Compiling a Toast to the Friars’ Roasts

In “Mr. Saturday Night,” Buddy Young Jr., the iconic comedian portrayed by Billy Crystal, is skeptical of the young apprentice agent played by Helen Hunt, who has been assigned to him. After she fails a barrage of questions about classic comedians such as the Ritz Brothers, he summarily dismisses her.

Twenty-five-year-old Dean Ward was treated more politely, but with no less wariness, when he proposed to the Friars Club that he make a documentary about the history of the 90-year-old show business institution.

Unlike Hunt’s initially clueless character, Ward is a Friars aficionado, and two years later, he has nearly finished his pet project, “Let Me In--I Hear Laughter,” which he wrote, directed and co-produced. Pending completion funds, he hopes to wrap the film in about six months.

With homes on both coasts and a membership roster that spans George M. Cohan to “Friends” star Matthew Perry, the Friars Club is the premier show business social club, an exclusive meeting place where this century’s greatest entertainers have held court.

Ward’s lifelong fascination with the nonprofit fraternal organization was stirred by reading celebrity biographies. “The Friars Club kept popping up,” Ward said. “It just seemed like the most fascinating place in the world. I couldn’t imagine a more interesting view into the world of show business.

“I wish I could have been around in its heyday, that whole era of Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly, James Stewart and Cary Grant. To be in a room where all these guys are just hanging out would be an awesome experience. I think I was just born too late.”

But not too late to hang out with Milton Berle, whom Ward met his first day as a Friar. “It was such a thrill,” Ward said. “He was very cordial and was joking around. I think he liked having a young ear. He said he would do anything he could to help but that it would be a Herculean task. . . . He said, ‘You’re young, and you have time, so you can probably do it.’ ”

The Friars Club is popularly known for its infamous testimonial roasts, and Ward has unearthed a treasure trove of recordings, photographs and archival and amateur footage of these phenomenal star gatherings. From a private collector, he tracked down a 78 rpm record of composer Irving Berlin singing a musical speech that he wrote upon being inducted into the club in 1912.

Stock footage houses yielded a fully edited newsreel devoted to the 1947 roast of Bob Hope that included Jack Benny, Eddie Cantor and Al Jolson on the dais. Home movies taken by a Beverly Hills socialite captured the celebrity guests arriving for a roast of Gary Cooper in 1961.

The documentary, which Ward has financed himself, will chronicle the club’s illustrious, colorful and often tumultuous history. Among the most notable events are the death of famed radio comedian Harry Einstein, who died on the dais just after receiving a standing ovation for his performance at the 1958 roast for Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz; Gloria Allred’s 1988 sex discrimination suit, which compelled the Friars Club to open its doors to women; and the controversial 1993 roast for Whoopi Goldberg at which Ted Danson appeared in blackface.

But the heart of the film is the interviews with such venerable entertainers as Hackett, Alan King, Jan Murray, Jack Carter, Steve Allen, Freddie Roman, Art Linkletter, Norm Crosby and Pat Cooper.

The Friars Club’s recent youth movement is represented by comedian Jeffrey Ross, “Howard Stern Show” writer Jackie Martling and former “Saturday Night Live” writer Alan Zweibel.

“It’s the last institution around that honors this tradition in show business,” Ward said. “It’s an interactive theme park. You can talk to Milton Berle about vaudeville or ride the elevator with Tony Martin, who has stories about working with Jack Benny.”