Leonard Stern, who created the seminal '50s sitcom The Honeymooners with Jackie Gleason and wrote 12 feature films (including two Abbott and Costello vehicles), died on Tuesday at age 88 in Los Angeles. In addition to acting as head writer for The Steve Allen Show and producer of the flat-out funniest show of the '60s, Get Smart, Stern also served as president of the Producers Guild of America. Let's honor his legacy with a clip from one of his first films, a little flick about a dynastic duo venturing overseas.
Yep, it's 1950's Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion, which exhibits its own version of Ralph Kramden brio. Other Stern credits include Abbott and Costello's Lost in Alaska, Danny Thomas and Peggy Lee's 1952 version of The Jazz Singer, the Jack Lemmon and Betty Grable-starrer Three for the Money, and the George Burns comedy Just You and Me, Kid, which he also directed. In case that's not enough goodness for you, Stern also had a hand in inventing Mad Libs. Insert amazing adjective here.
ยท 'Honeymooners' Creator Dies [Variety]