At the nightclub Gig Young's character says that he has developed a mental discipline so that alcohol did not affect him, no matter how much he drank. In real life, Young was a hopeless alcoholic. During the fifties and early sixties he was at his height, thanks to his ability to play smooth, happy, but quirky fellows and it served him well. By the end of the sixties his drinking had ruined his career. His last shot was as the Waco Kid in Mezzogiorno e mezzo di fuoco (1974). His first scene had him hanging upside down from a jail bunk. Going cold turkey, he had a terrible case of the shakes, which director Mel Brooks thought was great acting, but then he coughed up some green bile and Brooks realized the situation. Within a day Gig Young was out and Gene Wilder was on a plane from New York. Young would never again have a shot at a key role in a major motion picture.

Film

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