Read Online The Unruly Life of Woody Allen by Marion Meade - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Marion Meade
Tags: Biography & Autobiography, Entertainment & Performing Arts, Performing Arts, Individual Director
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referred to young Woody as "that rotten little kid." Asked about Woody in 1997, he characterized him as a person who "never communicated anything memorable. I guess he was truly hiding his light under a bushel." Nevertheless, the rotten little kid was beginning to get a reputation, because in 1958 he and Larry Gelbart won a Sylvania award for the year's best television comedy.
In spite of his aversion to the country, he began leaving the city every summer to work at Tamiment, a resort in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania, renowned as a borscht belt farm club for writers. (Herman Wouk memorialized the resort as South Wind in Marjorie Morningstar.) For many years, Max Liebman had produced the Saturday night shows at Tamiment Playhouse with the fresh young talents of Danny Kaye, Carol Burnett, Sid Caesar, Jerome Robbins, Mary Rodgers, and Danny and Neil Simon. The productions were said to be the equal of Broadway theater. Helping to write and stage—and sometimes act in—a different show every weekend, Woody found himself toiling around the clock. In his spare hours, he sat on the porch, chewing packs of spearmint gum, practicing his clarinet, and reading. "People joked that the books were marriage manuals," said Mary Rodgers, who, with Marshall Barer, was there at Tamiment working on the music and lyrics for a one-hour version of what eventually became Once Upon a Mattress. Woody, at the tender age of twenty-three, "already had a reputation for being a genius," said Rodgers. Actress Jane Connell agreed that he was impressive, "confident of what he had to offer and even though very shy, never kowtowing to anyone."
For Woody, the atmosphere at Tamiment was irresistible, a "George S. Kaufmanesque stage door feeling" that made him feel part of show business. Less enamored of the place was Harlene, called "Mrs. Woody" by the staff, who earned extra money typing scripts and "always had a cold," recalled Mary Rodgers. "Actually, I think it was an allergy to the mountains, or maybe to Woody." Like the other performers, Harlene and Woody lived in a one-room cabin and shared a toilet with the cabin next door, but the lack of privacy didn't seem to bother them. They were "Hansel and Gretel," said Jane Connell, "little kids who seemed more like brother and sister than passionate lovers. Harlene looked a bit like Olive Oyl in the comics." Behind his wife's back, slyly mocking their marriage, Woody told the other players that he knew nothing about sex on their wedding night and talked to a rabbi, who advised him not to worry. "All you do is mount her like a young bull." The story, despite many repetitions, never failed to make people laugh. The sniffling Harlene did not utter a word, "didn't show her feelings," reported producer Moe Hack. "She could take a lot of punishment."
In four years Woody became a successful writer for television's biggest comedy stars. In 1960, he went to work for the Garry Moore Show at a weekly salary of $1,700 (the equivalent of $9,300 today). It was quite a lot of money, but, characteristic of his negative attitude. Woody was still miserable. The greater his success, the more impatient and dissatisfied he was. Writing for others, he decided, was "a blind alley," not much different from working in Macy's. Around friends, he made no secret of his boredom in the comedy trenches. He was just writing "to earn a living," hacking around from show to show, always worried that the star would be dropped for poor ratings. In no time, he began treating the Moore show like Midwood High, a place to avoid if at all possible. When he did show up, he arrived late, goofed off, and needled the other writers. His manager, Harvey Meltzer, was a cautious man who warned him to take it easy and develop his talent slowly and systematically, advice that Woody stubbornly refused to follow. When their five-year contract expired in 1958, Woody dumped his manager, to the relief of Meltzer, who later complained that Woody was "making me
In spite of his aversion to the country, he began leaving the city every summer to work at Tamiment, a resort in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania, renowned as a borscht belt farm club for writers. (Herman Wouk memorialized the resort as South Wind in Marjorie Morningstar.) For many years, Max Liebman had produced the Saturday night shows at Tamiment Playhouse with the fresh young talents of Danny Kaye, Carol Burnett, Sid Caesar, Jerome Robbins, Mary Rodgers, and Danny and Neil Simon. The productions were said to be the equal of Broadway theater. Helping to write and stage—and sometimes act in—a different show every weekend, Woody found himself toiling around the clock. In his spare hours, he sat on the porch, chewing packs of spearmint gum, practicing his clarinet, and reading. "People joked that the books were marriage manuals," said Mary Rodgers, who, with Marshall Barer, was there at Tamiment working on the music and lyrics for a one-hour version of what eventually became Once Upon a Mattress. Woody, at the tender age of twenty-three, "already had a reputation for being a genius," said Rodgers. Actress Jane Connell agreed that he was impressive, "confident of what he had to offer and even though very shy, never kowtowing to anyone."
For Woody, the atmosphere at Tamiment was irresistible, a "George S. Kaufmanesque stage door feeling" that made him feel part of show business. Less enamored of the place was Harlene, called "Mrs. Woody" by the staff, who earned extra money typing scripts and "always had a cold," recalled Mary Rodgers. "Actually, I think it was an allergy to the mountains, or maybe to Woody." Like the other performers, Harlene and Woody lived in a one-room cabin and shared a toilet with the cabin next door, but the lack of privacy didn't seem to bother them. They were "Hansel and Gretel," said Jane Connell, "little kids who seemed more like brother and sister than passionate lovers. Harlene looked a bit like Olive Oyl in the comics." Behind his wife's back, slyly mocking their marriage, Woody told the other players that he knew nothing about sex on their wedding night and talked to a rabbi, who advised him not to worry. "All you do is mount her like a young bull." The story, despite many repetitions, never failed to make people laugh. The sniffling Harlene did not utter a word, "didn't show her feelings," reported producer Moe Hack. "She could take a lot of punishment."
In four years Woody became a successful writer for television's biggest comedy stars. In 1960, he went to work for the Garry Moore Show at a weekly salary of $1,700 (the equivalent of $9,300 today). It was quite a lot of money, but, characteristic of his negative attitude. Woody was still miserable. The greater his success, the more impatient and dissatisfied he was. Writing for others, he decided, was "a blind alley," not much different from working in Macy's. Around friends, he made no secret of his boredom in the comedy trenches. He was just writing "to earn a living," hacking around from show to show, always worried that the star would be dropped for poor ratings. In no time, he began treating the Moore show like Midwood High, a place to avoid if at all possible. When he did show up, he arrived late, goofed off, and needled the other writers. His manager, Harvey Meltzer, was a cautious man who warned him to take it easy and develop his talent slowly and systematically, advice that Woody stubbornly refused to follow. When their five-year contract expired in 1958, Woody dumped his manager, to the relief of Meltzer, who later complained that Woody was "making me
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