I approached Robert Ross’s Marty Feldman biography with a degree of apprehension.
Just to be clear, I approach any biography with apprehension. If I like the subject of the book then the biography risks shattering my perceptions and that’s a concern.
In this case I was not all that aware of whom Marty Feldman was. At the start of the book Ross says you tend to get two responses to the name Marty Feldman; either a chuckle as they recall Feldman’s comedy sketches or a chuckle as they recall him from Mel Brook’s Young Frankenstein.
That wouldn’t work for me. I wouldn’t have recognised the name. However, if you’d shown me a picture of Feldman then Young Frankenstein would have come to mind. His is a unique and famous face – and one of the nice little bits of the biography is that we discover he wasn’t born with those eyes and nose; both are accidents.
Feldman died in 1982 after failing to crack Hollywood. His story is perfect for a biography. A family that made it from rags to riches but which the young, rule breaking, non-conformist Marty rejected. He fell into crime. Then he fell into comedy. It’s a history that really has you backing Feldman even through his quirks and downright illegal activities.
There are two other vital successes that go into making this biography the success it is. The first is that Robert Ross is a fantastic writer. He has a way of pulling you quickly into scenes. He has a way of blending quotes, sources and references in naturally and powerfully. He’s one of those writers that can say a lot by writing a little.
The other critical success is that Robert Ross is a well connected biographer. He seems to have had fantastic access to comedy legends, TV stars and those who knew Feldman well. I think it helps that Feldman was such a powerful character and died so tragically, at only 48, that colleagues were more than happy to step forward and contribute observations.
I suspect comedy fans who’ll open biographies will find something of interest in here. Feldman’s career touched on the likes of The Army Game, worked with John Cleese and Barry Took, worked on the radio with Kenneth Williams and even American TV on The Dean Martin Show.
Thanks to YouTube we can sample some of his work. Monsters.
Disclaimer: My copy of Marty Feldman: The Biography of a Comedy Legend was provided as a review copy.
