Comedy Legend Sid Caesar Has Died

And I hope he wore that gold chain and chest hair-baring torn up short-sleeve sweatshirt while sashaying into the Gates of Heaven, because the angels deserve a panty creaming moment here and there too.

Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner are holding each other while doing the endless wall slide of sadness today, because their friend and comedy hero Sid Caesar died at his home in Los Angeles at the age of 91. Sid’s friend Larry King broke the news on Twitter.

After doing comedy revues while enlisted in the United States Coast Guard, Sid moved to Hollywood with his wife Florence Levy in the 1940s and did a few movies before starting a long TV career with an appearance on Milton Berle’s Texaco Star Theater. That led to his first show, The Admiral Broadway Revue, which led to the huge pioneering hit Your Show Of Shows. Sid won an Emmy for his work on the show in 1952. After Your Show of Shows ended in 1954, Sid starred in his own show Caesar’s Hour with the patron saint of my life Bea Arthur and Carl Reiner. Sid starred in a few TV shows and movies after that and if you’re an 80s ho like me, you probably know Sid from Grease (clip below) and the cinematic masterpiece Grease 2.

Sid got sober in 1977 after years of downing pills and the sweet nectar to deal with the stress of success and always having to be funny. When Sid turned 60, he told People that he knows himself more than ever:

“I’m really, truly making it. It doesn’t come in a flash but a little bit every day. I still need the Sidney part of me; he’s funny, he jumps around, he has crazy ideas. But then the other me, Sid, comes in and says, ‘That’s enough, Sidney, I’m too punched out and I’m tired of being depressed.’ Sid’s the one who keeps Sidney in line.”

Sid’s wife of almost 60 years Florence Levy died in 2010. He is survived by their two daughters and son.

Rest in peace, Sid.

And if Hollywood legends really die in threes, then everybody better form a deep, deep prayer circle around Betty White.