Comedian, saxophonist, composer, actor and musician, he performed within the orchestras of Charlie Spivak, Shep Fields and Claude Thornhill as saxophonist. Later, as super-hip jazz musician "Cool Cees" in television skits, he played tenor saxophone, and sang with the satirical trio "The Hair Cuts" (with Carl Reiner and Howard Morris). He sang the lead role in "Little Me" on Broadway. Joining ASCAP in 1955, his popular song compositions include "I Wrote This Song for Your Birthday" and "Was That You?".


"Your Show of Shows" (1950): $25,000/week

Studied saxophone at the Julliard School of Music before becoming an actor. Also won Best Comedy Team (with Imogene Coca) in 1953. Left-handed. His children are Michele ("Shelly"), Rick (born February 18, 1952), and Karen (born in 1956). Was nominated for Broadway's 1963 Tony Award as Best Actor (Musical) for "Little Me." His father, Max Caesar, owned a restaurant in Yonkers, NY. Sid gave up alcohol 'cold turkey'. His autobiography, Where Have I Been, published in 1983 and his second book, Caesar's Hours, both chronicle his struggle to overcome alcoholism and barbiturates. Caesar's appearance in his first series "The Admiral Broadway Revue" (1949) with Imogene Coca was a huge hit with TV audiences. Simultaneously broadcast on NBC and the Dumont network, its sponsor, Admiral Corporation, an appliance company, could not keep up with the demand for its new television sets, so the show was canceled on account of its runaway success. Played at the Vacationland Hotel in Swan Lake in the Catskills during his salad days. There, under the tutelage of Don Appel, the resort's social director, Caesar played in the band and learned to perform comedy, doing three shows a week. At fourteen, Caesar first went to the Catskills as a saxophonist with Mike Cifficello's Swingtime Six and would also occasionally perform in sketches. The son of Jewish immigrants Ida (née Raphael) and Max Caesar, who ran a 24-hour luncheonette, Sid would help his parents by waiting on tables and it was during this time that he learned to mimic many of the accents he would use throughout his long career.