Marty Feldman

The writer who didn't want to be a face

Marty Feldman never planned to become the most recognizable face of 1970s physical comedy. He originally intended to stay behind the typewriter, writing jokes for others. In the 1950s he formed a writing team with Barry Took, and together they shaped the surreal humor of the BBC.

He wrote quick, sharp sketches that laid the groundwork for what would come later with Monty Python. But his looks got in the way of his plans to stay anonymous. Graves' disease and a failed thyroid operation left him with the bulging eyes that became his biggest commercial asset.

Nobody expected that impact.

In 1967 he made his on-camera debut in the show At Last the 1948 Show. There he shared the stage with John Cleese and Graham Chapman, showing that his gift for slapstick was innate. He didn't need to speak to get a laugh, because his mere presence broke the fourth wall.

But Feldman hated being reduced to a medical anomaly. He saw himself as an author and a frustrated poet who used absurdity to criticize authority.

The Igor who changed the rules

Mel Brooks called him to take part in Young Frankenstein in 1974, and his life changed completely from there. Feldman accepted the role of Igor with a technical condition that drove the film's editors to despair.

He decided that his character's hunchback should switch sides in every scene, without explanation. When Dr. Frankenstein asked him about it, he simply replied, "What hump?" It was an improvisation that Brooks kept in the final cut, because he understood that audiences would accept any craziness coming from Feldman.

He earned a star's salary for that job, which remains the absolute benchmark for mainstream comedy films today.

And the gamble paid off.

After his massive success with Brooks, he tried to take full control of his work. In 1977 he directed and starred in Mi bello legionario, a parody of Foreign Legion movies. The shoot was an absolute mess because of his perfectionism and his heavy smoking.

Feldman smoked close to five packs of cigarettes a day and drank huge amounts of black coffee. That nervous energy carried over into his films, but it was also wrecking his health at an alarming pace.

The collapse in Mexico City

In 1982 he traveled to Mexico to shoot Los desmadres de amarillo barba under the direction of Mel Damski. The shoot was a hellish mix of heat and production problems that Feldman couldn't handle well.

After a grueling day of filming, he suffered a massive heart attack in his hotel room. He was only 48 years old. Some friends blamed the stress of the shoot, while others blamed food poisoning from bad shellfish.

But the medical reality was simpler and harsher. His heart couldn't keep up with the pace of work, and his blood pressure was strained by decades of extreme smoking.

He died a week before finishing his scenes in the film.

His grave at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood lies right beside that of his idol Buster Keaton.