DALE HAWES

   So has anyone ever heard of Del Close? He was once described as the most famous, non-famous guy in the world. There was a book about him entitled, “The Funniest Guy in the Room”. Del was an actor and he used to teach improvisation in Chicago up until his death in 1999. He has instructed the likes of Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, James Belushi, John Candy,  Andy Dick, Brian Doyle Murray, Chris Farley, Wavy Gravy, Tim Kazurinsky, Shelly Long, Adam McKay, Tim Meadows, Bill Murray, Mike Myers, Gilda Radner, Harold Ramis, Vince Vaughn, George Went.... to name a few. In my opinion, his teachings were much of the foundation of the comedy films of the 70s 80s and 90s. His shtick was truth in comedy. One of the things he was most famous for was that in his last will and testimony he stated that after his death he wanted his skull donated to the Goodman Theatre in Chicago for their future productions of “Hamlet”, so it could be used as a prop for the character of York, in which Del Close would be credited for playing in the program. There was a skull on display somewhere in the Goodman Theatre for years, however it was later determined that it is not actually Del Colse’s skull. Apparently Dell’s partner who was responsible for making that happen could not bring herself to decapitate the corpse of the person she loved, so she bought the skull of a cadaver and tried to pull a fast one. Someone called her bluff and she later admitted her switch. Many people still consider it to be Del’s skull even though they know better. During his life Del directed and taught at the now famous Improv Olympic in Chicago and helped developed a long form improvisational comedy which is known as the Harold. He also directed at The Second City but he was fired for being too much of a drug addict. (How do you get fired from Second City, in the 1960s for taking too much drugs? That’s a serious problem.) You may remember seeing Dell Close when he appeared in the movie, “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”. He played the teacher boring the students to death when Sloane Peterson was taken out of class due to a supposed death in the family (not the Ben Stein teacher “Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?” but the painfully slow speaking teacher “I...... would like...... to...”).

 

   One day on the way to teaching his class Mr. Close felt extremely lightheaded and was seeing hallucinations and colors that he could not explain because he was sober. As his partner drove him to the class, Del complained about his symptoms. She noticed he was slurring his speech and she got nervous. She suggested they go to the hospital. Del, always the comedian, insisted that he was fine claiming he liked the pretty colors. As the symptoms got worse and Dell‘s partner persisted, he finally agreed to go to the hospital. Del Close was asphyxiating. A lifetime of extremely heavy smoking had clogged his lungs and he was no longer able to breathe efficiently. At the hospital he passed out and came very close to death. Doctors were able to resuscitate him but they stated that he was going to die soon and nothing could be done to help. So Del’s friends staged a living funeral for him. One of the few people on earth that got to witness his own funeral. It was a service held in his hospital room which was attended by some of the most famous people on earth at the time but done with no fanfare and no press coverage. Later he died.

 

   He is the guy behind so many of the laughs that we’ve been enjoying from the movies made at the end of the 20th century and few know his name.

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-D. Hawes