Modified On September 16, 2004
A SHECKYmagazine reader writes:
Dear SHECKY person:
I have been searching the net for information about Theodore, a monologist who I saw on a number of occasions in the early ’60s in Manhattan. I’ve had no luck. Do you know of a web site, book or other written material that I might look out for?
Bob Greenstein
We advise Mr. Greenstein (or anyone seeking information about the late Brother Theodore) to click here. For those of you who want a preview…
It seemed that Theodore was born lucky, November 11, 1906. His family was extraordinarily wealthy and he had the best of everything, though his autocratic and disciplinarian father sometimes made life difficult. The Gottlieb family owned magazines and had great influence. Theodore recalled that in 1926 Einstein spent three months as a guest. At one memorable party Theodore witnessed someone approach The Great Man and ask, “Is there life after death?” Einstein replied: “How the hell should I know!”
Years later, Theodore would become virtually the only comedian to rage a losing battle against existentialism. While his contemporaries such as Mort Sahl and Lenny Bruce took on politics and sociology, only Theodore made a career out of speaking what was REALLY on peoples’ minds: what is the meaning of life, how does one cope with death, and what’s behind the beyond.
Theodore recalled “being gloomy” in his youth, and (to his father’s chagrin) studying “useless” things like art and philosophy in college. The philosophy in Germany changed during the 30’s: “suddenly…we were Jewish pestiferous rats that had to be exterminated.” The Nazis took the family’s money, mansion, and finally, their lives. Theodore was the only family member to survive Dachau where he saw the tortures first hand and Nazi guards “roaring with laughter” watching men eaten alive by vicious dogs.
Escaping to America, Theodore worked as a janitor at Stanford University and toiled for three years in a shipyard in San Francisco. He put his savings into a serious one-man concert which flopped miserably. No one came to hear his soliloquies, or his version of “The Tell-Tale Heart.” After seven years of struggling in poverty, his wife left him for his best friend. Theodore’s only son went with her.
The story brightens a bit at the end. And it serves as a lesson for any of us who might find ourselves in the enviable position of running a talk show:
He made 36 appearances on The Merv Griffin Show, and it was Griffin who dubbed the dour performance artist/comedian “Brother” Theodore, based on the priest-like black turtleneck he wore.
He appeared on Johnny Carson‘s Tonight Show (demanding to know why Johnny was asking such “wishy washy questions”) and an admiring Dick Cavett had him on for a half-hour, even allowing Theodore to sit at a desk and perform a segment from his show.
Of course, we all probably know Theodore from his appearances on Late Night and Late Show, both hosted by David Letterman. Theodore died April 5, 2001. We ran his obit in this very magazine.