Hollywood Legend Sid Caesar Dies at 91

It's been a bad couple of weeks for Hollywood: The losses of Philip Seymour Hoffman and Shirley Temple already felt like a blow, and it's now being reported that the legendary Sid Caesar has died at the age of 91. You might recognize his face as that of Coach Calhoun from 1978's Grease, but Caesar was more widely known by his peers as a master of television comedy.

Breaking ground for shows like Saturday Night Live born in its wake, Caesar worked with Imogene Coca on Your Show Of Shows, a live program, as Variety put it, that "didn’t rely on vaudeville or standup-inspired material but rather on long skits and sketches." Writers of those sketches included fellow comedy legends such as Mel Brooks and the currently scandal-enmeshed Woody Allen.

The writing team took satirical aim at all within the pop cultural sphere, including but not limited to the films of the time, television, music, and theater, as well as touching on the comedy of everyday life, as Caesar's "The Commuters" sketch with Carl Reiner and Howard Morris exhibited.

Below you can watch Mel Brooks tell Conan O'Brien the pros and cons of writing for Caesar:

And here's a clip from the reunion of some of the cast for Your Show Of Shows, Caesar included:

Rest in peace, Sid.

Image: Getty Images