Marty Feldman by Robert Ross

Author:Robert Ross [Ross, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780857686022
Publisher: Titan
Published: 2011-03-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

“I let my energy express itself in physical terms that often leads to broken bones and injuries.”

The art of physical comedy is a very dangerous thing. One must only look at the track record of Marty’s hero, Buster Keaton. Tim Brooke-Taylor says that: “There were moments on Marty where I hurt myself. Marty, John and I did a sketch about the Bavarian wine-treading dance which involved us stepping in and out of wine barrels. My shins were black and blue afterwards. Comedy can be very painful.”

It is quite natural to come across a BBC Accident Report concerning an incident on the set of Marty. One is dated Saturday 11th January 1969 and reports on an accident from Television Centre, Studio Six. Marty, importantly, was the cause not the effect. “The accident occurred shortly after a scene which involved thirty-one extras some with galvanised buckets and ladders. The artistes were kneeling at the time and we had just gone into the Closing Titles when Marty Feldman started to clown around and pushed the end persons in two of the lines of artistes. This caused a ripple effect along the line of artistes – knocking all the artistes over. One of the extras a Mrs Mary Denton fell badly against one of the buckets. This caused a swelling on the upper part of her right arm. The floor assistant – Christopher Fox – took Mary Denton to Sister but, unfortunately, it was her early night off so the Senior Fireman was called. He inspected the arm and recommended that she should have it x-rayed. Christopher Fox accompanied Mary Denton in a taxi to Hammersmith Hospital [casualty department] where her arm was ex-rayed [sic]. The results... proved to be negative.” Mrs Denton was taken back to her home and probably dined out on the story for several months. But for Marty perhaps a seed had been planted. If this woman could be fussed over by the television company and, most appealing of all, get a few hours away from the studio, then why not him?

The second accident report that quarter directly affected Marty. This was issued on 30th April 1969 during work on The Wednesday Play; a fresh and challenging project. Producer Graeme McDonald verified that: “During the performance [at Television Centre, Wood Lane] the artist was required to knock loudly on the door of set. Whilst doing this Mr. Feldman, using an unnecessary amount of force, grazed his hand.” Graham Benson was cited as the witness for the BBC records and Marty got a few moments away from the studio pressure.

By the summer of 1970 seemingly every interview with Marty starts with his explaining about some broken limb or other. On one occasion it was a broken wrist: “My wrist? Yeah, I broke it. I fell off a wrestler. It could have happened to anybody. I was standing on a wrestler and fell off. That’s all.”1

Under the rather apt but haunting headline: ‘Your Laughs are Killing Me’, the People reported that

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