The death of saxophonist Isaac Sidney "Sid" Caesar was reported recently. Caesar, born September 8, 1922, in Yonkers, NY, began his musical career at age 14 with Mike Cifichello's Swingtime Six band; he played the "Borscht Belt" circuit of hotels in the Catskills region of New York State. After high school, he failed to enter the musicians' union, so he audited classes at the Julliard School of Music and played with smaller bands in the NYC and Catskills areas. In 1939, Caesar joined the Coast Guard. There, he parlayed his musical talent into an assignment with the Coast Guard's orchestra. He toured with the military revue "Tars and Spars" during the Second World War and, after the war ended, appeared in the revue's film version.

Times then turned tough for Caesar. A grainy film from 1954, in which Caesar appears at the 6:30 mark, shows Caesar forcing his way onstage during a performance of "Sing, Sing, Sing" by the Benny Goodman band. His attempt to audition for the famed clarinetist was met with good humor, but the lack of a job offer from Goodman resulted in Caesar giving up his musical ambitions for the tawdry life of a sketch comedian. He appeared in many low-budget shows and movies that forced him to serve as producer, writer, and on-camera entertainer. In his later years, Caesar supported himself with appearances at the anniversary celebrations for some of these shows. He died on February 12, 2014, aged 91, after a brief illness. Alan, Deceased Hose, Eternity Tours, Exuma, Jefferson Survives, Kathi, King Daevid, Loki, Meadow, Ray Arthur, RH Draney, TGV, Walking Dead Dude, and WCGreen each get 2 points for the hit.

--WCGreen