The guy wasn't Robert DeNiro, but he did make his own mark in the movies. Believe it or not, about a month ago, my good friend Walter Evans and I had an in depth discussion about the films of Dom DeLuise. I also remember asking him whether Dom was still alive, since I hadn't seen him in anything in quite awhile.
DeLuise got his start on television, and his big break came playing Dominick the Great, a recurring skit on the Dean Martin Variety Show where Dom played a particularly inept magician opposite Dean's skeptical audience "volunteer."
But DeLuise's career will forever be linked with two men: Burt Reynolds and Mel Brooks. DeLuise was often Reynolds' wisecracking, often insane sidekick in such non-classics as Cannonball Run, Cannonball Run II, Smokey & the Bandit II, Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, The End and others. He was also a regular player in Mel Brooks films like Blazing Saddles, Silent Movie, History of the World Pt. 1, Spaceballs (in which Dom played Pizza the Hut) and others. One got the impression that Dom knew that he wasn't working with Shakespeare material, but he didn't really care. He had a natural gift for broad humor and simply enjoyed life and making others laugh. I like this quote from Mel Brooks: "Dom created so much joy and laughter on the set that you couldn't get your work done. So every time I made a movie with Dom, I would plan another two days on the schedule just for laughter." A key element to his humor was a willingness to poke considerable fun at himself (and often at his weight problems). Later in life Dom wrote several acclaimed cook books and appeared on cooking shows, combining his two passions, entertaining and food.
RIP Dom DeLuise.
1 comment:
Believe it or not? Doesn't everybody have frequent in-depth conversations on the film career of Dom? Just the other day I was discussing this very thing with my wife. She said she thought he was dead. I said I hope so. Just kidding.
Post a Comment