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Comic Support

Second Bananas in the Movies

Author: Ron Smith
Paperback: 247 pages
Publisher: Citadel Press (1993)
Avg. Rating: [8.00/10]
In Print? No

Shemp Howard and Joe Besser receive chapters in this tribute to familiar, beloved supporting actors. Stooge fans can also enjoy segments dedicated to Vernon Dent, Dudley Dickerson, Billy Gilbert, Bud Jamison, Jack Norton, Benny Rubin, and dozens more whose paths crossed the Stooges (and Healy) over five decades.

From the back cover...

"Comic Support is a tribute to those overlooked actors whose job was to take the brunt of the jokes and make the leading stars look good. Whether they played cops (Edgar Kennedy), society dowagers (Margaret Dumont), prissy sales clerks (Franklin Pangborn), crusty valets (Eric Blore), or full-time drunks (Jack Norton), these 2nd bananas would set themselves up for a fall so that the leads could get even louder laughs. Then there were the sidekicks: Allen Jenkins and Frank McHugh for James Cagney, Una O'Connor who offered a laugh break in Boris Karloff's "Frankenstein" films, and Thurston Hall who played indignant fathers and bankers for the likes of Bette Davis and Loretta Young. These supporting players, along with more than a hundred-and-fifty others, were invaluable to the success of both the movies and the actors with whom they appeared. They live on here again in words and photographs."


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