style of comedy was outdated, as well as by his outspoken support of the American entry into the Vietnam War and of conservative political causes. He often crossed the era's stereotypical political lines with his support for the civil rights movement and criticism of racism and anti-Semitism. His outspoken political opinions were, at times, the source of scandal. In 1971, while being interviewed by Edwin Newman on The Today Show on NBC, he repeatedly referred to The New York Times as Pravda (the house organ of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union), and the interview was cut short. His later film roles included a cameo as himself in Valley of the Dolls (1967), The Busy Body (1967) opposite Sid Caesar, and the controversial musical Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness? (1969) directed by and starring Anthony Newley. He made additional cameos in other all-star films such as The Phynx (1970) and Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976). Jessel was included as one of the "witnesses" interviewed in the 1981 film Reds by Warren Beatty. To gain perspective on the lives of Jack Reed and Louise Bryant (the two protagonists of the movie), Beatty began filming the "witnesses" as early as 1971. Personal life In the 1930s, his personal life kept him in the public eye as much as his movies. On May 2, 1930, Jessel married Florence Courtney in Chicago. She divorced him on October 24, 1932, on the grounds of cruelty. On April 23, 1934, Jessel married silent movie star Norma Talmadge, causing a scandal because Talmadge was married at the time that they started their affair, and she obtained a Mexican divorce only ten days earlier. After their divorce on August 11, 1939, he caused another scandal by breaking into her house with a pistol and firing shots at her current lover. In 1940, he married a 16-year old showgirl, Lois Andrews, when he was 42. They had a daughter, Jerrilyn, before divorcing in 1942. In his 1975 autobiography, The World I Lived In, Jessel claimed he had affairs with actresses Pola Negri, Helen Morgan and Lupe Vélez. In 1961, actress Joan Tyler filed a paternity suit against Jessel claiming he was the father of her daughter Christine. Jessel later admitted he was Christine's father and settled the suit out of court. As part of the terms of the