Customer Reviews

Edgar Kennedy

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This book is a wondrously researched, beautifully told life story of Edgar Kennedy, the beloved comedian who is remembered for having been a Mack Sennett Keystone Cop, later foil to Hal Roach stars (Laurel & Hardy, Charley Chase, Our Gang), and later still as the star of the fondly recalled "Average Man" two-reel comedy series at RKO. Author Bill Cassara has done Edgar proud, including as much detail and as many rare photographs as possible in this handsome-looking softcover edition. Mr. Cassara had access to the memories and collections of the Kennedy family, making this a definitive biography as well as a delightful examination at some of Edgar's most memorable film roles. The book is a labor of love that never loses its keen insight into the philosophy of a favorite comedian who also happened to be a very nice guy in private life. By all means get this book for yourself and remember the holidays are fast approaching, this book will make a very nice Christmas present for any film buff who ever enjoyed Edgar Kennedy battling against a world that seemed to always conspire against him.

Bill Cassara's book sheds new light on the fascinating life and times of Edgar L. Kennedy. Credited with over 500 films, Edgar had a colorful life in and around California during Hollywood's heyday. Edgar worked with all the movie greats who often looked to him for suggestions and guidance in the art of Comedy and film making. Mr. Cassara has done some painstaking research and has brought to life many parts of Edgar Kennedy's previously unknown career. This book is laviously illustrated (many photos heretofor unpublished)and revels both Edgar's professional and family side. It's an easy yet scholarly read that does much to fill in an area of Hollywood's past, few film bffs are aware of. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in actors (Particulally Edgar), who worked in Silents and Sound, and with most of Hollywood's greatest stars. Edgar Kennedy, Master of the Slow Burn should be on any film buff's reference bookshelf.

Magnificent! Edgar Kennedy was one of the greatest character players in motion picture history and Bill Cassara writes a warm and loving salute to this truly nice gentleman, of his family, his work and the affection people had for him - I highly recommend this book! - Shorty Caruso

When I was a kid, I first encountered Edgar Kennedy from the Hal Roach Our Gang /Little Rascals comedies shown every afternoon after school. Later I caught his RKO two reelers on WNEW , channel 5 ,New York at 2-3 am on its early morning "reel camp". Then in the classic routines with Chico and Harpo Marx in " Duck Soup " and so on. His exasperation was explained to me by my grandfather simply as " that's " slow burn Kennnedy " and I found out that he also watched the RKO 2 reelers -fondly as he usually watched very little TV. As I became a film enthusiast, I always had a "soft spot " and regard for " Kennedy the Cop ". Edgar Kennedy was a long serving character actor in the silent and sound era's and against all odds at the lowest point of the great depression in 1932 graduated to his own highly sucessfull short comedy series at RKO that lasted for 16 + years - until his untimely death in 1948. Acting and directing at the old Sennett Studio and later at the Hal Roach studio's with Laurel and Hardy and Charlie Chase gave him ample opportunties to hone his skills and this outstanding book chronicles his struggles and perservance as a non glamerous "ordinary man" to find a place against great odds to secure a nitch / persona in a 35 + year Hollywood career in the era when hundreds of actors and actresses were vying for the publics attention. In a time when Hollywood was about stars and glamour it was the numreous character actors acting in hundreds of films - Edna Mae Oliver, Frank Mchugh, Alan Hale, Beulah Bondi, Nat Pendelton, Gail Patrick, Edward Brophy, Florence Bates, Eric Blore AND Edgar Kennedy who with the scores of other character actors are as much as the stars that they supported are the reason why we watch and treasure these movies as much today as audiences did of 60 + years ago. Edgar Kennedy was as well recognized for his "slow burn" persona in the 1930s and 40s as Fred Astaire was for dancing and Errol Flynn for swashbuckling. Never a major star he nevertheless was a viable, respected and much in demmand character actor. The author also shows Edgar as a good natured familly man who like the former boxer he was - always moved forward despite the hard knocks that often came his way. I was pleasantly surprised that a biography like this could be published and find an audience in our "5 minutes of fame" era. This book is entertaining, well researched, has great pictures and the author obviously has a fondness for the subject. I strongly recommend this book to all film and film comedy buffs and give it a strong 4 1/2 stars.

If you are a fan of Laurel and Hardy, you have doubtless seen Edgar Kennedy as the traffic cop in the 1928 silent short, "Leave 'Em Laughing." Stan and Ollie have unwittingly caused a traffic jam on a busy street in Culver City during rush hour. Officer Kennedy does his best to allay the situation, but only chaos results. The hapless civil servant seethes with quiet frustration until his anger reaches the boiling point. Commandeering the Boys' Model T, he drives his clueless passengers past a street sign reading, "STREET CLOSED." The car speeds around a corner and directly into a mudhole. It is a classic screen moment.

Bill Cassara--a police officer himself--has done a fine job in creating this affectionate tribute to a truly funny man. I loved reading the book. It brought back some of the best television-watching memories of my life. Thank you, Officer Cassara!

Edgar Kennedy, one of the funniest supporting comedians in film history, is probably best knows for his appearances in the Hal Roach shorts of Our Gang and Laurel & Hardy but actually appeared and starred in hundreds of films in a lengthy career. Author Cassara has pulled off the seemingly impossible! By doing exhaustive research that must have been akin to archeology, this raider of the lost celluloid has produced a well-rounded bio that completely humanizes Mr. Kennedy and presents a full chronology of a life in film... and beyond. You leave this well researched documentary of a cinema clown with a feeling that you know the man. Frankly, that's just astounding to me. There's not much material on Edgar Kennedy out there and Bill Cassara has written a history that fans of classic comedy will revel in.

Edgar Kennedy is unjustly forgotten by many. He was an original, and he gave the world pure laughter for many years. Bill Cassara has thoroughly researched Kennedy's life and written a fine tribute of a biography. If you've ever wondered about the background and life of the man famous for the "Slow Burn", by all means pick up a copy of this book.