When I heard that Marshall Brickman died this weekend at 85, I thought of the three movies he co-wrote with Woody Allen, which are all among his best: “Sleeper,” “Annie Hall,” and “Manhattan.”
I also remembered two under-seen movies Brickman wrote and directed which I enjoyed.
One was the 1980 satire “Simon,” starring Alan Arkin as a professor brainwashed by scientists into believing he’s an alien (with a supporting cast including Madeline Kahn, Austin Pendleton, Wallace Shawn, Fred Gwynne, Max Wright, Adolph Green, and the oh-so-likable Judy Graubart).
The other was 1986’s “The Manhattan Project,” about a brilliant teen (Christopher Collet) who discovers what’s really going on inside a nearby government lab run by John Lithgow’s character, with a cast that includes Cynthia Nixon, Jill Eikenberry, and John Mahoney.
But it wasn’t until I read Anita Gates’ obituary for Brickman in the NY Times that I discovered so much else on his resume: one-time head writer for “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” (where he created the long-running Carnac The Magnificent bit); then a producer for “The Dick Cavett Show”; co-writer of the pilot for “The Muppet Show”; and playwright for two hit Broadway musicals, “Jersey Boys” in 2005 and “The Addams Family” in 2010.
As if that wasn’t enough, Brickman played guitar alongside Eric Weissberg on banjo for the soundtrack album of the 1972 movie “Deliverance,” which included one of the most famous instrumentals ever recorded: “Dueling Banjos.”
The man had one helluva career — and too few people know his name.