I had a wonderful, one-hour plus conversation on Saturday evening with Sol Weinstein, the Trenton native, who grew up on Union Street, worked at National Shoes and a couple of other stores before becoming an obit writer and then a sportswriter at the Trentonian. When the James Bond craze hit in the 1960‘s Sol wrote 4 parodies of the Ian Fleming spy novels, including Loxfinger Oy-Oy-7, Matzohball, On the Secret Service of His Majesty, The Queen and You Only Live Until You Die. Sol did talk radio in Philadelphia in the 1970’s at WCAU (now WPHT-1210) and then moved on to California, where he wrote for many of the funniest comedians of the day, including Bob Hope, Dean Martin, George Burns, Dom DeLuise and Paul Linde. He has since moved to Plymerton, New Zealand, a suburb of Wellington, to be close to his son and his family. That’s where we caught up with him.
I apologize for the video quality, but I think you’ll find it worthwhile to both see and hear Sol, who is still hysterical.
To whet your appetite and hopefully keep you coming back for more, I am breaking the interview into sections. In today’s first part, Sol remembers his early days in Trenton.
Did you have a nickname? It seems everybody in Trenton had one. If you want to share it and the story behind it, please send it to me.
Think someone else might be interested in this blog? Go ahead and click on the envelope icon below. Have a comment, click on the word “Comment”.
Thanks,
Ed
Brings back great memories hearing Sol's voice again. I first met Sol and his writing partner on the "Dean Martin Celebrity Roast" staff in 1976. It was my first network TV writing job and Sol's partner, Howard Albrecht, and he were very helpful to me, a newcomer to the biz. I later worked with them on the Bob Hope specials when I became a full-time writer for Hope. Sol and Howard worked with a great producer named Sheldon Keller whom Hope hired to produce specials for us. (Howard's son and Shelly's son, Casey, are now writing partners so the torch has been passed.)
ReplyDeleteSol and Howard were a joy to work with because they were so talented. Sol is a fantastic lyricist and wrote many parody songs in those days. I look forward to the second phase of this interview when Sol will tell some stories from way back when. Them was the days.
Bob Mills (thelaughmakers@gmail.com)
Thanks so much for interviewing my Dad! I am sitting here in San Jose, California, enjoying watching this video of you and my father. I have learned things that I never heard from my father! I wish it went on longer!
ReplyDeleteYou have a great way of talking to people!
Judee Weinstein (judeecakes@aol.com