13. The Stooges rumor was not true, but it may have been born from the fact that another actor and I made a movie in which he covered for Bud Abbot and I was called in to replace an ailing Lou Costello. When the movie came out, Abbot and Costello's names were not on it. Years later I played Lou Costello in a TV movie/documentary.

14. In the 60s I appeared in two movies considered classics. One was an ensemble cast that featured just about every famous comedian of the time, the other was a Disney movie about a racecar driver and his car.

Buddy Hackett?

Long shot: Jackie Gleason?

Landmark picks up the win with Buddy Hackett!

15. My birth name was Leonard Hacker
16. I was a gun collector
17. On TV and in movies I was usually the jolly and friendly fat man. In stand-up I was known for off color material.
18. I considered my self a comic not a comedian. "A comedian says funny things, A comic says things funny."
19. Late in life I went on the wagon and gave up drinking. This made me less volatile on stage.
20. In 2003 I passed away, from heart disease. I had diabetes as well.

The Lou Costello look alike clue was the one that helped me the most.

1. I came to America when I was 7 years old with my three year old brother--by ourselves.

2. I'm one of only 16 EGOT winners (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony)

3. I told my friend Robert Redford I could not cast him in my movie because he couldn't play a loser. When he objected that he absolutely could, I asked him, "When did you last strike out with a girl?" Redford, puzzled, answered in all seriousness, "What do you mean?"

4. I came to America from Berlin in 1938

5. My first time out as a Broadway director, I had a hit. My first time out as a Hollywood director, I had a hit.

6. My second time out as a Hollywood director, I used an unknown as my lead who, because of the film, became a star.

7. My Grammy was not for singing. And I shared it with my then show biz partner.

Barbara Streisand

Not Barbra--very good guess, though. I think she's an EGOT winner too. And the Redford and directing references. But I'm going to send you in another direction now:


8. My Grammy was for a comedy album--maybe the first comedy album to win a Grammy.

9. I directed many of Neil Simon's comedies on stage.

10. Paul Simon wrote a song for one of my films.

I feel like I should know this but I don't. I'll guess though:

Carl Reiner?

Not Carl.

11. Because I don't have one signature style, most people don't realize I directed *all* of the following films:

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf
The Graduate
Working Girl
Silkwood
Heartburn
Biloxi Blues
Primary Colors
Carnal Knowledge
Postcards From The Edge

The Paul Simon clue made me think of The Graduate. Is it Mike Nichols?

Mike Nichols it is! The first play he directed was Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park with Robert Redford and Jane Fonda, and the first film was Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Not bad for a beginner.

Not bad indeed! Here's one which I hope will stump you guys ... at least for a little while:

I was born in 1944 in a London Underground station during World War II.

My parents were Jewish refugees who escaped from Poland.

My maternal grandmother, who was left behind, died in the gas trucks of Chełmno extermination camp, and my paternal grandmother died at the hospital in the Theresienstadt concentration camp.

At the age of six, I emigrated with my parents to the United States.

After earning a BA and JD at college, I became a political campaign adviser to Robert F. Kennedy. After Kennedy's assassination, I joined a law firm.

RBG?

Not Mrs. Ginsberg.

In 1970, I tried to enter politics, but my plans were interrupted when I was called into active duty as an Army Reservist.

A public scandal ensued when news leaked that I had written a rubber check to a prostitute for services rendered at a massage parlor.

Elliot Spitzer?