Without Crazy Eddie, The Show Doesn’t Go On with Danny

When I was in my twenties in the NY metropolitan area, there were always ads on the television for a guy named Crazy Eddie.  He would come on in santa suits or other crazy get-ups, and spazz out for a hilarious series of ads.  His story is famous because he bilked thousands of dollars out of hundreds of investors and spent time in prison. 

I read Nikki Finck’s column on her blog about how Danny DeVito has been trying to make a movie about the real-life Crazy Eddie but has finally given up, not being able to secure the rights from Edward Antar despite marathon negotiations.  The comments section of the blog made the reason plain. In New York State a convicted felon can’t profit from any TV show, book or movie made about them. They would have to name a legitimate charity and siphon all of the ill g0tten gains there.

But DeVito isn’t interested in forcing the issue. He also, said Finck, walked away from a movie about Steve Wynn and Donald Trump’s power struggle over some swampland.  All this, and DeVito hasn’t worked a  lot recently. But he has principals.  What killed the project were a posse of the victims, who had lost their investments back in the day, and were stung by the electronics mogul’s image as the Bernie Madoff of his generation, (ouch!)