Howard Cosell was a former lawyer who, as a dutiful dad, had volunteered to describe his son’s Pop Warner League game for a local radio station and saw his law career quickly replaced by a new and more lucrative one — in network broadcasting.
Coming to the game late myself from the courtroom, on our first special together, I was anxious and excited to meet him. I went up, introduced myself and said, “Howard, you and I have something in common.” He said, “What’s that?” I said, “We both started out as lawyers.” He just stared at me for a moment and said, “So?”
That was my crash course in Howard Cosell. Howard had been characterized by sports writers for so long as a certified curmudgeon, I think he gradually began believing it himself and felt compelled to deliver the crusty, cantankerous version of himself that he was convinced the public had come to expect.
But I saw one instance where his usually harmless abrasive demeanor raised Hope's rancor. He was rehearsing a routine in Hope’s dressing room and came to a line he thought could be improved upon. I happened to be standing nearby so Hope said, pointing to the joke, “See if you guys can come up with something better for Howard.”
I noted the line and went back to the writers room where
about five of us “threw lines” — made suggestions for the others to rule on — until we had ten replacements that we all agreed filled the bill.
I hurried back to Hope’s dressing room with the list. Hope was
checking his makeup and motioned for me to hand the list to Cosell. He took it and, slowly looking it up-and-down, said, “Is this the best you could do?”
I could see Hope wince. He obviously resented Howard’s assessment of his writing staff, one of whom, Charlie Isaacs, dated back to Hope’s radio days. He snatched the list from Howard, quickly chose a new line and told me to get it to Barney McNulty to put on cue cards.
In this five minute excerpt read by the author, you'll hear why Cosell was invited back so many times to guest on Hope specials. It's from THE LAUGH MAKERS: A Behind-the-Scenes Tribute to Bob Hope's Incredible Gag Writers (c) 2009 by Robert L. Mills and published by Bear Manor Media.com in both a print and an unabridged audio version.
Read FREE SAMPLE CHAPTERS at: www.laughmakers.blogspot.com