The death of legendary stand up comedian , Mort Sahl , in America at the age of 94 has just been announced . He is pictured above in the clutches of journalist , publisher , one time politician , Pete Steedman , in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia .
Steedman alerted Little Darwin to Sahl's passing , so we retrieved the above photo from our collection .
Pete said Sahl, born in Quebec ,Canada, came to Melbourne to perform at the Comedy Festival.
He was famous for getting inspiration for his distinctive ,highly political comedy , from newspaper headlines .
In Melbourne, Sahl was taken to see Steedman at his rural abode at Hurstbridge ,the former residence of Australian playwright David Williamson.who gave him a three- hour rundown on the Australian political scene and major issue to help him prepare for the Comedy Festival.
( Fact check : It was more like five and a half hours...a well lubricated session .)
Steedman , known as the Black Knight of ALP politics because of his leather jacket attire , had been the editor of university publications , the Victorian ALP newspaper and a new national magazine , Broadside, before going to London , becoming influential in media and politics there.
Returning to Australia , he became the ALP Member for Casey in the House of Representatives .
Steedman had been a fan of Stahl's dealing with matters political and had collected his comedy records , which he got him to autograph while at Hurstbridge . He still has those records, signed in now faded biro .
Recalling Sahl's subsequent performance in the Astor Theatre , Saint Kilda, Pete said the comedian told the audience, which included members of the Jewish community, that they had not been paying attention to Pete Steedman's warning about the rise of the right and anti-Semitic comments in Australia .Steedman and his first wife, Julie, in the audience, were surprised to hear him mention Steedman several times , unaware that he intended to do so .
In his lively one term in parliament , during which he was named politician of the year by a newspaper , Steedman used parliamentary provilege to allege that some members of the Liberal and National parties were neo-Nazis .
He "notably accused " Senator Florence Bjelke-Petersen of associating with a man he described as "one of Australia's most notorious Nazis and Hitler lovers."
Commenting on his wild hairstyle in the photograph, Steedman said it could have been shaggy due to the fact that he was executive director of AusMusic at the time .
At the height of his fame ,Stahl appeared on the cover of Time magazine . He also worked as a joke writer for John F. Kennedy's 1960 presidential campaign .
