It looks just about certain that we've found our Brain - and a totally unexpected serendipitious and fortuitous thing it is. As I was walking to Du-Par's for lunch, it suddenly occurred to me that Mark Rothman, way back when, was going to play the songwriter Ernest Ernest in my mockumentary about Meltz and Ernest. As soon as I thought that, it further occurred to me that he'd make a very funny Brain - he's a sixty-year-old, six-foot-four Jew, and very droll and funny. The concern was the singing, but he came over and sang and read for me and was terrific.
He lives in Michigan and was flying home next Tuesday, and he still will, but then he will fly to Seattle, where his car is (he has a condo there) and drive it back to LA, where he also has a condo at the beach. So, barring anything unforseen, he's just told me he's onboard. Mark has done a little performing in days of old, and, of course, he co-created Laverne and Shirley, wrote for all the Garry Marshall shows (including The Odd Couple) and has a lot of good show biz history. One down, two to go.
