Marty Feldman

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Birthday:

8 July 1934, London, England, UK

Birth Name:

Martin Alan Feldman

Height:

170 cm

"I am too old to die young, and too young to grow up," Marty Feldman told a reporter -- a week before he died.This beloved comedian, who poked fun at himself, as well as others, was born Martin Alan Feldman on July 8, 1934, in London, England. His parents were of Ukrainian Jewish heritage (from Kiev). He was the son of Cecilia (née Crook) and Myer Feldman, a gown manufacturer. 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 Susie Ewing 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 48. Show less «

The pen is mightier than the sword, and is considerably easier to write with.

I don't want to be a director. I want to direct. There's a difference.

Comedy, like sodomy, is an unnatural act.

I won't eat anything that has intelligent life, but I'd gladly eat a network executive or a politician.

Money can't buy poverty.

I like to be by myself, reading, wandering about art galleries. I like solitude, walking.

I do not disbelieve in anything. I start from the premise that everything is true until proved false. Everything is possible.

I don't know any jokes, which is embarrassing. I wish I did.

To have an effect on the audience, that's the most enjoyable thing I think, you know? To convey a real emotion, to communicate something mor...Show more »

To have an effect on the audience, that's the most enjoyable thing I think, you know? To convey a real emotion, to communicate something more than information. To be able to move an audience in some way; either to laughter or proverbially to tears. Days when you feel you've done it, when you've done a good scene, you know it. Show less «

I don't enjoy anything while I'm doing it. I enjoy having done things, though.

I do have a lot of violence in me, though. It's usually directed against objects. When I'm angry I may throw or kick something. But the last...Show more »

I do have a lot of violence in me, though. It's usually directed against objects. When I'm angry I may throw or kick something. But the last time I kicked something I almost sprained my toe, and when I threw a bottle, it smashed all over me. I really shouldn't do those things. Show less «