Louis Donald Silverstone (May 17, 1924 – March 9, 2015) was a comedy writer who was one of "The Usual Gang of Idiots" at ''

MAD Magazine Mad, mad, or MAD may refer to: Geography * Mad (village), a village in the Dunajská Streda District of Slovakia * Mád, a village in Hungary * Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport, by IATA airport code * Mad River (disambiguation), several r ...

'' from 1962 to 1990. At ''MAD'', he was primarily, though by no means exclusively, a writer of television and movie

parodies A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...

. His first-ever contribution was "Bananaz," a parody of ''

Bonanza ''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 13, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 432 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running western, the second-longest-running western series on U ...

''. It was not until 1968 that he began contributing other kinds of articles, many of which were otherwise related to television and movies. In all, Silverstone had more than 180 bylines for ''Mad''. This included conceiving the idea for "Madde," a 24-page insert purporting to be a typical issue of ''Mad'' if it had been published in the year 1776. The insert was published during the summer of the

Bicentennial __NOTOC__ A bicentennial or bicentenary is the two-hundredth anniversary of a part, or the celebrations thereof. It may refer to: Europe *French Revolution bicentennial, commemorating the 200th anniversary of 14 July 1789 uprising, celebrated ...

and three of its ten articles were written by "scrivener" Silverstone: "Thou Knowest Thou Art in Troubled Waters When...", "The Madde Revolutionary War Primer," and "Ye Madde Hate Book." In 1983 he created "The Book of Mad," which purported to be excerpts from a ''Mad'' issue of Biblical times. Silverstone also wrote for television shows including ''

Candid Camera ''Candid Camera'' is a popular and long-running American hidden camera reality television series. Versions of the show appeared on television from 1948 until 2014. Originally created and produced by Allen Funt, it often featured practical jokes ...

'' and the animated

Jackson Five The Jackson 5 (sometimes stylized as the Jackson 5ive, also known as the Jacksons) are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was founded in 1964 in Gary, Indiana, and for most o ...

cartoon. Following his association at '' MAD'', Silverstone moved to its competitor ''

Cracked Cracked may refer to: Television * ''Cracked'' (British TV series), a 2008 British comedy-drama television series that aired on STV * ''Cracked'' (Canadian TV series), a 2013 Canadian crime drama series that aired on CBC * "Cracked", a Season 8 ( ...

'', where he served several years as an editor and writer. Silverstone grew up in

Plainfield, New Jersey Plainfield is a city in Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, known by its nickname as "The Queen City."

and attended the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

. He worked as an accountant for several years before becoming a comedy writer "through sheer determination and relentless persistence." He was married for 61 years.

References

External links

Complete list of Silverstone's articles for MAD Magazine

Legacy

Dignity
{{DEFAULTSORT:Silverstone, Lou American comedy writers American comics writers American satirists American parodists American magazine editors Mad (magazine) people 1924 births 2015 deaths Writers from Plainfield, New Jersey People from Long Beach, New York Military personnel from New Jersey University of Illinois alumni