The Funniest Man You Never Heard Of

By Ralph Meranto

In a conference packed with talks, interviews and panel discussion with famous writers and theatre professionals, it was an unexpected treat to learn the life story of a brilliant writer who seems to have been overshadowed by the Hollywood giants helped to make funny.

Hank Rosenfeld’s talk, “The Wicked Wit of the West ­ A Tribute to Irving Brecher” on June 9th at The Museum of the City of New York was a charming tribute to one of the last great MGM roundtable screenwriters.

Irving Brecher wrote vaudeville and radio shows for Milton Berle, punched up The Wizard of Oz, and created “The Life of Riley” on radio, in the movies, and as the very first television sitcom.

Born in the Bronx in 1914, Brecher took a job at age 19 as a ticket taker at a Manhattan movie theater, where he learned from a critic for Variety that he could earn money writing jokes for comedians. Knowing of Milton Berle’s reputation as joke-stealer, he ran an ad in Variety claiming to provide “Positively Berle-proof gags. So bad not even Milton will steal them.” The ad resulted in a phone call from Berle himself, who later hired the young writer.

In 1937, he moved to Hollywood to work on scripts for MGM. He was an uncredited script doctor on “The Wizard of Oz,” leading Groucho Marx to call him “The Wicked Wit of the West.” In Berle tradition, Rosenfeld borrow that title for his biography of Brecher and his AJT talk. It was Groucho himself who championed Brecher giving him the distinction of the only man ever to write two Marx Brothers movies by himself. Brecher was also nominated for an Academy Award for his screenplay for “Meet Me in St. Louis.”

His career is interesting, because he knew so many giants yet reveals his own fears and failings. Rosenfeld portrays a man who, despite decades in a vicious industry, stayed generous of spirit, clear-eyed and, most important, funny. His book is the product of 6 years of splitting pastrami sandwiches and hanging on Irv’s every word.

During the writers’ strike of 2007, Brecher, made a video which can still be seen on Youtube. In it, he urges the writers not to settle saying “since 1938, I have been waiting for the writers to get a fair deal; I’m still waiting.” He added: “As Chester A. Riley would have said, ‘What a revoltin’ development this is’ But he only said it because I wrote it.”

Brecher died in 2008 at age 94, but luckily Rosenfeld lives to tell his tale.