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Book Release Announcement: I Won't Grow Up!: The Comic Man-Child in Film from...
I am proud to announce the release of my new book, I Won't Grow Up!: The Comic Man-Child in Film from 1901 to the Present.The man-child has been an enduring subject of film comedy. He is an archetype...
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The Man-Child Man-Cave
The man-child playroom has been a fixture in films for decades. When did filmmakers first introduce this merry and cozy little place?George Cukor’s classic film Holiday (1938) may be a good place to...
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Man-Child Comedy Film of the Week: Oh, Doctor! (1925)
Oh, Doctor! was a romantic comedy produced by Universal Pictures. It was adapted from a novel by Harry Leon Wilson, an amusing author who also wrote "Merton of the Movies" and "Ruggles of Red Gap."...
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Musings on Book Marketing
Happy holidays, my friends!The Christmas season brings out the child in many of us. It is a good time to bring up my new book, I Won't Grow Up!: The Comic Man-Child in Film from 1901 to the Present.It...
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I'm Just a Grandma's Boy
I loved spending time in the summer at my grandparents' home. It was a peaceful place compared to my own home and my grandmother's food was always great.My grandparents never had junk food in their...
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The Man-Child Through the Decades
Betty Bronson as Peter PanFilm comedy's first man-child was French comedian André Deed. Here is Deed causing the usual commotion in Foolshead Has Been Presented with a Football (1910).The first...
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Big Babies
Joe E. BrownComedians have long found that a reliable way to get laughs is to dress up as a baby.Eddie CantorThe Three StoogesFred Astaire, Nanette Fabray and Jack Buchanan in The Band Wagon...
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The Big Chair
Harry LangdonFor many years, actors have found it effective to play children on sets filled with oversized furniture and oversized props.Roscoe ArbuckleArbuckle and Mary Miles MinterStan Laurel and...
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Quotes About the Comedy Man-Child
Children, in their purity, their struggles and their missteps, have been an important inspiration to comedians."I love the man-child," said Josh Gad. "I’ve sort of created a monopoly on naiveté and...
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Get to Know Your Man-Child, Part 1: The Man-Child's Best Friend is His Dog
The comic man-child is much like a child in the affection that he expresses for his dog. Roscoe Arbuckle and his dog Luke were inseparable. Chaplin put the Tramp's affection for his dog at the...
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Get to Know Your Man-Child, Part 2: The Man-Child Likes to Luxuriate in a...
Bath time is a fun time for the man-child.Russell Brand in Arthur (2011) Bob Hope in Star Spangled Rhythm (1942)Bob Hope in Paleface (1948)Steve Martin in The Jerk (1979)Charlie Chaplin in Pay Day...
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Get to Know Your Man-Child, Part 3: The Man-Child Enjoys Riding a Bicycle
The man-child is inseparable from his bicycle, which stands as an emblem of boyhood freedom.Jacques Tati expressed the emblematic value of the bicycle in his 1949 comedy feature Jour de Fete (Big Day)....
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Holiday Leftovers
Dean Martin and Jerry LewisI hope that everyone enjoyed their time off for Christmas. Christmas is the one time of year when every man and woman can, without a twinge of shame, behave like a child....
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End-of-Year Cleaning
I always like to clean up my office and clear out my files at the end of the year.Wow, my typewriter has a lot of dust on it! Let us now see what I have lingering in my files. I can never get enough...
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Examiner Book Review
James Neibaur reviewed my new book, I Won't Grow Up!: The Comic Man-Child in Film from 1901 to the Present, for The Examiner. Click here to read it. Read more about the comic man-child by picking up a...
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Get to Know Your Man-Child, Part 4: The Man-Child is Shy Around Girls
Little boys do not respond well to little girls trying to kiss them. And so it is, too, with the man-child comedian.Constance Cummings and Harold Lloyd in Movie Crazy (1932)Charlotte Greenwood and...
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Meet Baby Snooks
One cannot discuss comedians acting like children without acknowledging Fanny Brice's popular portrayal of Baby Snooks. Brice played the impish little girl for nearly 30 years, gathering an increasing...
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More Man-child Comedians with Dogs
Zach Galifianakis in Due Date (2010)I have found more photos of comedians with dogs.W. C. FieldsPeter SellersSteve CarellAubrey PlazaConan O'BrienBob HopeKeira Knightley and Steve Carell in Seeking a...
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The Man-child Comedian's Love of the Teddy Bear
No comic man-child was more attached to his teddy bear than M*A*S*H's Radar O'Reilly (Gary Burghoff). The bear was featured in nineteen episodes of M*A*S*H between 1971 and 1981.Larry Gelbart, the...
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