Spy Vibe is paying tribute to a number of espionage writers this week through rare obituaries and memorial addresses. In earlier posts we've highlighted Ted Gottfried (Ted Mark) and Ian Fleming. Today we look at Sol Weinstein. Weinstein got his break writing comedy and music for some big stars in the 1950s, but he is best remembered among Spy Vibers as the author of the Israel Bond: Agent Oy-Oy-Seven books. Weinstein did some new revisions to the novels and the whole series (plus an omnibus collection) was re-published a few years ago. You can now read the adventures of Oy-Oy-Seven in print and eBook formats- and even download an audiobook for the first novel in the series, Loxfinger. Sol Weinstein interview here. Israel Bond series here.
From the late 1950s into the '80s, he spun shtick
for such legendary comedians as Joe E. Lewis and Bob Hope; wrote for The Love
Boat, The Jeffersons, Three's Company, and Maude; composed a signature song for
Bobby Darin; and fathered James Bonds' Yiddish alter ego, Israel Bond, filling
four popular books with the exploits of Agent Oy-Oy-7.
Mr. Weinstein died at 84 of pancreatic cancer on
Sunday, Nov. 25, in the New Zealand town of Plimmerton, where he spent his last
years with his son. But he left 'em laughing. One eulogist, noting Mr.
Weinstein's notorious flirtations, polled the 70 mourners: How many had gotten
a marriage proposal from him? Reportedly, 20 hands shot up.
He grew up on Union Street in Trenton, where his
Russian-immigrant parents eked out a living by junking. Unable to afford
birthday cakes, his mother bought pumpernickel loaves and dispensed small bits,
with a schmear, to his friends - forever branding him with the nickname
"Pumpy."
After taking the class-clown route through Trenton
High School, he enrolled at New York University as an English major but didn't
finish. The Trentonian hired him to write obits, later christening him
"Duffy," the Irish sportswriter. On the side, Mr. Weinstein cranked
out jokes and sent them, unsolicited, to comics. Eventually, checks came in,
from the likes of Lewis and Jerry Lester, star of TV's first late-night hit
variety show. Mr. Weinstein then had the wherewithal to move his wife, Eleanor,
and two children to Levittown - and to cast his lot with comedy. "His
brain was fluid and fast," said his daughter, Judee. "He had a
million jokes in him."
In the '60s, Mr. Weinstein's humor became almost
nationally inescapable. Along with a prodigious output of comedy act bits, he
fueled David Frost's That Was the Week That Was. And he challenged Ian Fleming
in Playboy with satiric tales of Agent Oy-Oy-7. Israel Bond became his
protagonist in four books: Loxfinger, Matzohball, On the Secret Service of His
Majesty the Queen, and You Only Live Until You Die.
He still found time, from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., to
frolick on WCAU 1210 talk radio, merrily summoning aberrants across the
Philadelphia region to call in. In the early '70s, he resettled his family on
the West Coast for the TV sitcom gold rush. He wrote for myriad shows that also
included Chico and the Man, Small Wonder, and Barney Miller, and he helped
churn out the caustic wit that kept the Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts hot for 10
years. "But comedy changes with time," his daughter said. "Dad
wound up retiring."
Mr. Weinstein was long a jazzhead. Though he
couldn't read or write music or play anything, he composed a song for Lester,
"The Curtain Falls." The comic murdered it, but a pop star named
Bobby Darin heard it and immortalized it as his act closer. In the 2004 Darin biopic Beyond the Sea, Kevin
Spacey reprised the song.
Widowed, Mr. Weinstein moved in 2002 to New
Zealand, where he was the quirky American in the Trenton sweatshirts. He kept
writing, mostly essays, and composing songs, which were played in the clubs he
frequented. "I'm a be-bopper," he told an interviewer. "Old
be-boppers never die, they just shooby-doo away." On second thought, he
added, "I don't know what that means."In addition to his daughter,
Mr. Weinstein is survived by a son, David, and a granddaughter, Eleanor.
Here is another obituary by Kenny Ellis for Jewish Journal, December 12, 2012: Weinstein was born and raised in Trenton, N.J. In
the 1950s, he wrote for his local newspaper, The Trentonian, before turning his
sharp wit to comedy sketches and songs for variety show performers. He married
Eleanor Eisner in 1955, and they had two children, David and Judee.
He started writing gags for Joe E. Lewis, Alan
King and, years later, for Bob Hope’s and Dean Martin’s shows. His show-biz
pals were Sammy Davis Jr., Gene Kelly and Dom DeLuise. In 1962, Weinstein wrote the ballad “The Curtain
Falls” for Bobby Darin’s act, which the singer used as his finale for years.
The song was also recorded by Hope, and Steve and Eydie, and was featured in
the Darin biopic “Beyond the Sea.”
Weinstein conceived his Israel Bond capers, starting
with “Loxfinger,” in 1965. The series of four books — including “Matzohball,”
“On the Secret Service of His Majesty, the Queen” and “You Only Live Until You
Die” — sold more than 400,000 copies and gained him national exposure.
In the ’70s, Weinstein moved to Los Angeles and
wrote for such television shows as “The Love Boat,” “The Jeffersons” and
“Three’s Company” with writing partner Howard Albrecht. Weinstein moved to New Zealand in 2002 to be near
his son. He was a real mensch, fun to be with, funny, he loved jazz, loved
being Jewish and speaking Yiddish, and he loved life itself. Of his writing partner, Albrecht said, “Sol was
the most interesting, knowledgeable, talented- but, more important, the most
gentle- man I have ever known.”
Weinstein, writer, composer, jazz fanatic and
sweetheart, died of pancreatic cancer on Nov. 25 in his home in Plimmerton, New
Zealand, surrounded by his loving family. He was 84. Predeceased by wife, Eleanor, Weinstein is
survived by his daughter, Judee; son, David; and granddaughter, Eleanor. [Kenny Ellis is cantor of Temple Beth Ami, a Reform
synagogue in Santa Clarita].
The Israel Bond re-launch sparked some great press for Sol shortly before he passed away. By the way, I love the bullet hole homage above to the Ray Hawkey designs for Thunderball. The Oy-Oy-Seven adventures were serialized in Playboy. Loxfinger appeared in this issue from October 1965.
Here is a piece about Sol and the Israel Bond series from Kapi-Mana News by Matthew Dallas:
"The lovemaking was profane to say the least. Totally indulgent. He was the kind of agent to be turned on by a navel orange." Sol Weinstein is describing Israel Bond, the master spy and semitic seducer at the centre of his satirical adventure novels which are back in print for the first time in 40 years. The titles betray both the satirical tone of Weinstein's writing and his inspiration; Loxfinger, Matzohball, On the Secret Service of His Majesty, The Queen, and You Only Live Until You Die.
"Ian Fleming and I were writing in different
alternative realities at the same time. That's the line I've always stuck to - and
I'm not changing it for you," says Sol, who has called Plimmerton home
since he left the United States in 2002.
Kapi-Mana News was introduced to the New Jerseyan
in 2006 when we learned he had composed, some 40 years earlier, the sentimental
1961 show tune The Curtain Falls. It was a stage favourite of both Bobby Darin
and Bob Hope, and returned to prominence in the Darin bio-pic Beyond the Sea.
A newspaper reporter turned comic writer, the
Israel Bond adventures allowed Sol to move away from writing for night club
entertainers in the mid-1960s.
When Playboy magazine serialised Fleming's James
Bond adventures, they interspersed them with Sol's "Oy Oy 7" series.
A big James Bond fan, he added "peculiarities" from his own life and
an absurdist streak to the Fleming formula.
Licensed to both kill and pray over the corpses,
Israel Bond travelled the globe, protecting the holy land from criminal
masterminds such as The Man With the Golden Gums and Auntie Sem-Heidt. The spy often relied more on quick puns and his
prowess in the sack than actual espionage skills. But then, who could resist
the temptations of Sister Sweetcakes the swinging nun, Kopy Katz - the mistress
of reproduction- and, wait for it, Poontang Plenty? "Poontang Plenty was my Pussy Galore... I
really kept [Bond] busy," Sol says.
Four volumes of Israel Bond adventures were
published as $1 paperbacks by Simon and Schuster, selling between 400,000 and
500,000 copies, but later fell out of print. Sol was approached by American
publisher About Comics last year to include the novels as part of its prose
imprint. At 83, Sol's wit is still sharp, fast and
indulgent. He cracks wise constantly, his enthusiasm unhampered by the mild
case of Tourette's Syndrome he's had since childhood.
Though no-one ever took Israel Bond to the big
screen like 007, Sol soon found success in television, writing for variety
shows and prime-time series The Jeffersons, The Love Boat and Three's Company. Folders of his scripts still stack his
bookshelves, and photos from another age, of Sol with showbiz pals like Sammy
Davis Jr and Dom Deluise, jostle for wall space with jazz posters and paintings
by local artists. He enjoys life in New Zealand, a quiet and charming
place. "I wonder what Oy Oy 7 could do now to take
Iran out of the ballgame. Because that's getting scary. The world is in the
hands of crazy people unfortunately. You have to be thankful for New Zealand's
positioning.
"I try to make people laugh, but on the
inside I'm just as scared as anyone else. What's more, Monk [his cat] wants me
to turn over the house to him and put me in an old folks' home." Check out the new editions of Sol's books!
I have a spy novella coming out! Stay tuned and follow Spy Vibe by clicking the Follow link at top right of this page.
Check Spy Vibe for recent posts about our discovery of a rare Ian Fleming serialization, my review of SKYFALL, 007 at the Intnl Spy Museum, Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot, new Beatles bio from Mark Lewisohn, tributes to Donald Richie and Tony Sheridan, the Les Vampires serial on Blu-ray, Lucy Fleming, The Beatles first record session, Ian Fleming's desert island interview, new Ian Fleming book designs, Fantomas, Spy Smasher, Barbarella tv show, British spy comics, Piper Gates retro designs, Cinema Retro, and more.
Want to support Spy Vibe? Please make a small donation with our secure Paypal tip-jar link at the top left of the main page. Nothing is too small to help cover the increasing bills for the domain, web-forwarding and other costs to maintain the site. Thank you!
