Obituaries

Gary BelkinComedy Writer

Gary Belkin, 78, a comedy writer who honed his skills on Sid Caesar's "Caesar's Hour" and went on to work for such television classics as "The Carol Burnett Show" and "Sesame Street," died July 28 in Los Angeles. He had emphysema.

Mr. Belkin was born in the Bronx, N.Y., and got into comedy by suggesting ideas for cartoons for the New Yorker magazine and writing jokes for radio comedians. He soon broke into television on Caesar's variety show, which aired from 1954 to 1957.

He worked as part of a large team of writers, many of whom had written for Caesar's "Your Show of Shows," which ran from 1950 to 1954.

Mr. Belkin and his colleagues reunited in 1996 for a PBS pledge-drive television special called "Caesar's Writers." The program featured Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks, Larry Gelbart and Neil and Danny Simon.

Mr. Belkin went on to write variety show scripts for "The Danny Kaye Show" and spent eight years with "The Carol Burnett Show." He also wrote for sitcoms, including "Get Smart," "The Doris Day Show," "Three's Company" and "Newhart," and scripted specials for such celebrities as Frank Sinatra ("Sinatra: Concert for the Americas"), Anne Bancroft ("Annie and the Hoods") and Doris Day ("The Doris Mary Anne Kappelhoff Special").

Typical of Belkin's wit was his "The Beverly Hills Philosophy," which the Los Angeles Times reprinted in 1994 in its Laugh Lines column:

"Friends don't let friends drive Yugos.

"There is no such thing as a free brunch.

"Practice random profligacy and senseless acts of spending.

"Less is moronic.

"If you give a man a fish . . . also give him a lemon wedge and basil."

Mr. Belkin had no immediate survivors.