Eddie Lawrence (born Lawrence Eisler; March 2, 1919 – March 25, 2014) was an American monologist, actor, singer, lyricist, playwright, artist, director and television personality, whose comic creation, the Old Philosopher, gained him a devoted cult following for over five decades. Early career Born Lawrence Eisler in Brooklyn, New York, he began performing at the end of The Great Depression. Soon out of his teens, he gained a minor reputation as an original comic/raconteur who performed bizarre elocution of whimsical free verse in little clubs in the New York area as well as on the "borscht belt" circuit in the Catskills. His first confirmed radio broadcast was on Major Bowes Amateur Hour in 1943, where he did World War II-themed comic impressions of Charles Boyer, Ronald Colman, Roland Young and Clem McCarthy. A preserved audio transcript of his performance was one of the selections included 16 years later on the 1959 LP Original Amateur Hour 25th Anniversary Album (UA UXL 2). On the recording, Major Bowes is heard inviting "Larry" to come out of the audience and tell us all he knows. Eddie Lawrence moved to Paris to study painting under Fernand Léger. Eddie's paintings were signed "Lawrence Eisler", his birth name. By the early 1950s, now known as Eddie Lawrence, he continued to appear in lesser clubs, honing his comic timing, while taking bit parts in the numerous live television productions then prevalent in New York. His first major stage role was in the second revival of The Threepenny Opera, which opened at the Off-Broadway Theater deLys on September 30, 1955 (an earlier production, without him, lasted for 96 performances in March–May 1954). A member of the original cast, Lawrence sang the role of Macheath's henchman, Crook-Finger Jack. The second deLys incarnation was more successful, running over six years, for a total of 2611 performances and finally closing on December 17, 1961. However, Lawrence stayed with it less than a year while working on the monologue which was to make his name. The Old Philosopher In September 1956, a single titled "The Old Philosopher" rose to the Billboard Top 40 chart, a rare distinction for a comedy record by a little-known performer. It turned out to be a one-hit wonder for Eddie Lawrence, and paved the way for his long comedy career. In a four-minute routine, a crotchety, ridiculous-sounding character recounts a litany of nonsensical calamities. Speaking in a