Keefe Brasselle

First seen in the wartime comedy Janie (1944), American actor Keefe Brasselle was never more than a second-string leading man in Hollywood, though he enjoyed moderate success as a nightclub singer. Brasselle's biggest bid for film stardom, the title role of The Eddie Cantor Story (1953), also proved to be his Hollywood Waterloo; as bad as this movie was, the actor's interpretation of Cantor was worse. Nonetheless, Brasselle's career took an upswing when he entered television in the early 1960s. The reason was quite simple: Brasselle was a close friend of CBS programming executive James Aubrey. For whatever reason, Brasselle was catapulted to a production position at CBS, and allowed to develop no fewer than three new, expensive weekly series. In addition, the performer hosted a summer variety series, which most critics found to be a textbook example of mediocrity. The three new CBS series died, and Brasselle's relationship with Aubrey cooled. In 1966, Brasselle would turn on his former mentor, writing an a clef novel about the cutthroat world of network broadcasting, subtly titled The Cannibals. For reasons unknown, one of the principal targets of Brasselle's vitriol was beloved comedian Jack Benny, called Jackie Benson in the novel; perhaps it was because Benny had never publicly acknowledged Brasselle's existence and reportedly thought that Keefe's name was "Keith Brazil." Shortly after making headlines for a deadly-weapon assault in 1971, Keefe Brasselle said adios to the entertainment world by starring in an X-rated musical comedy, If You Don't Stop It, You'll Go Blind (1974); it was, need we say, light years away from The Eddie Cantor Story.

~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide