Who Am I? February 2022

I was born in NYC, the son of Nikonar and Maritska, Jewish immigrants from Poland and
Romania respectively, who ran a small luncheonette to support the family. I wasn’t a very good student back then so I got to cutting classes and became well acquainted with the truancy officer while attending vocational school.

I quit school at 16 and joined the marines. 40 years after my discharge I told an interviewer, “You know the saying, ‘Once a marine, always a marine?’ I am still a marine today. We shared this brotherhood of spirit that to this day I feel, as do all former marines. It lifted me, it elevated me, it spirited me, it challenged me to my limits, and my limits were extended. That helped me sustain a great deal of the struggle I encountered on my road to becoming an actor.” Incidentally, I earned my high school equivalency diploma while still in uniform.

After my military discharge I worked as a court stenographer and later sold women’s shoes. I gave some thought to acting so I enrolled in the Actor’s Studio where I studied under the great Stella Adler and Lee Strasberg. I did years of “off, off Broadway,” summer stock, and community theatre before I began to get some meatier roles both on Broadway and in films working with a bright up and coming young director.

In many of my early roles I appeared as a menacing low-life who was usually violent and cocky. It was hard to break out of those stereotypical roles because I came across as a convincing degenerate on the big screen. Finally, by the 1990’s I was able to show my acting versatility as I got opportunities to win more sympathetic film and theatric roles. I even acted in a biblical film epic. I also made 2 films that were partially shot in Bergen County – in one of those films I ran a casino and in the other I arranged mortgages for colleagues in a mob-controlled bank.

Some of the causes I support nowadays are the creative arts, veterans’ organizations, domestic abuse prevention, and rape and sexual abuse prevention.

That’s me in the photo below. If you're looking for trouble, you’d better stay out of my way. (1)Who Am I? (2)What street was my family luncheonette located on? (3)What was my biblical film role? (4)What were the 2 movies I starred in that were filmed in Bergen County and what towns were they filmed in? (5)Name 2 of the 6 films I was in that were nominated for Best Picture Oscars.