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Joel Grey (born Joel David Katz; April 11, 1932) is an American actor, singer, dancer, photographer, and theatre director. He is best known for portraying the Master of Ceremonies in the musical Cabaret on Broadway theatre and in Bob Fosse's 1972 film adaptation. He has won an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Tony Award for his performances in the Cabaret stage musical and film. He was presented a Lifetime Achievement Tony Award at the 76th Tony Awards in 2023.
Grey's Tony-nominated roles include for the musical George M! (1968), Goodtime Charley (1975), and The Grand Tour (1979). After portraying Amos Hart in the Broadway revival of Chicago (1996), he originated the role of the Wizard of Oz in the musical Wicked (2003) and played Moonface Martin in the 2011 revival of Anything Goes. He co-directed the 2011 revival of Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart with George C. Wolfe, earning a Tony Award nomination for Best Direction of a Play at the 65th Tony Awards.
He earned a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture nomination for his role in (1985) at the 43rd Golden Globe Awards. His other film roles include in Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson (1976), Kafka (1991), The Music of Chance (1993), The Fantasticks (2000), and Dancer in the Dark (2000). He earned an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series at the 45th Primetime Emmy Awards for Brooklyn Bridge (1993). He also acted in Oz (2003), Alias (2005), House (2006), Nurse Jackie (2011), and The Old Man (2022).
He started his professional television career on The Colgate Comedy Hour from 1951 to 1954. He then took on roles in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Grey appeared in several TV westerns including Maverick (1959), Bronco (1960) and Lawman (3 times in 1960 and 1961).
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. His followup role on Broadway was as George M. Cohan in the 1968 musical George M!. Grey was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical at the 23rd Tony Awards and received the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Performance.
Grey reprised his role as the Master of ceremonies in the 1972 Bob Fosse directed film version of Cabaret. Fosse, who was hired to direct the film version because Harold Prince was unavailable, wanted to recast the Emcee role, but the studio insisted on Grey. Fosse backed down on his "It's either me or Joel" threat, but relations between them were cool. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor at the 45th Academy Awards in March 1973 for his performance. His victory was part of a Cabaret near-sweep, which saw Liza Minnelli win Best Actress and Fosse win Best Director, although it lost the Best Picture Academy Awards to The Godfather. For that role, Grey also won the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer at the 26th British Academy Film Awards and Best Supporting Actor awards from the Golden Globes, Kansas City Film Critics Circle, National Board of Review of Motion Pictures, National Society of Film Critics, and a Tony Award for his original stage performance six years prior, making him one of only ten people who have won both a Tony Award and an Academy Award for the same role.
He was the guest star for the first episode of The Muppet Show in its first season in 1976, singing "Razzle Dazzle" from Chicago and "Willkommen" from Cabaret. He has performed at The Muny in St. Louis, Missouri, 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). At the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Grey played the title role of Mikhail Platonov in their production of Platonov (1977). He returned to Broadway in the play Goodtime Charley (1975), and the musical The Grand Tour (1979), receiving Tony nominations for each.
He narrated the animated film (1992), and made a cameo appearance as himself in the Robert Altman film The Player (1992). The following year he starred in the Philip Haas drama film The Music of Chance (1993) alongside James Spader, Mandy Patinkin, M. Emmet Walsh, and Charles Durning. The film premiered at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival. Later that year he starred in New York Stage and Film's production of John Patrick Shanley's A Fool and Her Fortune and received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series at the 45th Primetime Emmy Awards for his recurring role as Jacob Prossman on the television series Brooklyn Bridge. In 1995, he made a guest appearance on the episode "" as Caylem, an aging rebel seeking to free his (deceased) wife from prison. In November 1995, he performed as the Wizard of Oz in , a staged concert of the popular story at Lincoln Center to benefit the Children's Defense Fund. The performance was originally broadcast on Turner Network Television (TNT) in November 1995, and released on CD and video in 1996.
He returned to Broadway as Amos Hart in the revival of the Bob Fosse musical Chicago (1996). Set in Chicago in the Jazz Age, the musical is based on a 1926 play of the same title by reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins, about actual criminals and crimes on which she reported. The story is a satire on corruption in the administration of criminal justice and the concept of the "celebrity criminal". The revival was well received and Grey earned the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical. In 1999, he starred in Brian Friel's Give Me Your Answer, Do! mounted by Roundabout Theatre Company.
Grey originated the role of the Wizard of Oz in the Stephen Schwartz Broadway musical Wicked. Grey took over the role from Robert Morse who previously played the Wizard in the San Francisco tryout run at the Curran Theatre. Grey acted alongside Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth. The play received mixed reviews from critics but was an immediate financial hit. Grey was nominated for the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical.
He returned to Broadway in the 2016 revival of the Anton Chekhov play The Cherry Orchard starring opposite Diane Lane, and Chuck Cooper. In 2018, Grey directed a Yiddish-language production of Fiddler on the Roof, which originated at the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, then transferred to Stage 42 Off-Broadway. The production became a surprise hit, running for over a year and winning the 2019 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival of a Musical and Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Musical Revival. He had a cameo role in the Lin-Manuel Miranda directed musical Tick, Tick... Boom! (2021). In 2022 he acted as Morgan Bote, a recurring character in the FX drama series The Old Man starring Jeff Bridges and John Lithgow.
Grey is a photographer. His first book of photographs, Pictures I Had to Take, was published in 2003. Its follow-up, Looking Hard at Unexpected Things, was published in 2006. Joel Grey Looking Hard at Unexamined Things. Joel Grey Photographer. His third book, 1.3 – Images from My Phone, a book of photographs taken with his camera phone, was published in 2009.
An exhibition of his work was held in April 2011 at the Museum of the City of New York, titled "Joel Grey/A New York Life." His fourth book, The Billboard Papers: Photographs by Joel Grey, came out in 2013 and depicts the many-layered billboards of New York City.
In January 2015, Grey discussed his sexuality in an interview with People, stating: "I don't like labels, but if you have to put a label on it, I'm a gay man."
Grey writes about his family, his acting career, and the challenges of being gay in his 2016 memoir, Master of Ceremonies.Bayard, Louis (February 3, 2016). "Joel Grey takes center stage in 'Master of Ceremonies'". The Washington Post.
For his continued support of Broadway, Grey was named a Givenik Ambassador.
He was presented with a lifetime achievement award on June 10, 2013, by The National Yiddish Theatre – Folksbiene.
Grey won the Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre on December 5, 2016, presented by the York Theatre Company in New York City. The theatre said, in part: "we are thrilled to celebrate the extraordinary Joel Grey, whose artistry — for over half a century — has become an indelible part of Broadway history."
Grey was honored as The New Jewish Home's Eight Over Eighty Gala 2015 honoree.
Grey was presented with the Teddy Kollek Award by the World Jewish Congress in November 2019.
1980–1999
He also played Master of Sinanju Chiun, Remo Williams (Fred Ward)'s elderly Korean martial arts master in the movie (1985), a role that garnered him a nomination for the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor at the 13th Saturn Awards and a second Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture at the 43rd Golden Globe Awards. Grey's character Chiun was popular for the lines "Meat of cow kills", and "You move like a pregnant yak", from the movie. He then acted in Steven Soderbergh's mystery thriller Kafka (1991), starring Jeremy Irons, Theresa Russell and Ian Holm. In 1991, he played Adam, a devil, in "Conundrum", a two-part season 14 episode and the series finale of the television series Dallas (1991). That same year, Grey also appeared in the American Repertory Theater's production of When We Dead Awaken at the São Paulo Biennial.
2000–2010
In 2000, Grey played Oldrich Novy in the Lars von Trier film Dancer in the Dark and acted in the musical film The Fantasticks and in the dark comedy Choke (2008). During this time he also appeared extensively on television. He had a recurring role as the evil reptilian demon Doc in The WB horror series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (2001), Lemuel Idzik in the HBO prison drama Oz (2003) and as Another Mr. Sloane in the ABC series Alias (2005). He played Milton Winters, a wealthy, paroled ex-convict on (episode "", 2003). He also appeared on the shows House and Brothers & Sisters (2007), on the latter of which he played the role of Dr. Bar-Shalom, Sarah Walker (Rachel Griffiths) and Joe Whedon (John Pyper-Ferguson)'s marriage counselor. He appeared as Dr. Singer, Dr. Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl)'s high school teacher who needs treatment for dementia in Grey's Anatomy (2009).
2011–present
Grey returned to Broadway in spring 2011 as Moonface Martin in the Roundabout Theatre Company revival of Anything Goes at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre. Having previously portrayed Ned Weeks in the 1985 Off-Broadway production of Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart, he went on to co-direct with George C. Wolfe the Tony Award-winning revival in 2011, for which he and Wolfe were nominated for Best Direction of a Play at the 65th Tony Awards. The following year he made a guest appearance in the Showtime series Nurse Jackie opposite Edie Falco. He also acted in (2014), and Park Bench with Steve Buscemi (2014).
Personal life
In 1958, Grey married Jo Wilder; they divorced in 1982. Together, they had two children: actress Jennifer Grey (star of the film Dirty Dancing) and chef James Grey.
Theatre credits
1951 Borscht Capades Performer Royale Theatre, Broadway theatre Credited as 'Joel Kaye' 1956 The Littlest Revue Phoenix Theatre, Broadway 1961 Come Blow Your Horn Buddy Baker Brooks Atkinson Theatre, Broadway 1962 Stop the World – I Want to Get Off Littlechap Shubert Theatre, Broadway 1965 Half a Sixpence Arthur Kipps Broadhurst Theatre, Broadway 1966 Cabaret Master of Ceremonies 1968 George M! George M. Cohan Palace Theatre, Broadway 1975 Goodtime Charley Charles VII 1977 Marco Polo Sings a Solo Stony McBride The Public Theater, Off-Broadway 1979 The Grand Tour S.L. Jacobowsky Palace Theatre, Broadway 1985 The Normal Heart Ned Weeks The Public Theater, Off-Broadway 1987 Cabaret Master of Ceremonies US tour Imperial Theatre, Broadway 1991 When We Dead Awaken Performer American Repertory Theater, Cambridge 1995 Narrator / The Wizard of Oz / Various Roles Lincoln Center 1996 Chicago Amos Hart Richard Rodgers Theatre, Broadway 1997 US tour 1998 Shubert Theatre, Broadway Adelphi Theatre, West End 1999 Give Me Your Answer, Do! Jack Donovan Gramercy Theatre, Off-Broadway 2003 Wicked The Wizard of Oz Gershwin Theatre, Broadway 2011 Anything Goes "Moonface" Martin Stephen Sondheim Theatre, Broadway The Normal Heart — John Golden Theatre, Broadway Director 2016 The Cherry Orchard Firs American Airlines Theatre, Broadway 2018 Fiddler on the Roof (Fidler Afn Dakh) — National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene Director; American premiere of the play in Yiddish
Filmography
Film
1952 About Face Bender 1957 Calypso Heat Wave Alex Nash 1961 Come September Beagle 1972 Cabaret Master of Ceremonies 1974 Man on a Swing Franklin Wills 1976 The Seven-Per-Cent Solution Lowenstein Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson Nate Salsbury 1985 Chiun 1991 Kafka Burgel 1992 The Player Himself Cameo appearance 1993 The Music of Chance Willy Stone 1994 The Dangerous "Flea" 1995 Venus Rising Jimmie 1996 The Empty Mirror Joseph Goebbels My Friend Joe Simon 2000 The Fantasticks Amos Babcock Bellamy Dancer in the Dark Oldřich Nový 2001 Reaching Normal Dr. Mensley 2008 Choke Phil 2021 Tick, Tick... Boom! "Sunday" Legend
Television
1951–54 The Colgate Comedy Hour Himself 4 episodes 1954 Pond's Theater Performer Episode: "Forty Weeks of Uncle Tom" 1956 Producers' Showcase Jack Episode: "Jack and the Beanstalk" 1957 Telephone Time Ray Episode: "The Intruder" December Bride Jimmy 3 episodes The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom Himself 4 episodes 1958 The Court of Last Resort Floyd Todd Episode: "The Todd-Loomis Case" 1959 Maverick Billy "The Kid" Episode: "Full House" 1960 Bronco Samson "Runt" Bowles Episode: "Masquerade" The Ann Sothern Show Billy Wilton Episode: "Billy" Surfside 6 Willy Episode: "The Clown" 1960–61 Lawman Owny O'Reilly 3 episodes 1961 Westinghouse Playhouse Herbie Episode: "Nanette's Teenage Suitor" 77 Sunset Strip Joey Kellogg Episode: "Open and Close in One" 1966 Vacation Playhouse Freddy Rockefeller Episode: "My Lucky Penny" 1971 Ironside Mike Jaeger Episode: "A Killing at the Track" 1972 Night Gallery Andrew MacBane Episode: "There Aren't Any More MacBanes" 1973 The $10,000 Pyramid Himself / Celebrity Guest Episode: "Peggy Cass vs. Joel Grey" 1974 The Carol Burnett Show Gary Segment: "Carol and Sis" 1976 The Muppet Show Himself (guest) Episode: "Joel Grey" 1981 Paddington Himself Host 1982 Alice 2 episodes 1987 Queenie Aaron Diamond 2 episodes 1991 Matlock Tommy DeLuca Episode: "The Critic" Dallas Adam Episode: "Conundrum" 1992–93 Brooklyn Bridge Jacob Prossman 2 episodes 1995 Caylem Episode: "" 1999, 2000 The Outer Limits Dr. Neil Seward / Gideon Banks 2 episodes 2001 Buffy the Vampire Slayer Doc 3 episodes Touched by an Angel Ronald 2 episodes Further Tales of the City Guido 3 episodes 2003 Oz Lemuel Idzik 6 episodes Milton Winters Episode: "Cuba Libre" 2005 Alias Another Mr. Sloane 3 episodes Crossing Jordan Carl Meisner Episode: "Forget Me Not" 2006 House Dr. Ezra Powell Episode: "Informed Consent" 2007 Brothers & Sisters Dr. Jude Bar-Shalom Episode: "Love Is Difficult" 2008 Phineas and Ferb Beppo (voice) Episode: "The Monster of Phineas-n-Ferbenstein/Oil on Candace" 2009 Private Practice Dr. Alexander Ball Episode: "Nothing to Fear" Grey's Anatomy Dr. Singer Episode: "New History" 2012 Nurse Jackie Dick Bobbitt Episode: "Day of the Iguana" 2013 Warehouse 13 Monty The Magnificent Episode: "The Sky's the Limit" 2014 Hank Kasserman Episode: "" Park Bench with Steve Buscemi Himself Episode: "Benchmark" 2022–24 The Old Man Morgan Bote 4 episodes
TV films and miniseries
1958 Little Women Theodore "Laurie" Laurence 1970 George M! George M. Cohan 1972 Man on a String Joe "Big Joe" Brown 1974 Joshua Trundle (voice) 1982 The Yeomen of the Guard Jack Point 1995 Narrator / The Wizard / Various Roles 1999 A Christmas Carol Ghost of Christmas Past
Awards and honors
1972 Academy Awards Best Supporting Actor Cabaret 1972 British Academy Film Awards Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles 1975 Drama Desk Awards Outstanding Actor in a Musical Goodtime Charley 1979 The Grand Tour 1988 Cabaret 1997 Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical Chicago 2000 Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play Give Me Your Answer, Do! 2011 Outstanding Director of a Play The Normal Heart 2019 Outstanding Director of a Musical Fiddler on the Roof (Fidler Afn Dakh) 1972 Golden Globe Awards Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture Cabaret 1985 2012 Grammy Awards Best Musical Theater Album Anything Goes 1972 Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards Best Supporting Actor Cabaret 1972 National Board of Review Awards Best Supporting Actor 1972 National Society of Film Critics Awards Best Supporting Actor 1993 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series Brooklyn Bridge 1985 Saturn Awards Best Supporting Actor Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins 1967 Tony Awards Best Supporting or Featured Actor in a Musical Cabaret 1969 Best Leading Actor in a Musical George M! 1975 Goodtime Charley 1979 The Grand Tour 2011 Best Direction of a Play The Normal Heart 2023 Lifetime Achievement in Theatre Award
See also
Notes
Sources
(1989). 9780810822047, Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810822047
External links
Categories: 1932 Births, 20th-century American Jews, 20th-century American Lgbtq People, 20th-century American Male Actors, 21st-century American Jews, 21st-century American Lgbtq People, 21st-century American Male Actors, Alexander Hamilton High School Alumni, American Gay Actors, American Gay Artists, American Gay Musicians, American Lgbtq Dancers, American Lgbtq Photographers, American Lgbtq Singers, American Male Dancers, American Male Film Actors, American Male Musical Theatre Actors, American Male Singers, American Male Television Actors, American Male Voice Actors, American Photographers, Audiobook Narrators, Best Supporting Actor Academy Award Winners, Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe Winners, Dancers From Cleveland, Dancers From Ohio, Drama Desk Award Winners, Gay Dancers, Gay Jews, Gay Photographers, Gay Singers, Jewish American Male Actors, Jews From Ohio, Lgbtq People From Ohio, Living People, Male Actors From Cleveland, Male Actors From Los Angeles, Pseudonymous Photographers, Singers From Ohio, Tony Award Winners
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