And he told me to tell you you're fired

Wilson Mizner, an American screenwriter, wit, gambler and raconteur, died on this day in 1933.

Mizner wrote a couple of modest plays (The Deep Purple, The Greyhound), but he is best remembered as co-owner of The Brown Derby restaurant in Los Angeles and as a raconteur. He and his brother, Addison, were involved in a number of picaresque scams that inspired Stephen Sondheim's Bounce.

Mizner's last words, as he lay on his deathbed with eyes closed and opened them to see a priest hovering over him:

"Why should I talk to you? I've just been talking to your boss."

Today's Deathless Verse:

God calls, and says it's time--
It matters not that I'm
Quite unprepared to go;
I've not seen all the show.
"There'll be another one," 
Says he, "with lots and lots of fun."

More Wilson Mizner quotes