Sid Caesar was one of the most familiar and talented television performers of the 1950s. His skills as a dialectician, pantomime, and monologist made him a favorite of the critics and a fixture on Saturday night television from 1950 to 1954. Along with co-star Imogene Coca and a writing staff that included Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks, Larry Gelbart, and a young Woody Allen, Caesar captivated the new television audience with film parodies, characterizations, and sitcom-style sketches on NBC's Your Show of Shows. Caesar was also infamous for his dark side, an apparent byproduct of his comedic brilliance. A large man, carrying up to 240 pounds on his six-footone-inch frame, articles in the popular press described his eating and drinking habits as excessive and his mood as mercurial. In an age when many top comedy television performers suffered physical and mental breakdowns from the exacting demands of live...