In other locations, he frequently "messed up" other boys who had called him ""chicken,"" forcing the family""s retreat and leaving him a friendless and lonely outcast in a new town.In real-life, Spencer""s body bounced like a pogo-stick and tumbled down the stairs, falling through rotten wooden planks at the foot of the stairs into a pit to hell(# 2 death).In 1973, Fosse not only won the Best Director Oscar forCabaretbut also a Primetime Emmy (Outstanding Directorial Achievement) for Minnelli""s TV special "Liza with a Z" and a Tony (Best Direction of a Musical) for the original Broadway production ofPippin.[Note: It is the only instance that she exits the house in the film - and it proves disastrous.] While he is in the bedroom putting young Joyce to bed, Katie""s opening and closing of the car door in the driveway are heard through the window behind them.He advises Gerry to avoid eating his hot dogs: "Lay off of ""em, you""ll live longer." To spite his bossy wife ("this will be a hot one on the wife - she""s down there poking her snoot in everybody""s business") and just because of his crusty, individualistic nature ("It makes me feel young again"), he removes a fat wad of bills from his pocket [a sly, Sturges sexual innuendo] and insistently offers o pay the "beautiful lady" her rental debt.