when I pass on a few of the big guy's funny lines at their expense: "Dining on cream puffs like Penn State and San Jose State can sure make someone fat, and with all that sugar, sassy." The folks at UCLA, of course, are not known for their sense of humor, but listening to my buddy Hackett on Tuesday, well, I just split a gut.

Around the time that Bonny Lee Bakley, Robert Blake's wife, was found shot to death outside Vitello's restaurant in Studio City, I got one of Buddy Hackett's phone calls. "Everything in her apartment was all packed, right?" he said. "When you pack what's the last thing you do?" I wasn't sure. Lock the doors? Was this a setup for one of Hackett's jokes? When he called, he often had a joke, but they tended to begin with a duck or a horse walking into a bar.

"The Love Bug" -- The obituary of Buddy Hackett in Tuesday's California section and a photo caption on A1 mistakenly referred to his film "The Love Bug" as a 1968 hit. It was released in 1969.

Buddy Hackett, who broke into comedy as a young waiter-performer in New York's Catskill Mountains and went on to achieve iconic status as a raunchy nightclub performer and rubber-faced clown in movies including "The Music Man" and "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," died Monday at his home in Malibu. He was 78. The cause of death was not immediately clear.

You are in the "world famous" Friars Club of Beverly Hills sitting at a long white table. At the bar lurks a man whose cratered mug has been in every gangster movie since "Little Caesar." A few feet away, two women in motorized vehicles that look more like Harleys than wheelchairs are negotiating the buffet with its glass bowls of Thousand Island dressing and croutons. The air shimmers with the smell of butane and the sound of Donna Summer singing "God Bless America."

Director Stanley Kramer's comedy smorgasbord, "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," will be shown Saturday at the Warner Grand Theatre in San Pedro. "Mad," released in 1963, was the late director's extravagant, slapstick caper movie featuring a who's who of comedians, including Milton Berle, Phil Silvers, Jonathan Winters, Buddy Hackett, Sid Caesar, Dick Shawn and Mickey Rooney, part of a ragtag bunch chasing after a bank robber's buried cash. Spencer Tracy also stars as Captain C.G. Culpeper.

I like USC Coach Paul Hackett. In fact, if Conan O'Brien is ever replaced, I would recommend my buddy Hackett. You know what UCLA fans are going to say when I pass on a few of the big guy's funny lines at their expense: "Dining on cream puffs like Penn State and San Jose State can sure make someone fat, and with all that sugar, sassy." The folks at UCLA, of course, are not known for their sense of humor, but listening to my buddy Hackett on Tuesday, well, I just split a gut.

Around the time that Bonny Lee Bakley, Robert Blake's wife, was found shot to death outside Vitello's restaurant in Studio City, I got one of Buddy Hackett's phone calls. "Everything in her apartment was all packed, right?" he said. "When you pack what's the last thing you do?" I wasn't sure. Lock the doors? Was this a setup for one of Hackett's jokes? When he called, he often had a joke, but they tended to begin with a duck or a horse walking into a bar.

Director Stanley Kramer's comedy smorgasbord, "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," will be shown Saturday at the Warner Grand Theatre in San Pedro. "Mad," released in 1963, was the late director's extravagant, slapstick caper movie featuring a who's who of comedians, including Milton Berle, Phil Silvers, Jonathan Winters, Buddy Hackett, Sid Caesar, Dick Shawn and Mickey Rooney, part of a ragtag bunch chasing after a bank robber's buried cash. Spencer Tracy also stars as Captain C.G. Culpeper.

Comedian Buddy Hackett will be grand marshall for the Garden Grove Strawberry Festival's 40th anniversary parade, part of the May 22-25 festivities at the Village Green on Euclid Avenue. On opening day, actor Billy Barty will again host the Tiny Tot King and Queen contest at 4 p.m. What's touted as the largest strawberry shortcake ever assembled will be cut at 6 p.m. The parade will begin at 10 a.m. May 23 and feature an assortment of local groups and celebrities.

Comedian Buddy Hackett watched sea gulls so much that he learned to look like one. "I was a method sea gull," Hackett says. "I climbed up on the window and jumped." The character of Scuttle the sea gull in Disney's new film "The Little Mermaid" was modeled after the comedian. Hackett studied the birds at Malibu beach after he signed to provide the voice of the character. He told People magazine in this week's issue that he learned sea gulls are "terrorists."