Mongo

Mongo

I have three cats and Mongo is the youngest.  He's, at least in part, a Maine Coon Cat.  He was about six months old when he walked up to my front porch and jumped in my lap and stayed for several hours, and then several days, and then forever.  He's named after the character Mongo in the Mel Brooks movie "Blazing Saddles" when, after being interrogated by Sheriff Bart, Mongo fails to answer further saying, "Mongo only pawn in game of life."I am now Mongo's pawn in his game of life.Mongo, in the movie, was played by former NFL football player Alex Karras.  Karras left his football career after an endless battle with his coaches all the way back to high school.  Finally, injuries made him turn to an acting career.   He was on the short list to play Carlo Rizzi, the brother-in-law/traitor to the Italian-American Corleone family in the movie, "The Godfather."  He never made it off the short list but went on to play various television roles prior to landing the role of the bigger-than-life simpleton Mongo in the Mel Brooks parody of the Old West movie genre.