PALEY CENTER FOR MEDIA, THE: INSIDE MEDIA: AN EVENING WITH JOEL GREY {LOS ANGELES} {LONG VERSION}
Summary
One in a series of evenings and special screenings presented as part of The Paley Center for Media's Inside Media events. Held at the Paley Center in Los Angeles, this evening celebrates actor Joel Grey, whose stage and screen career has spanned over sixty years and earned him both an Oscar and a Tony award. Host Pat Mitchell (president and CEO, The Paley Center for Media) offers opening remarks and acknowledges other guests present in the audience, including songwriters Alan and Marilyn Bergman and television producer Gary David Goldberg. She then briefly gives background on Grey’s career, and he joins her onstage.
The conversation touches on such topics as: his start on television at age eighteen when he “didn’t know anything” about performing; his initial interest in traditional acting; his exposure into the showbiz world through his father, musician and comedian Mickey Katz; his desire to emulate “great character men” like Peter Lorre; his first play, a drama entitled “On Borrowed Time” at the Cleveland Playhouse and how he was “hooked” on acting from the experience; Katz’s surprise at his son’s sudden fame; his mother’s own artistic talents and dreams of performing; her interest in ballroom dancing, shared by Joel’s daughter Jennifer, present in the audience and recent winner of “Dancing With the Stars”; his early Broadway auditions and lack of success due to a “bias against nightclub performers”; his work in “Come Blow Your Horn” in 1961, with later “Alias” co-star Ron Rifkin, present in the audience, as his understudy; a number of “embarrassing” roles that had him “ready to quit”; the process of creating the role of the Master of Ceremonies in “Cabaret,” as inspired by a “terrible” comedian; his surprising struggle to land the same role in the 1972 film version despite winning the Tony; his tense relationship with director Bob Fosse and how they were “always challenging each other”; an on-set ad-lib that made it into the final film; the back story of the strange gorilla suit as seen in the film; his early days of television; his experience playing villainous characters; his method of requesting roles from creators of various shows; the “agony” of certain roles and his interest in finding “veracity” in his characters; his recent work in many hospital shows and how the roles affect him; working alongside performers such as Liza Minnelli and Beverly Sills; his experience playing the lead role of George M. Cohan in the 1968 musical “George M!”, the “hardest show” of his career; learning to tap-dance for the part; his upcoming role in “Anything Goes” on Broadway; and an upcoming showing of his photography.
The evening concludes with a musical number, as Grey sings “Wilkommen” from ”Cabaret.”
Clips featuring Grey are interspersed throughout the program, including: the 1967 Tony Awards; “The Colgate Comedy Hour” (1951); “The Mike Douglas Show” (1973); “Cabaret” (1972 film); “The Producers’ Showcase: Jack and the Beanstalk” (1956); “December Bride” (1957); “Westinghouse Playhouse: Yes, Yes, Nanette” (1961); “Telephone Time: The Intruder” (1957); “Law and Order: Criminal Intent” (2003); “Oz” (2003); “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (2001); “Alias” (2005); “Brooklyn Bridge” (1992); “Grey’s Anatomy” (2009); “House, M.D.” (2006); “Private Practice” (2009); “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” (1979); “The Ed Sullivan Show” (1969); “The Carol Burnett Show” (1972); “The Dean Martin Show” (1966); “The Bell Telephone Jubilee” (1976); and “George M!” (1970).
Details
- NETWORK: N/A
- DATE: January 18, 2011 7:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:22:35
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 104565
- GENRE: Seminars
- SUBJECT HEADING: N/A
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Pat Mitchell … Host
- Joel Grey … Guest
- Alan Bergman
- Marilyn Bergman
- George M. Cohan
- Bob Fosse
- Gary David Goldberg
- Jennifer Grey
- Mickey Katz
- Peter Lorre
- Liza Minnelli
- Ron Rifkin
- Beverly Sills