Who Am I? November 2019
I was born in the Red Hook, Little Italy section, of Brooklyn to Polish-Jewish immigrants at the time the Great War was raging in Europe. Our address was 166 Union Street. My folks, Abraham and Bertha, ran a candy store. I don’t have a real strong connection to N.J. but I did go to the Life (magazine) Summer Camp in Sussex County as a pre-teen. I got to like it there because I could present myself as a native American because all the campers belonged to ‘tribes.’ I kept at it for a few summers until I became a counselor and years later, a member of their Board.
I attended Erasmus Hall High School. After graduating Erasmus I was lured by the $35.per year tuition at U.T. where I earned a degree in history. It was there that I learned to ride horses. That skill served me well in my later acting career because I am best known for my character actor roles as bandits, gunslingers, thieves, villains and desperadoes of every sort and description. At U.T., I also made the acquaintance of future movie stars Zachary Scott and Ann Sheridan. After graduation I earned an M.A. from CCNY. My parents always wanted me to be a teacher but I had other ideas ever since I became aware of plays and acting at the Flatbush Boys Club when I was a little shaver.
I received a scholarship from the Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theatre in NYC studying under Sanford Meisner. Some of my fellow aspiring actors there were Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Lorne Greene, Tony Randall and Gregory Peck
On the eve of WWII ‘Uncle Sam’ came calling. I served as a SSG (E6) in Maui, Hawaii with the 23rd Station Hospital. I then went through O.C.S. eventually rising to the rank of captain and serving 5 years as medical administrative officer in N. Africa and Europe with the 69th Station Hospital.
After my discharge I thought to hone my skills as a “method actor” and in ’47 became a charter member of the Actors Studio in N.Y.C. where I studied under the great Lee Strasberg. Some of my fellow student-actors at the time were Marlon Brando, Sidney Lumet and Montgomery Clift.
My acting career and my marriage to a fellow actor have each exceeded 60 years! I appeared 13 times on Broadway with my wife and 7 times Off-Broadway with her. We played Chekhov and Bernard Shaw classics as well as in plays written by the young Tennessee Williams. We also acted in 6 films together.
My first love was doing live theatre but to help “pay the bills” I appeared in over 90 films. I also accepted roles in many TV dramas on Playhouse 90, The Hallmark Hall of Fame, Studio One and the Philco Television Playhouse. I also did voice-overs from time to time too.
I received a lot of recognition during my long acting career but never actually won an Oscar. I earned a British Academy of Film and Television Award, a Tony, and an Emmy. Towards the end of my life I did receive an Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences honorary award. If you were wondering, I do have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. I am not a cynic but once I was quoted as saying, “Having the critics praise you is like the hangman saying ‘You’ve got a pretty neck…’ “
The Catholic Church once condemned one of my early film roles as being “grievously offensive to traditional standards of morality and decency” despite the fact that no one ever took their clothes off in the entire film!
During our lifetimes, my wife and I assembled and archived scores of boxes of annotated scripts, playbills, clippings, awards, posters, correspondence, interview tapes, photos etc.
That’s me in the photo below. I am pretty sure you know who I am by now. (1a)Who Am I? (1b)What was the name of my memoir? (1c) What notorious fellow lived practically next door to us in that Italian neighborhood in Brooklyn at 167 Union Street? (2)What was my wife’s name and list at least 2 movies of the 6 films we made together. (3a) I was a lifelong (70 year) friend of a famous journalist/newscaster I met at U.T. when I was an undergrad. Who was he? (3b) I was the professional audio reader of a book by a famous horror writer. What writer, what book? (3c)What early film of mine earned the above mentioned opprobrium of the Catholic Church? (4a) What did I win my Emmy for? (4b) What role of mine triggered the most fan mail I ever received? (5)Where exactly are my family’s archives today?
