Violinist Eugene Fodor, dead at 60

Posted at 5:34 PM on March 2, 2011 by John Birge
Filed under: The blog

Violinist Eugene Fodor died February 26 of cirrhosis of the liver. He was 60.

For many years Fodor was a top violinist who played with top orchestras in the best concert halls, and was Johnny Carson's frequent guest on the Tonight Show. But later in life he plummeted into crime and addictions to alcohol, heroine, and cocaine.

A profoundly sad story. But a well-done obituary in the Washington Post; I'd never heard the story about the North Vietnamese judge blowing smoke rings at the Tchaikovsky competition(!)

Nor had I any recollection that Fodor had appeared on SCTV, back in the day. Never mind the faux mystery-movie backdrop; the dude could play: