James DiEugenio Posted May 13, 2018 Share Posted May 13, 2018 His first album broke records and he was white hot. Then came 11/22/63. He ended up going back to Maine, playing music and managing a bar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Wagner Posted May 13, 2018 Share Posted May 13, 2018 That is amazing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseph McBride Posted May 13, 2018 Share Posted May 13, 2018 (edited) Vaughn Meader was terrific as JFK. One night when I lived in LA I saw him sitting alone at the bar and restaurant Joe Allen's, so I went over and talked with him. He was distressed at how his career had been ruined by the assassination. He was a desolate figure. Someone announced plans to make a movie about that, which would be a good idea, but I haven't heard anything about it for a while. He learned of the assassination (as I did) in Milwaukee. Meader was riding a cab from the airport for an engagement. The cabbie asked if he had heard about Kennedy in Dallas. Meader said, "No, what's the joke?" Edited May 14, 2018 by Joseph McBride Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Von Pein Posted May 13, 2018 Share Posted May 13, 2018 (edited) More Meader.... http://jfk-archives.blogspot.com/2016/12/the-first-family-albums-vaughn-meader.html http://dvp-potpourri.blogspot.com/2014/05/whats-my-line-december-30-1962.html Edited May 13, 2018 by David Von Pein Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Clark Posted May 13, 2018 Share Posted May 13, 2018 3 minutes ago, David Von Pein said: More Meader.... http://jfk-archives.blogspot.com/2016/12/the-first-family-albums-vaughn-meader.html With Dorothy Kilgallen.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Andrews Posted May 13, 2018 Share Posted May 13, 2018 (edited) Just after the assassination, Lenny Bruce did a gig that had been postponed that weekend out of respect. The audience couldn't wait for his commentary. Bruce came out, went to the edge of the stage, and stood a long time in silence, as if brooding. Then he threw up his arms and yelled, "VAUGHN MEADER!" Everybody cracked up in schadenfreude - the poor guy was over. Edited May 13, 2018 by David Andrews Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseph McBride Posted May 14, 2018 Share Posted May 14, 2018 (edited) I heard it reported as "Phew -- Vaughn Meader," in a sadly resigned voice. And that it was on the night of Nov. 22. Bruce spent the afternoon trying to figure out how to come onto the stage. Edited May 14, 2018 by Joseph McBride Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Harper Posted May 14, 2018 Share Posted May 14, 2018 (edited) 10 hours ago, Joseph McBride said: I heard it reported as "Phew -- Vaughn Meader," in a sadly resigned voice. I've watched over 100 acts of Stand-up at the Laugh Factory in Hollywood - -including many young at-risk teens who spend summer months learning to put their difficulties and burdens into material for laughter. Any good stand-up puts it all out there, all the time. I can well imagine the enormous mental and artistic pressure on Lenny Bruce to perform at that time - whether it was the day of or the week of, he had been booked, and the people that needed the fix of a good Stand-Up at such a time, were ready to attend. What Joseph McBride "heard" should become the fact. I can just feel and see the anticipation, the wondering of how in G-d's name will he deal with this? And Bruce writing notes or bouncing thoughts in his head about what to bring into any observation on the events. That he "sighed" and then said, Phew. Vaughn Meader, seems to me to be a brilliant opening, that tied together him and his audience in their shared understanding of what constitutes a fix, at such a time. As Mr. McBride knows so well--when the fact becomes the legend, we print the legend. Edited May 14, 2018 by Robert Harper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Andrews Posted May 15, 2018 Share Posted May 15, 2018 (edited) Maybe he did it twice on the road, two different cities, the way I heard it and the way Joe heard it. Maybe also there was a Lenny Bruce imposter out there. Yet a third version: 'And Lenny Bruce provided the perfect epitaph by opening his first performance after the Kennedy assassination with the line, "Man, is Vaughn Meader f****d!" The crowd reportedly exploded with laughter.' https://deadspin.com/5829643/dead-comedian-of-the-week-vaughn-meader-assassins-victim Edited May 15, 2018 by David Andrews Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseph McBride Posted May 15, 2018 Share Posted May 15, 2018 I think "Whew, Vaughn Meader" is more droll. It lets the audience get it and flatters their intelligence, while capturing the sad desolation of the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry J.Dean Posted May 15, 2018 Share Posted May 15, 2018 I still have that 1962 Vaughn Meader Record in it's original "The First Family" jacket, likely never played, willing to part with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Blank Posted May 15, 2018 Share Posted May 15, 2018 there was this one, too: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Andrews Posted May 15, 2018 Share Posted May 15, 2018 (edited) 17 hours ago, Joseph McBride said: I think "Whew, Vaughn Meader" is more droll. It lets the audience get it and flatters their intelligence, while capturing the sad desolation of the day. Is there any analog here between how we "want to" view Lenny Bruce and how we want to view the Kennedys? For true pedants, Bruce's co-edited transcript of his routines in book form, The Essential Lenny Bruce, may contain the version of the gag that Bruce preferred to put out for posterity. Albert Goldman and Lawrence Schiller's bio, Ladies and Gentlemen, Lenny Bruce may offer its own version. However, no account not audio-recorded or attested to by multiple witness can be called definitive. If we start picking the one that humanizes and ennobles Bruce to our taste, then we're headed for tendentiousness. And flattering ourselves. Edited May 15, 2018 by David Andrews Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Bulman Posted June 26, 2019 Share Posted June 26, 2019 On 5/14/2018 at 10:47 PM, Harry J.Dean said: I still have that 1962 Vaughn Meader Record in it's original "The First Family" jacket, likely never played, willing to part with it. How much? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Johnson Posted July 1, 2019 Share Posted July 1, 2019 (edited) This was pretty funny.....in parts https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Poor+Vaughn+Meader&&view=detail&mid=612B6C65079ABC6B360D612B6C65079ABC6B360D&rvsmid=8E4C78A413CE369350798E4C78A413CE36935079&FORM=VDQVAP Edited July 1, 2019 by Adam Johnson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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