Today is the birthday of the late great Bert Lahr, forever known as the "Cowardly Lion". I guess of all of the great character actors that surrounded my childhood and teenage years, Bert Lahr who was born on this day in 1895 stands out as brightly as Jimmy Durante always has. Burt ran away from home at age fifteen determined to be part of show business-- and oh he was. I remember the series of commercials he did for Lay's Potato Chips ("Bet, you can't eat just one!) right after the Frito Company of Plano, Texas and Lay Enterprises of Atlanta merged in 1961. The story of how Bert got that commercial series was really funny. In the 1960's classic performers like Bert and Mickey Rooney couldn't "get arrested" as the old Hollywood expression goes. Bert went to his agent one day and wondered why he was not getting sent out for audfitions-- especially in commercials with TV so popular and because of the many showings of "The Wizard Of Oz" on television. Bert's agent at the time tried to explain to the classic performer that he was just too "old hat" to get anything new or if didn't remind people of the Cowardly Lion. Bert bet his agent $500.00 that he could get any commercial that the agent would send him on. Now maybe that agent was crazy, but the bet was made and Bert went to the audition. Everybody elsae there was a glamour beauty or a handsome male 60's fresh face. There was funny faced Bert in the middle of them. And of course, the casting people couldn't understand why a Hollywood agent would send an old character actor to try out for being the spokesman for a brand new ultimate and slim potato chip that the two companies were trying to push. Until this time potato chips were thick and cumbersome to chew. Laura Scudders was the king of the potato chips. "What are you doing here, old timer" they asked Bert Lahr. We're introducing something really new and modern with a great new taste. What could you do for this campaign. Bert mugged at them "Throw me the bag, sonny, I'll sell 'em for you-- give me ten seconds to come up with something" So the casting folks threw Bert Lahr the bag of untested potato chips-- lighter, thinner, almost airy to the taste. Bert took a bite, then another and another and within ten seconds he mugged to the camera "Nobody, can eat just one!" -- that was it! Until in his death in December 1967, Bert Lahr was never out of work again. He was Lay's potato Chips! Bert played many corny crazy parts not just in Hollywood but on the Broadway stage. He co-starred with Ethel Merman in Cole Porter's classic musical "Dubarry Was A Lady"-- in which he dreams he's Louis the 16th. The classic Porter song "Friendship" came from this show-- later when Dubarry was not a hit-- Porter snuck it into another musical he was developing "Anything Goes" . Believe it or not, Bert even played a comic Queen Victoria once. Now I don't know about you, but I would have paid a great admission ticket to have seen that one! His son John Lahr was a Broadway critic for the New York Times and wrote a beautiful memoir of his father in the novel "Notes On A Cowardly Lion". Dear Bert Lahr, thank you for brightening my childhood. I felt happy every time I saw you do that silly lion-- it was classic and so were you. Bert Lahr's last film appearnce was in the movie "The Night They Raided Minsky's". Unfortunatly, Bert Lahr died in the middle of the filming of that picture. A double had to be used to fill in some of the scenes. But always and everywhere, Bert, I will remember you and how much you made me laugh!