Alan Abel

Cited by many a journalist as one of the world's most brilliant satirists, Alan Abel cultivated a reputation for mounting outrageous practical jokes that he sprung repeatedly on an unsuspecting public -- often with the help of adopted pseudonyms. These included teaming up in 1959 with a then-unknown Buck Henry to "clothe animals for the sake of decency," launching a topless string quartet (in 1967), and staging a fake press meeting with a phony stand-in for the "Deep Throat'" Watergate source (in 1975) among many, many other gags. Abel attained added recognition in 2005, when his daughter -- filmmaker Jenny Abel -- co-directed the documentary Abel Raises Cain about his zany exploits.

~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide