Karin Seager Cockram

President Mary Croxton opened the seventeenth and final meeting of the Fredonia Shakespeare Club’s 2020-2021 program year, which focused on “Humor and Humorists.”

The topic for the 2021-22 year will be “Scandalous Women,” with specific subject matter to be finalized at the club’s summer picnic. Planning is underway for Shakespeare’s birthday celebration in April.

Mary Croxton introduced Karin Seager Cockram, presenting her paper on Carl Reiner, comedian, director, actor, author, and producer. Her paper was designed around quotes by many of Reiner’s friends and admirers after his death in 2020.

The Miriam-Webster dictionary defines the word, “mensch,” as “a person of integrity and honor.” The Jewish Chronicle (JC) goes a little further: “There are few higher Jewish compliments to pay someone than to call them a mensch, though, of course, a true mensch would be too modest to want to be complimented. A mensch is a person who can be relied on to act with honor and integrity. But the Yiddish term means more than that: it also suggests someone who is kind and considerate.”

That word was used in dozens of tributes to Carl Reiner after his death on June 29, 2020. Even when the specific word itself wasn’t used, its definition was clearly present in every tributary statement.

Cockram read some of the quotes made about Mr. Reiner, like “…one of the quickest, brightest, and funniest minds in, and out of, show business!” from Elaine Ballace, and Lucie Arnaz’s “A true genius and mensch…one of the kindest people you could know. His wife, Estelle, his son, Rob, and his whole family were and still are mensches….,” and Steve Martin’s “He was like a father to me.”

Reiner was a funny man. But if there’s a theme to his career, it was that he made other comics funnier. He was a mensch. He won nine Emmys and a Grammy. And yet whenever it was time to take credit for something, Reiner would almost always deflect the credit to his partners, whether it was to his longtime collaborator Mel Brooks (‘Mel Brooks is the single funniest human being that I ever met’) or his wife of almost 65 years, Estelle (‘I never felt that I had enough words to be a writer, but my wife is the one who gave me the key’). Mrs. Cockram continued her paper with: “While it would be easy, albeit extremely time-consuming, to present a list of Carl Reiner’s professional and artistic achievements, what I’ve discovered to be even more impressive is the way in which he was remembered by the people who knew and loved him. Even while naturally nodding to his professional and artistic achievements, it was his humanity, kindness, and life-long sense of joy that appears to have impressed people even more.”

Tributes by Ray Romano, George Clooney, Jerry Seinfeld, and Alan Alda followed before the presentation turned to Carl Reiner’s childhood in the Bronx, his early desires to be an opera singer or baseball player, and his apparent career as a sewing machine repairman. His brother, Charlie, changed Carl’s life path by suggesting that he take a free acting class, which led to parts in several shows, including two on Broadway. Carl’s acting career was interrupted when he was drafted into military service but resumed after his honorable discharge in 1946.

Reiner met Estelle Lebost through their jobs in the Catskills and married her on Christmas Eve 1943. She was a talented artist and singer, and Reiner was supportive and proud of her successes. They had three children who each became well-known in artistic fields themselves: Rob as an actor, director, and producer; Annie as a poet, playwright, and author; and Lucas as a painter, actor, and director.

Reiner had an amazing career, but at the end of his life, he said, “Nothing pleases me more than knowing that I have lived the best life possible by having met and marrying the gifted Estelle (Stella) Lebost–who partnered with me in bringing Rob, Annie and Lucas Reiner into this needy and evolving world.”

Cockram’s talk continued on with information about Reiner’s television career from Sid Caesar’s “Your Show of Shows” to “Caesar’s Comedy Hour” to “The Dick Van Dyke Show” to multiple guest appearances throughout his life and his documentary entitled, “If You’re Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast.” It moved on to discussion of his many movie experiences such as “The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming,” “Oh God,” and the “The Jerk.” YouTube clips of many of Reiner’s shows and movies were interspersed throughout the presentation.

Cockram concluded the paper with “Have I mentioned, yet, that he also wrote more than two dozen books? In addition to several coffee table books on TV, film, radio, and art, he wrote five novels, seven memoirs and six children’s books. It would seem that would be more than a full, successful career and that Mr. Reiner would be able to step back and enjoy retirement. But his love of theatre and his joy in entertaining were too strong. He continued acting with appearances in the “Ocean’s Eleven” series of movie remakes, did voice artist work in a variety of shows, at the age of 88 was a regular on the show “Hot in Cleveland,” along with Betty White, and, as his final acting role, voiced Carl Reineroceros in Toy Story 4; fittingly, with his friend Mel Brooks voicing the character Melephant. The movie was released in 2019, one year before Mr. Reiner’s death.”

Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner’s lifelong best friend, wrote in a statement to THR, “Carl was a giant, unmatched in his contributions to entertainment…I loved him. When we were doing the “2000-Year-Old Man” together there was no better straight man in the world. So, whether he wrote or performed or he was just your best friend–nobody could do it better. He’ll be greatly missed. A tired cliche in times like this, but in Carl Reiner’s case it’s absolutely true. He will be greatly missed.”

The Fredonia Shakespeare Club was established in 1885.