Sid Caesar (September 8th, 1922 – February 12th, 2014) was an American comic actor, comedian and writer. Caesar was considered a "sketch comic" and actor, as opposed to a stand-up comedian who relied more on body language, accents, and facial contortions than simply dialogue. Unlike the slapstick comedy which was standard on TV, his style was considered "avant garde" in the 1950s. He conjured up ideas and scene and used writers to flesh out the concept and create the dialogue. His TV shows' subjects included satires of real life events and people, and parodies of popular film genres, theater, television shows, and opera. But unlike other comedy shows at the time, the dialogue was considered sharper, funnier, and more adult-oriented. With a career spanning 60 years, he was best known for two pioneering 1950s live television series which were Your Show of Shows (1950–1954) and its successor Caesar's Hour (1954–1957), both of which influenced future generations of comedians. He also acted in films such as Coach Calhoun in Grease (1978) and its sequel Grease 2 (1982), It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), Silent Movie (1976), History of the World, Part I (1981), Cannonball Run II (1984), and Vegas Vacation (1997).
History with the Macy's Parade[]
Caesar first appeared with Imogene Coca on the American Eagle float during the 1953 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and would later make his second solo appearance by the very next year on Macy's own Noah's Ark float.