796:(1962) (Season 1 Episode 21: "Toody and the Art World") Darden plays Karpathia, a painter whose work appears to awaken an enthusiasm for modern art in Toody. This episode is particularly notable because Karpathia's temperament and accent somewhat resemble those of Professor Walther von der Vogelweide. Thus the portrayal gives us a hint of what Darden was like in his lectures. Darden's scenes take up about 9 minutes of the episode.
334:, and the professor begins as follows: "Now, why — you will ask me — have I chosen to speak on the Universe, rather than some other topic. Well, it's very simple: there isn’t anything else!" The lecture is loaded with digressions and double-talk about time, space, etc., ending with questions from the audience on which he improvises.
156:. Darden’s offbeat and intellectual sense of humor was a major element in the style of The Second City at that time, and is evident throughout his work. Carroll described him as a combination of surrealistic New Orleans and tough, caustic "Chicago Style" comedy. An example of his offbeat humor is the way he squeezed the phrase "
832:(1968) (Season 2 Episode 19: "The Monkee's Paw") In a very brief scene, Darden has an uncredited role as a psychiatrist who angrily insists that the Monkees' interpretations of inkblots are wrong. This is notable because the portrayal is exactly like Professor Walther von der Vogelweide in his most vehement moments.
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In the last scene, Oedipus is on the very point of gouging his eyes out when he suddenly stops and says "Wait a minute." He has realized something which he announces to the crowd: the actual results were due to chance or forced on him against his will. He explains how that applies to each "choice"
411:
This sketch was originally developed for the
Compass Players and revisited for Second City. It satirized the university and its students, presenting a possible explanation for the failure to introduce football. A typical coach teaches "Football 202" and struggles with the intellectual students.
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TV series pilot (1960). Darden played an eccentric painter named Flute who is murdered in his
Greenwich Village studio in this unsold pilot intended as a spinoff to the Edward Binns CBS drama "Brenner", and which was eventually repackaged for air as the last episode of the
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and ends with "It's not my fault!" The people murmur among themselves for a few seconds, then repeatedly shout in agreement, and his eyes are saved. The professor ends the sketch by saying, "So you see, my dear students, the lesson that we learn from this is that Man
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After triple heart bypass surgery, he lived in semi-retirement in Los
Angeles; he then moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1992, where he died of congestive heart failure at age 65. His interment was at Lake Lawn Park and Mausoleum in his hometown of New Orleans.
412:
Darden plays
Morgenstern, a student who states his field is the "history of arithmetic". After the coach mentions the football positions called "ends", Morgenstern asks where the beginnings for those ends are, because ends must have beginnings, according to
170:, the first improvisation theater in the US; it performed around the Chicago area during the mid-1950s. Sills went on to found The Second City in 1959 and brought in many of the comedians from Compass Players, including Darden.
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energetically tries to wheedle him into answering her riddle correctly, which
Oedipus does not want to do. At one point she says, "Think of the power—of the glory—". He responds, "I don't need power and glory, I'm a
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This was another Prof. Walther von der
Vogelweide lecture (with the assistance of the rest of the Second City cast). The subject was "free will and necessity in the light of
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202:; there he plays a major role as Kropotkin, a Soviet agent with a laid-back persona, much like Darden's own. He played a junk dealer in another early film,
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189:. He participated with the experimental artists collective "The TeePee Video Space Troupe" (aka "The TP Video Space Troupe") organized by filmmaker
373:. Aware of this, Oedipus is very deferential to Laius, only to find that the father is extremely touchy and hostile to anything that smacks of
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This faux university lecture was developed by Darden while with the
Compass Players. It was first performed as a solo act in 1959 at the
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professor recalls some anecdotes from his time as a
University of Chicago student, including a few of Darden's escapades. His brother,
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812:(1966) (Season 1 Episode 3: "Monkee vs. Machine") He plays the confused president of a toy company who is manipulated by Daggart (
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350:", or "what would have happened to Oedipus if he had read the book before going on the journey". The professor plays the role of
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856:(1971) (Season 1 Episode 14: "Never Trust an Honest Man") Oscar Harlenjen and Alan Harlenjen (In a dual role, as father and son)
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Born in New
Orleans, Louisiana, he attended the University of Chicago, where he was a "campus legend" according to poet
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as a highly respected, but befuddled college dean, and in 1986 in the Off-Broadway improvisational sketch comedy show
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skit under the character of "Walther von der
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Darden assumes the character of a German-accented speaker, Prof. Walther von der Vogelweide (borrowing the
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888:(1975) (Season 1 Episode 11: "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde...Together, for the First Time!") as Dr. Jekyll
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816:), a scheming executive who wants to make shoddier toys for the purpose of "planned obsolescence".
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Darden appeared in various movies and television series. A signature performance is in the comedy
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945:(1983) (Season 2 Episode 4: "Homicidal Ham") as Professor DeWitt (with fellow Second City alumni
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and refuses to perform the acts that would lead to his fate, but finds that despite his apparent
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416:. The coach presents the football, and Morgenstern declares, "It's a demi-poly-tetrahedron."
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848:(1969) (Season 3 Episode 1: "Saturday Night in Venice") as Ambassador Nikolai Palenkin
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864:(1972) (Season 2 Episode 21: "You Can't Get Help Like That Anymore") as Dr. Kessler
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969:(1986) (Season 5 Episode 2: "The Princess Who Had Never Laughed") as Farmer Silas
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160:" into the seven-character limitation of a New Mexico license plate: NOYOSEF.
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The Compass: The Improvisational Theatre that Revolutionized American Comedy
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Severn Darden at the Second City: The Sound of my Own Voice and Other Noises
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872:(1974) (Season 1 Episode 9: "The Spanish Moss Murders") as Dr. Aaron Pollack
824:(1967) (Season 3 Episode 12: "Jeannie and the Great Bank Robbery") as Milton
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1161:(paperback ed.). New York: Picador/Farrar, Straus and Giroux. p.
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804:(1966) (Season 1 Episode 27: "Little Green Robin Hood") as Dr. Gregory Ames
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obituary, this routine was influential with two generations of comedians.
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265:. He appeared in "Never Con a Killer," the 1976 pilot for the crime drama
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977:(1988) (Season 1 Episode 20: "To Reign in Hell") as Waterman (uncredited)
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961:(1984) (Season 2 Episode 12: "The War of the Wonks") as Professor Edwin
929:(1976) (Season 2 Episode 1: "The Return of Bigfoot: Part II") as Apploy
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episode "Toody and the Art World"; a toy manufacturer in an episode of
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985:(1989) (Season 2 Episode 14: "When the Blue Bird Sings") as Mr. Smythe
937:(1977) (Season 2 Episode 23: "Citizen Crane") as Charles Pfister Krane
840:(1968) (Season 5 Episode 9: "Valley of the Sun") as Sir Hubert Spencer
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130:. He is known from his film appearances for playing the human leader
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the other characters respond in ways that produce the same results.
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916:(Season 3 Episode 18: "The Secret of Bigfoot, Part 2") as Apploy
913:(Season 3 Episode 17: "The Secret of Bigfoot, Part 1") as Apploy
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919:(Season 4 Episode 1: "The Return of Bigfoot, Part 1") as Apploy
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Wolfe, Tom (1968). "Ch. 20: The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test".
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Encounters and Reflections: Conversations with Seth Benardete
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free will, but tragic poets do not, and Art is not Nature."
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Chicago-based comedy troupe as well as its predecessor, the
779:(1961) (Season 7 Episode 6: "Beta Delta Gamma") as Franklin
1144:"Youth Opportunities Center - Home of the Watts Acid Test"
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Among his early TV roles were the artist Karpathia in the
1178:"Thoughts on Shirley Clarke and the TP Videospace Troupe"
896:(1976) (Season 2 Episode 22: "The Mole") as Randolph Cook
259:; and Dr. Herb Chisholm in a 1976 episode of the sitcom
1242:. This is a different performance from that on the
361:In the first scene, Oedipus encounters his father
118:(November 9, 1929 – May 27, 1995) was an American
880:(1975) (TV movie) "The New Original Wonder Woman"
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1067:"Severn Darden, 65, a Master of Improvisation"
1002:are on an LP of Darden comedy routines titled
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274:Darden was later featured in the 1985 comedy
1105:(Media notes). Mercury Records. Liner notes.
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1005:The Sound of My Own Voice (and Other Noises)
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1020:Football Comes to the University of Chicago
507:(1969) – U.S. President / Fillmard Millmore
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1025:But Seriously: the American Comedy Box
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1240:Second City's official Vimeo channel
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435:The Double-Barrelled Detective Story
122:and actor, and a founding member of
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1116:Coleman, Janet (1 November 1991).
598:Conquest of the Planet of the Apes
235:Conquest of the Planet of the Apes
228:. He also played the cold-hearted
38:Conquest of the Planet of the Apes
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1065:Sullivan, Ronald (May 27, 1995).
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241:Battle for the Planet of the Apes
647:(1975) – Mr. Fletch / Dr. deHart
328:name of the famous medieval poet
1312:20th-century American comedians
1287:American male television actors
1209:Works by or about Severn Darden
1159:The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
1122:. University of Chicago Press.
644:I Wonder Who's Killing Her Now?
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671:(1976, TV Movie) – Moshe Meyer
569:(1971) (also composer) – Mayor
528:Pussycat, Pussycat, I Love You
523:(animated short; 1969) – Voice
512:They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
163:Darden was a core comedian in
1:
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1022:is on CD 3 of the collection
998:(recorded Jan. 30, 1961) and
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639:(1973) – Schwinn – Foundation
582:The War Between Men and Women
469:(1967) – V.I. Kydor Kropotkin
442:Dead Heat on a Merry-go-round
319:music club. According to his
147:
1292:Male actors from New Orleans
739:(1983) – Seminary Provincial
605:The Legend of Hillbilly John
590:Every Little Crook and Nanny
332:A Short Talk on the Universe
7:
1176:Andrew Gurian (Fall 2004).
902:(1976) (TV movie) as Plover
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268:The Feather and Father Gang
10:
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1317:Comedians from New Orleans
907:The Six Million Dollar Man
869:Kolchak: The Night Stalker
717:(1981) – Horace Mouthamush
679:(1979) – Merlin Bitterstix
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16:American actor (1929–1995)
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1132:– via Google Books.
776:Alfred Hitchcock Presents
684:A Small Circle of Friends
623:(1972) – Big Jim McDaniel
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660:Mother, Jugs & Speed
655:(1976) – Sheriff Dempsey
453:(1967) – Doctor / Claude
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134:in the fourth and fifth
116:Severn Teakle Darden Jr.
51:Severn Teakle Darden Jr.
1277:American male comedians
1183:Millennium Film Journal
996:The Metaphysics Lecture
466:The President's Analyst
384:In the next scene, the
310:The Metaphysics Lecture
199:The President's Analyst
900:Captains and the Kings
793:Car 54, Where Are You?
687:(1980) – Art Professor
636:The Day of the Dolphin
631:(1973) – Governor Kolp
477:(1968) – Shelton Quell
371:killing his own father
212:), which also starred
934:Laverne & Shirley
853:Alias Smith and Jones
755:(1986) – Dr. Borozini
747:(1985) – Dr. Meredith
445:(1966) – Miles Fisher
437:(1965) – H.S. Stevens
250:Car 54 Where Are You?
1238:(excerpt, video) on
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982:Beauty and the Beast
974:Beauty and the Beast
730:Quarterback Princess
725:(1981) – Van Helsing
695:(1980) – Dr. Barbour
607:(1972) – Mr. Marduke
558:Werewolves on Wheels
535:Bongo Wolf's Revenge
520:To See or Not to See
505:The Virgin President
84:Santa Fe, New Mexico
1257:New York University
1244:American Comedy Box
1146:. 18 December 2015.
966:Faerie Tale Theatre
733:(1983) – Mr. Hobart
715:Soggy Bottom U.S.A.
652:Jackson County Jail
585:(1972) – Dr. Harris
485:(1969) – Portly Man
461:(1967) – Vandergist
283:Sills & Company
187:Youth Opportunities
1072:The New York Times
821:I Dream of Jeannie
668:Victory at Entebbe
620:Dirty Little Billy
615:(1972) – Hypnotist
612:Play It as It Lays
183:Watts, Los Angeles
137:Planet of the Apes
885:The Ghost Busters
769:Television series
722:Saturday the 14th
545:(1971) – J. Hovah
501:(1969) – Bathazar
177:organized by the
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1188:. Retrieved
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827:
819:
814:Stan Freberg
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763:(1988) – Max
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676:Wanda Nevada
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561:(1971) – One
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490:The Mad Room
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379:heart attack
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158:Know thyself
154:Paul Carroll
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114:
78:(1995-05-27)
76:May 27, 1995
36:
1302:1995 deaths
1297:1929 births
829:The Monkees
809:The Monkees
744:Real Genius
347:Oedipus Rex
277:Real Genius
256:The Monkees
214:Jack Lemmon
165:Paul Sills'
65:New Orleans
1271:Categories
1043:References
990:Recordings
801:Honey West
574:Cisco Pike
482:Model Shop
375:sycophancy
289:Paul Sills
226:Nina Wayne
222:Elaine May
218:Peter Falk
205:Luv (1967)
148:Background
57:1929-11-09
1190:March 15,
708:Hopscotch
428:Goldstein
414:Aristotle
175:Acid Test
109:1961–1989
1096:(1961).
1013:12851697
304:Routines
120:comedian
100:comedian
1211:at the
1000:Oedipus
910:(1976)
788:series.
498:Justine
352:Oedipus
339:Oedipus
1255:. The
1126:
1031:
1011:
942:Cheers
537:(1970)
531:(1970)
386:Sphinx
356:agency
224:, and
86:, U.S.
41:(1972)
1103:(PDF)
420:Films
367:brawl
363:Laius
299:Works
96:Actor
1231:IMDb
1192:2021
1186:(42)
1124:ISBN
1029:ISBN
1009:OCLC
949:and
474:P.J.
238:and
230:Kolp
132:Kolp
73:Died
47:Born
1229:at
1220:at
1163:273
458:Luv
399:has
393:."
232:in
185:at
181:in
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