The Ballard Of The (Not) Sad Kaye

So I was at the NYPL the other day on the hunt for Ernest Borgnine's new memoir, Ernie, by Ernest Borgnine. There I am in the B section of Bio and Ernie isn't out yet, but I stumble upon Kaye Ballard's How I Lost 10 Pounds in 53 Years.

I really only knew Ms. Ballard from her Pepsodent commercials and often confused her with Martha Raye, but since Shelley Winters was in her index and there were pics of her with my pals Maurice Chevalier and Doris Day, I figured it was a go.


The book was fun and she had a lot to say about the early days of talking pictures, her friendships & costars, her fling with Marlon Brando, her role in the internal-plural-friendly The Mothers-In-Law, her part in one of the revivals of Follies, and her love of the gays.

Really though, I'll always remember her best for her tremendous dance scene with Sweetums Thog on the Muppets.