23 Facts About Marty Feldman

Martin Alan Feldman was a British actor, comedian and comedy writer.

Marty Feldman initially gained prominence as a writer with Barry Took on the ITV sitcom Bootsie and Snudge and the BBC Radio comedy programme Round the Horne.

Marty Feldman became known as a performer on At Last the 1948 Show and Marty, the latter of which won Feldman two British Academy Television Awards including Best Entertainment Performance in 1969.

Marty Feldman went on to appear in films such as The Bed Sitting Room and Every Home Should Have One, the latter of which was one of the most popular comedies at the British box office in 1970.

Marty Feldman died in 1982 of a heart attack while filming Yellowbeard in Mexico City.

Marty Feldman was born on 8 July 1934 in East London, the son of Cecilia and Myer Marty Feldman, a gown manufacturer, who was a Jewish immigrant from Kyiv, Ukraine.

Marty Feldman recalled his childhood as "solitary" especially during his years of evacuation to the countryside during the Second World War.

Marty Feldman suffered from thyroid disease and developed Graves' ophthalmopathy, causing his eyes to protrude and become misaligned.

Later in the decade, Marty Feldman worked on the scripts for Educating Archie in both its radio and television incarnations, with Ronald Chesney and later, Ronald Wolfe.

In 1954, Marty Feldman met Barry Took while both were working as performers, and with Took, he eventually formed an enduring writing partnership which lasted until 1974.

Marty Feldman then became the chief writer and script editor on The Frost Report.

Marty Feldman proved popular enough with an international audience to launch a film career.

The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine was a television series co-produced by Associated Television in the UK and the American Broadcasting Company, produced at ATV's Elstree Studios, near London.

Marty Feldman later appeared in The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother and Brooks' Silent Movie, as well as directing and starring in The Last Remake of Beau Geste.

Marty Feldman guest-starred in "Arabian Nights", an episode of The Muppet Show in which he was teamed up with several Sesame Street characters, especially Cookie Monster, with whom he shared a playful cameo comparing their eyes side by side.

Marty Feldman was married to Lauretta Sullivan from January 1959 until his death in 1982.

Marty Feldman died, aged 74, in 2010 in Studio City, Los Angeles.

Marty Feldman's peers have reported, in a number of biographies, that he was highly attractive to women in spite of his unconventional facial appearance.

Marty Feldman spent time in jazz clubs, as he found a parallel between 'riffing' in a comedy partnership and the improvisation of jazz.

Marty Feldman subsequently became an anti-gun advocate in the US, even wearing an anti-gun t-shirt and hat pin during his appearance on the late night TV show Fridays.

In 1971, Marty Feldman gave evidence in favour of the defendants in the obscenity trial for Oz magazine.

Marty Feldman was a heavy cigarette smoker for most of his life, often smoking five packs daily.

Marty Feldman died of a heart attack in a hotel room in Mexico City on 2 December 1982 at age 48 during the making of the film Yellowbeard; the film was dedicated to him.