Web Site Logo

This website is made possible, in part, by displaying a few online advertisements to our visitors.
Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker for this site.

Laugh Makers, The

A Pictorial History of American Comedians

Author: William Cahn
Introduction by Harold Lloyd
Hardback: 192 pages
Publisher: Bramhall House (1957)
Avg. Rating: [ Unrated ]
In Print? No

The Three Stooges receive scant mention, mostly for their longevity, and are represented by a HOOFS AND GOOFS (1957) studio still with Moe, Larry and Joe.  (The book was a 1957 publication, and recognizes this version as the current Three Stooges lineup.)

From the dust jacket...

"The Laugh Makers is a nostalgic and lively picture and text survey of the traditions of American comedy, the laugh makers themselves, and the forms and media that have shaped America humor. From Thomas Wignell, the first American comedian, who made George Washington laugh, to Sid Caesar of the TV age, America has evolved its own special brand of humor - a humor that lets us laugh at ourselves, which exploits our self-consciousness. The Laugh Makers examines this tradition, identifies it, and presents the men and the media which have shaped it. Also there are many sidesplitting examples of the comedy of such lights as Joe Jefferson, Harrigan & Hart, Weber & Fields, W.C. Fields, Ed Wynn, Bobby Clark, Harold Lloyd, Charlie Chaplin, Groucho Marx, Fred Allen and Jimmy Durante, and over 200 fabulous pictures show them as they were - caught in the middle of their acts. In a broad, panoramic sweep, The Laugh Makers presents this history, and gives an intimate close-up of the greats of American comedy, and of the comedy itself that has made these names national institutions."

Reissued in 1970 by Grosset & Dunlap, and retitled as A Pictorial History of the Great Comedians.  Updates expanded it to 221 pages, but the Stooges' segment remained untouched.

(Refreshing the page will alternate the editions pictured.)


Member Reviews


[ Books ]   [ Magazines ]   [ Miscellaneous ]   [ All ]





FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We make such material available in an effort to advance awareness and understanding of the issues involved. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information please visit: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission directly from the copyright owner.