Lawrence H. Siegel (October 29, 1925 – August 20, 2019) was an American comedy writer and satirist who wrote fortelevision, stage,magazines, records, and books. He won threeEmmys as Head Writer during four seasons ofThe Carol Burnett Show along with oneWriters Guild award and a dozen Emmy and Writers Guild nominations for his work in television comedy on shows likeBurnett andLaugh-In. He was one ofMad Magazine's top movie satire writers, and a member of the "usual gang of idiots" for almost 33 years as well as one of the earliest humor and satire writers forPlayboy. He was also a WWII Veteran, and the only American comedy writer to have ever both won anEmmy and received aPurple Heart.
Siegel was born inNew York City on October 29, 1925, to a family ofJewish descent.[1] His first published work was a poem,Oh Dear What Can Sinatra Be?, which tweaked both the singer and hisbobbysoxer fans, and ran inEarl Wilson's syndicatednewspaper column in 1943. The verse read in part:
At the age of 18, Siegel was drafted into the Army soon after his contribution to Wilson's column. In early 1944, after concludinginfantrybasic training inGeorgia, he volunteered for additional stateside training with the 10th Mountain Division. The 10th landed inNaples, Italy for battle in January 1945. Siegel became an Army Rifleman and decorated war hero who received aPurple Heart, Bronze Star Medal, American Theater Ribbon, EAME Theater Ribbon with two Bronze Stars, Victory Medal, Combat Infantry Badge, and a Good Conduct ribbon.
After the war ended, Siegel enrolled at theUniversity of Illinois on theG.I. Bill. He wrote for the school humor magazine,Shaft, for two years. He became editor of the publication when his predecessor,Hugh Hefner, graduated, a college connection that would influence his future comedy career. While at college, Siegel had stories published inFantasy and Science Fiction andAmerican Legion Magazine. Siegel graduated and returned to his family in New York in 1950.
In 1955, while on vacation in Nantucket, Siegel fell in love with Helen Hartman, an aide in the office ofUnited Nations Secretary-GeneralDag Hammarskjöld in New York. He proposed on their first date and they were married until Siegel's death.
In the late 1950s, Hugh Hefner would enter his life once again when Siegel found work as Eastern Promotion Manager forChicago-basedPlayboy. Siegel started writing humorous articles and satirical pieces forPlayboy,Humbug andMad Magazine. He wrote nearly 300 articles for the latter, which appeared in more than 150 issues.[3] Siegel's output forMad included nearly 80 movie and television parodies, including "The Oddfather," "Balmy and Clod" and "Flawrence of Arabia" as well as a dozen "primers," and several imaginary magazine parodies on topics ranging from medicine, to 1960s protesters, to "gun nuts." Siegel also wrote song parodies, including several of those in theMad special issue which ultimately provoked afailed lawsuit byIrving Berlin and other composers which established certain copyright law protections that endure to this day.
In 1965, at the behest of composerMary Rodgers andMad publisherWilliam Gaines, Siegel collaborated withStan Hart onThe Mad Show.
The world-wide success ofThe Mad Show brought the Siegel and Hart families toLos Angeles in 1968. There, they wrote aFlip Wilson special forNBC and a pilot for20th Century Fox producerDavid Gerber calledOh Nurse!
In 1970, Siegel was hired by producerGeorge Schlatter to write forLaugh-In. He later broke contract to write forCarol Burnett with Stan Hart. The team spent three years with Burnett, during which they won two Emmys and were nominated for another. Siegel and Hart parted from the Burnett show in 1974, and Siegel helped launchThat's My Mama on ABC. He returned for the final season of Carol Burnett's show in 1977 and won a third Emmy.
In the early 1980s, Siegel was hired as part of a team of writers to pen a sequel of sorts to the hit LP recordThe First Family. TitledThe First Family Rides Again and highlighting mimicRich Little, the follow-up dealt with the life ofRonald Reagan.
During the 1990s, Siegel spent three years teaching comedy writing atUCLA before turning to acting and joining theScreen Actors Guild. He did commercials for companies includingIBM andNorthwest Airlines and also performed in stage musicals in the Los Angeles area. At the age of 87, Siegel was still doing improvisational comedy, writing, and performing in sketches for shows at theBroad Theater inSanta Monica, California. He died on August 20, 2019, at the age of 93.[4]
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