Do You Remember Mabel

McNeil sent the above movie still, accompanied by the following note: "of all the times I have watched THE NUTTY PROFESSOR, I don't think I have ever noticed this famous guy standing in front of Buddy when he enters The Purple Pit." Ha ha, I like McNeil wanton use of the term "famous guy." I recognized the gentleman in question as the hapless telephone company employee (?) from TV's ALICE. OR DID I? I thought for years that this same fellow (Marvin Kaplan, above) played Jeff Goldblum's sinister flunky in DEEP COVER. I was impressed by his versatility and boldness! But while it was Marvin Kaplan in ALICE, it wasn't him in DEEP COVER. It was this guy, Sydney Lassick (below).

So I guess Marvin Kaplan didn't have any versatility and boldness after all. As you will see, however (perhaps with the aid of a magnifying glass), both Kaplan and Lassick are wearing jauntily patterned newsboy caps in their official imdb photos, as if to continue confounding me from beyond the grave (though one of them is still alive).

Later, McNeil appended a "boring interview" with Kaplan to his original message. Excerpts: "MARVIN KAPLAN: My favorite whom I met, but never worked with was Mikhail Rasumny. Remember Mr. Rasumny? INTERVIEWER: No. MARVIN KAPLAN: You don't?... MARVIN KAPLAN: Do you remember Mabel? INTERVIEWER: No. ... MARVIN KAPLAN: They were all top people. Irene Tedrow. Remember Irene? INTERVIEWER (silence): No. ... MARVIN KAPLAN: Remember Ruthie? INTERVIEWER (silence): No. You're stumping me."