Professor Backwards
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
James Edmonson, Sr., also known as Professor Backwards, (June 10, 1910-January 29, 1976) was an vaudevillian/comedian who appeared on TV from the 1950s to the early 1970s, most notably on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Tonight Show, and The Mike Douglas Show. In addition to traditional stand-up comedy, Edmonson's act featured his ability to write in script that was upside down and/or backwards, spell words backwards, and reading correctly an inverted blackboard.
On January 29, 1976, Edmonson was murdered after he was accosted at his College Park, Georgia, residence by three men, one of them armed with a pistol. After a demand for $5000, Edmonson produced a check for $300; afterwards, the gunman decided to wait overnight with Edmonson until the local bank opened, at which time, the intruders escorted Edmonson into his automobile "drove around for an hour"[1]. When the car was stopped, three of the four men (including Edmonson) exited, and the life of "Professor Backwards" ended with three gunshots to the head. All three assailants were eventually arrested, charged with murder and armed robbery, convicted on both charges, and sentenced to life imprisonment.
[edit] Quotations
"I came down from Jacksonville on a train that was the slowest train I'd ever been on. I said to the conductor, 'Can't you run any faster?' He said, 'Yeah, but I gotta stay on the train.' A woman ran up to the conductor and said, 'Stop the train. I have to get to the maternity hospital.' He said, 'You had no business getting on the train in that condition.' She said, 'I didn't.'"
"I had a brand-new Mercury. I loaned it to my brother last week. I said, 'Treat it as if it was your own.' He sold it."
"I went up to the salesgirl. I said, 'I'd like to see something cheap in a man's suit.' She said, 'The mirror's on the left.'"
"What gets me is that estimated tax return. You have to guess how much you're gonna make. You have to fill it out, fix it up, sign it, send it in. I sent mine in last week. I didn't sign it. If I have to guess how much I'm gonna make, let them guess who sent it."
"You know what a stewardess is. That's a girl who asks you what you want, then straps you in the seat so you can't get it."
