Joel Grey (born April 11, 1932) is an American
stage and screen actor, singer, and dancer, best known for his role
as the
Master of Ceremonies in
both the stage and film adaptation of the
Kander & Ebb musical
Cabaret. He has won the
Academy Award,
Tony
Award,
Golden Globe Award,
and
BAFTA.
Early life
Grey was
born Joel David Katz in Cleveland
, Ohio
, the son of
Grace and Mickey Katz, an actor,
comedian and musician. He graduated from Cleveland
Heights High School
in Cleveland Heights, Ohio
in 1950.
Career
Grey originated the role of the
Master of Ceremonies in the Broadway
musical Cabaret in 1966 for which he won the
Tony Award. Additional Broadway credits
include
Come Blow Your
Horn (1961),
Stop the World - I Want to
Get Off (1962),
Half a
Sixpence (1965),
Goodtime
Charley (1975),
The Grand Tour (1979),
Chicago (1996), and
Wicked (2003). In 1995, he
performed in
The Wizard of Oz
in Concert: Dreams Come True a musical performance of the
popular story at Lincoln Center to benefit the
Children's Defense Fund. The
performance was originally broadcast on Turner Network Television
(TNT), and issued on CD and video in 1996.
Grey won an
Academy Award for Best
Supporting Actor in 1972 for his performance as the
Master of Ceremonies in the
film version of Cabaret. His victory
was part of a
Cabaret near-sweep, which saw
Liza Minnelli win
Best Actress and
Bob Fosse win
Best Director, although it lost
the
Best Picture
Oscar to
The Godfather. Grey
beat front-runner
Al Pacino for
Best Supporting
Actor while Fosse beat
Francis
Ford Coppola for Best Director.
For that role, Grey also won the BAFTA award for "The Most
Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles" and a Tony Award six
years prior, making him one of only eight people who have won both
a
Tony Award and an
Academy Award for the same role.
He
performed at The
Muny
in St. Louis, Missouri
many times in roles such as George M. Cohan in
George
M! (1970 and 1992), the Emcee in
Cabaret (1971),
and Joey Evans in
Pal
Joey (1983).
Grey appeared as a panelist for the television game show "What's My
Line?" in the 1967 season, as well as being the first mystery guest
during its syndication in 1968. He was the guest star for the third
episode of
The Muppet Show
in its first season, singing "Razzle Dazzle" from
Chicago and "Willkommen" from
Cabaret He also played
Master of
Sinanju Chiun, Remo's elderly Korean
martial arts master in the movie
Remo Williams: The Adventure
Begins (1985), a role that garnered him a
Saturn Award and a second
Golden Globe nomination for "Best Supporting
Actor". In 1991, he played an out of this world man, Adam, on the
series finale of
Dallas.
1993 saw him receive
an "Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series" Emmy nomination for his recurring role as Jacob
Prossman on the television series Brooklyn Bridge
. In 1996, he made a guest appearance on
Star Trek: Voyager as an
aging rebel seeking to free his (deceased) wife from prison.
In 2000, Grey played Oldrich Novy in the film
Dancer in the Dark and had recurring
television roles on
Buffy the Vampire
Slayer (as
Doc, 2001),
Oz (as
Lemuel Idzik, 2003) and
Alias (as "Another Mr. Sloane,"
2005). He played the role of a demon in the final episode of
Dallas and was a
wealthy, paroled ex-convict on
Law & Order: Criminal
Intent (episode, "Cuba Libre"). He also appeared on the
shows
House and
Brothers &
Sisters, on the latter of which he played the role of
Sarah and Joe's marriage counselor. He appeared as Izzie's high
school science teacher in a 2009 episode of
Grey's Anatomy.
Personal life
Grey is the father of actress
Jennifer
Grey, the star of
Dirty
Dancing, and James, a chef. In 1958 he married Jo Wilder.
They divorced in 1982.
Grey is also a
photographer. His first
book of photographs,
Pictures I Had to Take, was published
in 2003; its follow-up,
Looking Hard at Unexpected Things,
appeared in the Fall of 2006. His third book,
1.3 – Images from
My Phone, is also a photography book but taken with his camera
phone, is published on June 2, 2009 (Powerhouse Books).
Work
Stage
Filmography
Television
References
- Grey Looking Hard at Unexamined Things. Joel
Grey Photographer.
- Samelson, Judy. SHELF LIFE: "American Theatre Reader," Photos by Joel
Grey, New Looks at Bernstein and Horneplaybill.com, May 30,
2009
External links
Wikis
Quiz
Map
Misc
Search
