Farewell, Old Philosopher

Eddie Lawrence, the comedian best remembered for his 1956 hit recording "The Old Philosopher," passed away last Tuesday (March 25) in Manhattan at age 95.

Mr. Lawrence also did the original voices for a pair of cartoon characters named Swifty and Shorty, the former being a chain-smoking con man who ends up being outsmarted by the latter, who was a short, bulbous patsy.  The series, produced in New York City by Paramount Cartoon Series, ran from 1964 to 1965.

However, it was a record recored in 1956 on Coral Records that put Eddie on the map:

He began the routine in a nasally whimper, a voice he later described as “sort of a crying Jolson.”

“Hiya, folks,” he said. “You say you lost your job today? You say it’s 4 a.m. and your kids ain’t come home from school yet? You say your wife went out for a corned beef sandwich last weekend — the corned beef sandwich came back but she didn’t? You say your furniture’s out all over the sidewalk cause you can’t pay the rent and you got chapped lips and paper cuts and your feet’s all swollen up and blistered from pounding the pavement looking for work? Is that’s what’s troubling you, fella?” Then, as banal background music gave way to a marching band, Mr. Lawrence abandoned the whimper for a bellow.

“Lift your head up high!” he thundered. “Take a walk in the sun with that dignity and stick-to-it-iveness, and you’ll show the world, you’ll show them where to get off. You’ll never give up, never give up, never give up — that ship!”

Here's Eddie in a 1991 performance.







Thanks for the memories, Old Philosopher.  And Rest In Peace.