Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Washington Post Catch and Kill, not noticeably better than the Enquirer’s.

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

White supremacy is terrorism.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

The snowflake in chief appeared visibly frustrated when questioned by a reporter about egg prices.

I am pretty sure these ‘journalists’ were not always such a bootlicking sycophants.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Every decision we make has lots of baggage with it, known or unknown.

Sometimes the world just tells you your cat is here.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires Republicans to act in good faith.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

I desperately hope that, yet again, i am wrong.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Live so that if you miss a day of work people aren’t hoping you’re dead.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

Since we are repeating ourselves, let me just say fuck that.

You are here: Home / Absent Friends / RIP / RIP, Mongo

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76Comments

  2. 2.

    John O

    Is my memory failing, or did AK do a stint on MNF back in the day?

    I remember him as a really funny guy even outside of Blazing Saddles.

  3. 3.

    shortstop

    At some point I must get around to seeing this movie. Someone posted “RIP, Mongo!” on FB this morning and I thought he’d lost a beloved pet.

  5. 5.

    YellowJournalism

    First watched him as George on Webster. Always thought he resembled a cuddly teddy bear.

    One of my high school teachers resembled Karras, albeit a shorter, smaller version. My teacher adored all things Brooks and could do a perfect Mongo impression. He is probably pretty sad about tho news. I worry for him if Brooks passes away any time soon.

  6. 6.

    Waynski

    I wrote this quote earlier, but I’ll do it again… “Mongo only pawn in game of life.”

    RIP Alex.

  9. 9.

    JeremyH

    Blazing Saddles is absolutely my #1 favourite movie of all time. Endlessly quotable.

    RIP Alex. Thanks for the laughs.

  10. 10.

    Peregrinus

    @John O:

    I saw it for the first time a couple years ago, on a whim, just because I’d heard it was hilarious. Such a good movie I now watch it at least once a year.

    I’ve been known to recommend it to students, too, along with The Big Lebowski.

  12. 12.

    The Dangerman

    Along with Blazing Saddles, I think we have to give a shout out to Karras in Victor Victoria Funny, funny movie.

  14. 14.

    John O

    @shortstop:

    That’s just one scene, and not a long one at that, shortstop. The best stuff is earlier, and later. The black sheriff stuff and the drunken ex-sharpshooter played by Wilder slays me to this day, as I remember some of the best of it.

  16. 16.

    MikeJ

    @shortstop:

    I don’t really like fart jokes that much. Will I find enough else to interest me?

    It is the finest document of race relations in America ever made.

  18. 18.

    raven

    He also played the husband of Mildred ‘Babe’ Didrikson Zaharias in the 1975 film “Babe”. His wife Susan played the lead in a very good movie about a great athlete.

  21. 21.

    Steve

    So apparently, Alex Karras and I had the same barber back home in Detroit. (The guy is like 90 and still cutting hair.)

    According to Hank the barber, “He told me, if I ever told anyone what he does while I’m cutting his hair, he would never come back.” Well, now that he’s gone, the story can be told. Apparently Mongo liked to read comic books in the barber’s chair!

  22. 22.

    Warren Terra

    @Waynski:

    Mongo only pawn in game of life.

    This melancholy quote was what I thought of when I got the news.

    He was 77, and according to the obituaries had a life that was not easy but was very full. He will be remembered fondly.

  23. 23.

    Scott Supak

    Mongo only pawn in game of life no more.

    Karras was one of the people in the suit against the NFL over head injuries that led to his dementia.

    Also, he was a good Democrat who gave money to Obama and Barbara Boxer, among others.

    Now I can always remember that John Prine turned 66 on the day Karras died.

    Now, MORE BEANS!

  24. 24.

    ? Martin

    @shortstop: Farts are only one scene. It’s notable because it was really the first time it was done so blatantly. The nigger references are far more common, yet it was the farts that critics and executives were all up in arms about being so offensive. Part of the brilliance of the film to reveal that, actually.

  27. 27.

    Waynski

    @shortstop:

    I don’t really like fart jokes that much. Will I find enough else to interest me?

    It’s where Ni-CLANG comes from. You should watch it start to finish.

  29. 29.

    YellowJournalism

    @MikeJ: I know. That’s why I’m worried. My teacher’s health isn’t the best right now, I’ve been told. :(

  35. 35.

    Waynski

    If we relate our current politics to Blazing Saddles there are incredibly consistent cultural correlations. Plus I think Ann Romney looks like Lilly Von Schtupp.

  37. 37.

    greenergood

    @MikeJ: ‘It is the finest document of race relations in America ever made.’ Yes I think you’re right. NO way this film could be made mainstream nowadays , and yet it just nailed so many truths with such wit and verve. I wonder if Mel Brooks realized how much s””t he was bringing down then, or was he just playing around with everything – blacks, women, gays, etc., etc.? No matter, it’s a great film – and one of my Top Ten, along with Wizard of Oz, Rear Window, and a bunch of arty-farty foreign films that I’ll post tomorrow when I think of them – also too Badlands. Gawd, runing out of top ten slots. Karras was one cool dude, for many reasons.

  38. 38.

    Warren Terra

    Oh, and a public policy angle:

    His death also will be tied to the NFL’s conflict with former players over concussions. Karras in April joined the more than 3,500 football veterans suing the league for not protecting them better from head injuries, immediately becoming one of the best-known names in the legal fight. Mitnick said the family had not yet decided whether to donate Karras’ brain for study, as other families have done.
    __
    ….
    __
    Recently, his wife said Karras’ quality of life has deteriorated because of head injuries sustained during his playing career.
    __
    Susan Clark said her husband couldn’t drive after loving to get behind the wheel and couldn’t remember recipes for some of the favorite Italian and Greek dishes he used to cook.
    __
    “This physical beating that he took as a football player has impacted his life, and therefore it has impacted his family life,” Clark told The Associated Press earlier this year. “He is interested in making the game of football safer and hoping that other families of retired players will have a healthier and happier retirement.”
    __
    Clark has said he was formally diagnosed with dementia several years ago and has had symptoms for more than a dozen years. He joined hundreds of other former players suing the league.

    He apparently loved cooking and gardening, and was married to his second wife for more than thirty years.

  39. 39.

    jayjaybear

    @The Dangerman:
    Absolutely. The thing I liked the most about Karras was that he wasn’t afraid to play gay, even in a much more gay-unfriendly time. An overwhelming number of actors wouldn’t do it at the time, I’m sure, especially for what was a second-tier part in a very light comedy. And Karras dove right in, and not in any coy, suggestive way. Hell, they actually show him in bed with Robert Preston!

  41. 41.

    Schlemizel

    Two things that don’t get mentioned. His role in “Victor/Victoria” is fabulous. Its a move that doesn’t get a lot of love but its a hoot, particularly his part.

    Then there was his routine post retirement. There were a string of really funny retired athletes, Bob Uecker is probably the most famous but not as funny as Joe Garagiola or Alex Karras. Alex used to take special delight in harassing kickers (who had just become an actual position in the NFL instead of a regular player who also kicked). I wish I could find the bit he did on the Miami kicker who tried to pick up a bad snap & throw a pass – very very badly.

    But one line that still lives in my family:
    “I keeek de ball I peeek up de check”

  43. 43.

    trollhattan

    Bart: Candygram for Mongo! Candygram for Mongo!
    Mongo: Me Mongo.
    Bart: Sign, please.
    Bart: Thank you.
    Mongo: Mongo like candy.
    BOOM!

    You’ll be missed, Mongo!

  45. 45.

    gnomedad

    @John O:

    That’s just one scene, and not a long one at that, shortstop.

    On the other hand, if you like fart jokes, you may injure yourself watching the campfire scene.

    So sad. Karras struck me as a guy who’d be fun to know.

    “You know – morons” also, too. I understand Cleavon Little did not know that line was coming.

  46. 46.

    trollhattan

    Also, too:
    “Mongo have feelings for Sheriff Bart. No body ever beat Mongo before – Mongo impressed!”

  47. 47.

    MikeJ

    @greenergood

    : NO way this film could be made mainstream nowadays

    I once watched it on a “family friendly” TV channel. They bleeped every instance of the word “nigger”. In Blazing Saddles. Their hearts were in the right place, but they seem to have missed the entire point of the movie.

  48. 48.

    Montysano

    It’s a shame that he suffered in later life because of playing football, but there’s this: he made a movie with Madeline Kahn. He made a movie with Julie Andrews. He had a pretty good run.

    Also, too: “Mongo straight!”

  51. 51.

    TexasMango

    If it weren’t for PBO and the near sheriff jokes I probably would never have watched Blazing Saddles or known who Mongo was.

    I nearly died from laughing when he unexpectedly punched that horse.

    “If you shoot him, you’ll just make him mad.”

  53. 53.

    Short Bus Bully

    I have friends from foreign countries who sometimes struggle with understanding American politics. First thing I do is have them watch “Blazing Saddles” from start to finish.

    Things become much clearer for them after that.

  56. 56.

    JWL

    High among the very best sports books I’ve ever read was George Plimpton’s Mad Ducks & Bears. It was a follow-up to Paper Lion, and beautifully captured the Karras sense of humor. The guy was hilarious. Karras was also fantastic during his time on Monday Night Football. R.I.P. indeed, Mongo.

  57. 57.

    Keith G

    @shortstop: Other than the fart scene, You might well end up hurting from the belly laughs. And not every joke is broad and highlighted. Some just happen in background or at the sides.

  58. 58.

    Peregrinus

    @gnomedad:

    He didn’t, which is why he breaks and starts laughing before they cut away. That movie was so full of win from start (literally, with Frankie Laine on the theme) to end.

    I once counted the number of farts. The future future wife didn’t want to know me afterwards.

  59. 59.

    red dog

    As a school footballer in the 50s Alex was a hero…not so much as an actor. I thought he was good on MNF.

  61. 61.

    MacsenMifune

    @greenergood: Richard Pryor was one of the Screen writers of Blazing Saddles. On the commentary for the dvd Mel Brooks related the fact he wanted Pryor to play the Sherif, but the studio refused.

    I had no idea the guy that played Mongo, was the same one that played Mr.Papadapolis.
    I hate learning this way :(.

  64. 64.

    phoebes-in-santa fe

    @greenergood: “The Producers”, maybe the funniest movie ever made, also couldn’t be made today, either. Mel Brooks was a genius.

    As funny as “Saddles” is, it sort of failed the last 1/5th or so. It was like Mel Brooks just couldn’t figure out how to end it.

    True story: I saw BS with a friend in a very large theater in Chicago when it opened and everybody was ROTF, including me. So I told my then-boyfriend, future-husband, and finally future-divorced husband that he simply had to see this movie, that it was the funniest movie ever. Well, he sat there in the same theater, with everyone BUT him ROTF. I should have known by that we weren’t on the right road…

  67. 67.

    PaulW

    I’m pretty sure everyone’s first thought upon hearing the news is the “Mongo only pawn in game of life” quote.

    When Barbara Billingsly passed away, the primary clip a lot of people went to was her “Excuse me stewardess, I speak Jive.” It’s not that we didn’t forget her other roles. It’s just the great funny moments we cherish always.

    Personally, thinking back on it, the first real time I saw Karras in a role was in that Paper Lion movie.

  68. 68.

    Corner Stone

    @shortstop:

    I don’t really like fart jokes that much. Will I find enough else to interest me?

    Fart jokes? Fart jokes??
    Good sweet Christ. Blazing Saddles is arguably one of the top 3 greatest American Movie Comedies ever made. With a sha-hooooge dose of social commentary (as all good Mel Brooks films did, that sneaky bastard).
    Watch it. Watch it by yourself. Then call your best friend and ask her/him to come over next week and watch it with you.
    It’s an absolute treasure.

  69. 69.

    Corner Stone

    @PaulW:

    When Barbara Billingsly passed away, the primary clip a lot of people went to was her “Excuse me stewardess, I speak Jive.” It’s not that we didn’t forget her other roles. It’s just the great funny moments we cherish always.

    She was accomplished in many other ways by that point. But her role in Airplane! transcended thought. You couldn’t put it together. Her part(s) became more and more riotous over a couple viewings. She dominated a good chunk of that film by doing nothing but exactly what we never expected from her.

  70. 70.

    Corner Stone

    And I find it sad that later generations just don’t instinctively get how damned funny it is when he punches that fucking horse.
    That kills me every time.

  71. 71.

    Tehanu

    @The Dangerman:

    Along with Blazing Saddles, I think we have to give a shout out to Karras in Victor Victoria Funny, funny movie.

    Yes, and he was funny in it. And if I remember right, he also played the husband of Babe Didrikson Zaharias in a TV biopic, and he was damn good in that. Sad news indeed.

  72. 72.

    Tom

    BS was the first movie I ever bought when DVD’s came out.(I had bought a cartoon movie before that). My kids were young 8 & 10 and we were flying to NY. I borrowed a laptop from work so they could watch it). Didn’t think about headphones, so after take off – I started the movie. It wasn’t too loud but when the first n-word came out the flight attendant ran over and told us to turn it off.

  73. 73.

    YellowJournalism

    @Tom: oh, to have seen the looks on the faces of those passengers…

    I bet here was at least one near you that was disappointed you had to turn it off.

  74. 74.

    Origuy

    With a sha-hooooge dose of social commentary (as all good Mel Brooks films did, that sneaky bastard).

    I love Brooks’s cameo as the Yiddish-speaking Indian chief.

  75. 75.

    Captain Goto

    I loved Karras to death. First heard about him in the TV special with George Plimpton, that later became Mad Ducks and Bears. A funny, thoughtful guy, and he and Susan Clark (by all accounts) made a great pair. I thought the Webster TV show was lame, but to his credit he never phoned it in. And I forgot all about him in Victor, Victoria until mentioned in this thread. He was terrific in that, too.

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