Talk:Henny Youngman

Goodfellas

there was a comedian in Goodfellas, who was shown holding a violin, and using the jokes mentioned in the article. Is this supposed to be Goodman??--Macca7174 21:01, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

According to IMDB, Youngman played himself in that movie. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 83.252.164.90 (talk) 11:07, 9 January 2007 (UTC).

Aside from the above credit he is introduced as Henny Youngman in the film.71.202.124.3 (talk) 08:14, 15 March 2009 (UTC)

Best Henny Youngman joke

"If a husband is alone in the forest, is he still wrong?" Racing Forward (talk) 12:44, 19 October 2022 (UTC)

Jewish heritage

" with a number of other New York comedians of the mid-20th Century, Youngman’s Jewish heritage led him to fit the profile of many comedians who treat their profession as a working job, one where it is difficult to make a living and getting paid for their work was all-important. In numerous interviews, Youngman’s advice to other entertainers was to “get the money.”"

I'm not sure how I feel about this paragraph. It's difficult to understand, but the implication appears to be that Youngman's Jewish heritage led him to focus on "getting the money." I am inclined to find this at least mildly offensive. Anyone want to take a crack at rephrasing this before I delete it as irrelevant and incomprehensible? Dslawe 18:16, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

While you may find it offensive, the line "Get The Money" was pure Henny. He used that statement of work consistently over his entire career. Measl 01:57, 22 May 2008 (CDT)

Lemme see...You are 'inclined to find' this offensive...wow...really... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 167.127.163.141 (talk) 19:31, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

Speaking as a gentile I would agree, it's a bit pejorative. however, it is true that many old-school Jewish comedians work business hard-headedness into their comedy. And being professionally hard-headed is hardly an insuld. [unsigned]

Citation for Gore Gore Girls

On the commentary track for this film, director Herschell Gordon Lewis made the claim that Youngman denied being in the film. How would one cite a commentary track?Anonymoustom 06:05, 15 April 2007 (UTC)

Fly in soup

Wasn't he also associated with "Waiter, there's a fly in my soup" jokes? AnonMoos 20:10, 4 November 2007 (UTC)

Yes. Measl 01:57, 22 May 2008 (CDT)

See Mel Brooks' SILENT MOVIE. An exterminator truck loses a giant dummy fly and it falls into the plate of a customer at an open-air restaraunt. It's Henny in a cameo: "Waiter, there's a fly in my soup!" MrG 65.102.255.5 (talk) 01:41, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

For one other minor comment: he did a cameo in TINY TOONS ADVENTURES as a chicken, carrying the trademark violin and doing a short standup comedy routine in front of the Tiny Toons crowd. MrG 65.102.255.5 (talk) 01:45, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

Henny's "Judaism"

While Sadie was truly a practicing Jew, Henny was widely known to be almost anti-religious in private. His belated Bar Mitzvah was undertaken entirely as a publicity stunt, in an attempt to use the ceremony to obtain wide ranging news coverage (this is fist hand personal knowledge, as I was part of the project).

Henny did assert his Jewish ancestry in public, but in private he was far less than "assertive" - at best, he was dismissive. How does this, or should this affect Henny's association with Judaism? I cannot say myself, but I think it should be discussed here prior to having this entry made part of the formal Judaism "collection".

Well, Henny undertook a *massive* advertising campaign on three separate occasions over 15 years to "celebrate" a "belated Bar Mitzvah". Each of these occurred during unusually slow periods in Youngman's bookings. He used his ancestry as a highly visible stage prop for close to 50 years, and is widely believed to have been a active and pious Jew. This is clearly a significant part of Youngman's life (albeit for all the wrong reasons), and he is in fact a "very famous Jew". How does that sit? Entered by Measl 01:57, 22 May 2008 (CDT)

I do recall that the rabbi who conducted his funeral was supposed to have said, "Lord, take Henny Youngman ... PLEASE!" MrG 65.102.255.5 (talk) 01:39, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

Henny Youngman was buried in a strictly Jewish cemetery ( http://www.mountcarmelcemetery.com ) and i, for one, am sick and tired of Wikipedia editors stripping away Jewishness by

• (a) claiming that a person must positively assert his Jewishness to be a Jew (which Youngman actually did, by virtue of having a Bar Mitzvah AND being buried in a Jewish cemetery) and
• (b) covering over Jewishness with the "previous generation ploy," namely stating that "So-and-So was born to a Jewish family," which implies that the subject of the biography abandoned his Jewishness (which Youngman most obviously did NOT).

I call for this to be rectified, and i speak as a "notable Wikipedian" who has had to actively assert my own Jewishness in my own biography. catherineyronwode, not logged in. 75.101.104.17 (talk) 01:05, 24 September 2018 (UTC)

Incorrect personal information

Much of the information under personal life is completely false. Everything regarding his children and grandchildren is false and I will remove it. --Youngmizzle (talk) 06:27, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Mizzle: You clearly have some personal agenda here, as this family information is not only accurate, it is publicly available (see the very first obituary cited below). Why is it that you appear, make spurious "corrections (vandalisms), and then disappear (destroying your user account)? Your edits are pur vandalism, and I will revert any of your spurious attempts to vandalize this page. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.10.163.113 (talk) 07:54, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

The only "agenda" that I have is to correct completely false statements about the personal life of my family member. I know that there is no way to prove my relation to Henny Youngman, so I will refute each piece of false information with citations that are available in the public record, and I will dismiss anything false that is not explicitly written in the obituary that you wrongly claim verifies your incorrect assertions.

1. "While she was ill, Henny had an ICU built in their bedroom, so she could be taken care of at home, rather than in the hospital (Sadie was terrified of hospitals)." -- This is completely false, there was no such ICU and someone must have made up the idea that she was "terrified" of hospitals. This is not stated in the NY Times obituary, and therefore it is unverified.

2.Youngman had two children, Gary (Sr. and Marilyn, and two grandchildren, Lawrence ("Larry") Michael Kelly (son of Marilyn) and Gary Youngman Jr. (son of Gary). Gary briefly tried screenwriting and directing (see below), while Marilyn never entered public life. -- Henny's children are Gary and Marilyn, and his grandchildren are Lawrence, James, and Lauren. This is also available public record. No such person as Gary Youngman Jr. is a member of Henny's family. Furthermore, None of Henny's grandchildren are involved in the film business.

3. "Gary Youngman Jr. is best known for his 1976 film Rush-It! </w/index.php?title=Rush-It%21&action=edit&redlink=1>, which introduced the filmgoing public to a number of soon to be very famous actors and actresses (John Heard </wiki/John_Heard_%28actor%29>, Jill Eikenberry </wiki/Jill_Eikenberry>, Tom Berenger </wiki/Tom_Berenger>, others). After Rush-It's lukewarm reception, Gary removed himself from the public eye - he now lives a quiet life in California."

-- Gary, Henny's son, however, has been involved in the film business for his entire career. That does not exactly constitute "removing himself" from the public eye.

-- My dog is out in public every single day - does that make him a film star? Being "in the film business" does not mean you are in the public eye - he has stayed BEHIND the scenes mizzle.

-- Gary's first feature film, Rush-it, recieved good reviews, see imdb <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075157/>.

-- Youngmizzle (talk) 05:54, 10 July 2008 (UTC)

Your own "reference" disputes your own assertion. It was never rated, had no formal reviews, and has a 5/10 user rating. What universe are you in?~~

You're a "family member"? Unless you are one of the two grandkids, I highly doubt it. And if you *are* one of them, you are too young to have any first hand knowledge of any of this. For example, I have been in the "ICU" that you say does not exist. It was in Henny's bedroom. Or what used to be a bedroom. Were you ever actually *in* 77 w 55th? Can you describe the place? I doubt it. You're a vandal, whether or not you are really aware of it, since changing facts to fit your misconceived ideas is clearly vandalism (as well as wishful thinking). Are you perhaps Lauren or James? Were you at Sadie's funeral (I was - you can see me in the pictures taken on Amsterdam avenue)? Did you ever even *talk* to Sadie? I did, and for long periods of time. I know she was "terrified of hospitals" because I personally dragged her to one when her pacemaker died and left her with a pulse rate of under 40bpm. Can you describe any single room in Henny's NY or Florida homes?

Like I said, you're either a straight vandal, or a young adult grandkid who is vandalizing by posting the family mythologies. If you would like to trade notes 1 on 1, please feel free to email me (since you have no user page) at SadiesEMT at gmail dot com. If your intentions are really to help the accuracy of the page (as is mine), then lets find out what we really know, and collaborate on it. Write me: I'm eager to trade notes, and to possibly say hi to old family (Marilyn & husband for instance). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.10.163.113 (talk) 09:30, 12 July 2008 (UTC)

Do we want to break out a Larry Kelly page?

Since we seem to be veering off into that direction: I still have photos of Larry, the BBS, a Top Bananna flyer, a pic of The Chair (along with one or two press clippings I think), various business cards, etc.

Regardless of whether we break out a new page, I think we'll have to agree that there is honest dispute over Larry's presumed cause of death. Larry's methadone maintenance was no secret, nor were his frequent ODs. At the time of Larry's death I tried very hard to get a firm cause of death but was unsuccessful. As you are clearly someone who knew Larry as well as I did, you'll remember that he said that his weigh and his drug use were both his preferred "forms of suicide". And they are both equally as likely to have killed him.

Larry led a pretty interesting life in his own right, and a break out page is probably the right thing to do. I'd be more than happy to help provide material!

Also, as much as it pains me personally, the Henny check business has popped up here repeatedly, and I cannot deny it was and is legitimate news - removing it is deception through omission: it should stay. At least this way, the true story gets out, and not the bastardized mess that was the original insertion. ~~Measl —Preceding unsigned comment added by Measl (talk • contribs) 03:20, 11 August 2008 (UTC)

Dubious

While numerous "sources" name Liverpool as his birthplace, this seems to be incorrect, and a couple of sources state London. His birth was in fact recorded in the St. Giles district of London in March 1906. See FreeBMD RodCrosby (talk) 12:27, 29 August 2009 (UTC)

Birthdate

All during his life, sources have reported Henny Youngman's birthdate as January 12, while the social security index now reports March 26. Also, Ancestry.com reports his birth in London, not Liverpool. On the other hand, he arrived in New York on the Cedric from Liverpool on September 16, 1906. He was listed as six months old.If this was not just an estimate, he was born in March. The question is, why did all early reports say January 12?(talk) 12:51, 12 March 2011 (UTC)

I came here to ask precisely the same question. -- Jack of Oz ^{[your turn]} 21:29, 9 August 2011 (UTC)

As a close friend of Larry's I think the idea of a Larry Kelly page is a good idea. Let's do it.

I met Larry at Franconia College in 1973 where we became fast friends. I was General Manager and Chief Engineer of Franconia College's student radio station, WOMB AM 570kHz, but eventually shared leadership with Larry; he took over the position of General Manager and I remained as Chief Engineer. Larry was influential in adding Top 40 music programming to the radio station in the style of broadcasting made popular by Bruce "Cousin Brucie" Morrow of WABC in New York. Before Larry Kelly attended Franconia College the radio station followed an album oriented format popularized by many FM stations of the period even though WOMB was an AM station.

One important person who can credit Larry with helping his career is Mark Simone of WABC. Larry recognized Mark Simone's dynamic personality and talent immediately and both Larry and Mark quickly became very important to the continued success of WOMB radio. Larry Kelly impressed everyone who knew him and no Franconia College reunion event occurs without some tribute made to Larry.

Larry was loved very much by Henny Youngman, his grandfather. I saw that for myself when I had the honor of attending a private roast of Henny Youngman at The Friar's Club and you could see and feel the bond Henny had with Larry. Larry might not have achieved the fame and fortune of Henny Youngman, but there is absolutely no doubt that Larry inherited that show biz bug that was so present in his grandfather. I can only imagine what Larry would be doing today if he had not passed away. I miss him and feel privileged to have known him. Ninjitsumo1 (talk) 09:07, 21 April 2011 (UTC)

Is that you Bill L.? Franconia doesn't even exist anymore-where are the reunions titled as having been from? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 97.91.181.233 (talk) 22:31, 26 December 2011 (UTC)

Name

Junggman? I don't know it, but for me as a German Jungmann (which would be the equivalent of Youngman) looks a lot more common. -- 194.95.117.68 (talk) 12:49, 21 February 2012 (UTC)

Jweekly says it's Yungman, and Russian. Made the change. Davemck (talk) 14:36, 7 August 2012 (UTC)

Ich kann auch Deutsch. „Jungmann“ is ‘Youngman’. And I agree with you, but consider Jewish migration to the east from Germany as they brought Yiddish with them, and look at the number of times it could have been transcribed and transliterated from German Fraktur to the Yiddish variety of the Hebrew alphabet -- with its own orthography -- and then into Russian Cyrillic, before becoming spelt with Latin characters.

(I knew a family named: „Szchnajder“ ... clearly, it was once German „Schneider“ = ‘Taylor’ i.e. the trade-name ‘tailor‘’, but somewhere along the line, it had been rewritten to conform to Polish orthography).

Consider too, the German spelling reforms — especially the 1901 — where words like „gebohren“ became „geboren“, just as „bey“ became „bei“, and „roth“ now „rot“ ; Thür“ now „Tür“ ... and the list goes on. Moreover, when it comes to surnames sometimes older forms are held on to, such as „Freytag“ as a family-name, versus „Freitag“ for ‘Friday’, or „Kayser“ the surname vs Kaiser, an ‘emperor’.

Christian Gregory (talk) 05:07, 26 October 2013 (UTC)

simple english

Clicking on "simple english" leads me to the baseball player... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.95.117.68 (talk) 14:32, 17 July 2012 (UTC)

Removed the link. Davemck (talk) 14:32, 7 August 2012 (UTC)

Birthplace - London / Liverpool

I've amended the birthplace to London, per the NYTimes Obit, which I've cited - it was originally Liverpool, and flagged as dubious, please discuss. No expert, so starting a discussion here in case there's evidence to the contrary and we need to say something like "Source X says LIverpool, Source Y says London". AdventurousMe (talk) 04:54, 25 July 2014 (UTC)

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