Quotations and Literature Forum

This quote is incorrect: "You can take all the sincerity in Hollywood, place it in the navel of a firefly and still have room enough for three caraway seeds and a producer's heart." I am convinced that Allen's original quote was:

"All the sincerity in Hollywood you could stuff in a flea's navel and still have room left to conceal eight caraway seeds and an agent's heart."

Its first appearance in print seems to have been in a syndicated newspaper column by Earl Wilson in May 1959, referring to a letter from Allen to Kenny Delmar. Stuart Hample, in his 2001 book on Allen, recalls Delmar showing him the letter in 1946, and quotes it using substantially the same wording as Wilson. Unfortunately, according to one of Delmar's sons who also believes he saw the letter, the original is apparently lost -- probably destroyed when Delmar's home in Brookfield, Connecticut burned down. I would put my money on the flea, eight seeds, and an agent's heart until someone can come up with a better, earlier provenance.