At the height of his fame, Alexander Woollcott was often mentioned in the arts columns of the New York newspapers and his jokes and wisecracks were a regular staple of Walter Winchell's famous columns. Or so it seemed.
Most of these jokes were in fact composed by Irving Mansfield (later a well-known TV producer), who was generously compensated for his work.
Eventually, however, Mansfield ran out of material, and Woollcott's supposed jokes ceased to appear in Winchell's column.
Soon thereafter, Woollcott cabled Mansfield to see what was wrong: "Dear Irving," the cable read, "whatever happened to my sense of humor?"
[According to those who both men, William Woollcott had a finer wit than his famous brother. William's occupation? He manufactured mucilage.]
Sources
I. Mansfield, Life with Jackie; Isaac Asimov`s Book of Facts
