Who Am I? October 2022
I was born in the city where Tony Bennett once left his heart. Soon after, my family moved to British Columbia. My dad, Tell, was a stage actor, director and a carpenter. My mother, Heather, came from a Ukrainian-Jewish background. I was very close to her dad, Alex, who became a kind of surrogate father to me.
My family was rather dysfunctional and my folks divorced when I was around 4. My mom was a painter and a free-spirited hippie bohemian. One too many LSD trips landed her in and out of Rehab centers. She moved us to a commune in upstate N.Y. and then back to NYC where we lived for a time as apartment squatters without electricity or water. Eventually, mom got a job as a taxi driver. Mom kept me on a steady diet of silent movies and films shot in black and white. I loved reading “Grimm’s’ Fairy Tales” and other books out loud. I spent a lot of time with my grandfather, Alex, who delivered meat to area restaurants. He often allowed me to accompany him on his route.
Before I was even a teen I was enrolled in dance classes before mom moved us to the Integral Yoga Institute on 13th Street. After that she bounced me to an ashram in Pomfret, CT and later back to intermediate School 70 in NYC. I attended Hampshire College where 2 theater professors were very encourag -ing to me and I decided to give serious thoughts to an acting career.
I feel Judaism is an important facet of my life and that it is my creative drive. I have appeared in 2 Holocaust related films. I have actually appeared in over 50 films; so nowadays, many of you know me as an actor, a director, a producer or a screenwriter. A big turning point in my life came in the 1990’s when I was invited to become part of the New York’s Public Theater by its artistic director. I appear regularly in the Public’s, “Shakespeare in the Park,” productions. I also do a lot of narration work especially on documentaries. I did earn a Tony for playing a high pressure real estate salesman in a Pulitzer Prize winning play written by David Mamet. My imposing physical stature probably added to my persuasive selling techniques.
I do have North Jersey and Paterson bona fides. I acted in a film shot in both Avenel and Paterson that told the story of middleweight boxer who served almost 20 years in the slammer after being wrongly accused of a ghastly triple murder in a Paterson bar.
The film I shot in Paterson centered on the person who appears in the first photo below. I’m pretty sure you know me by now. I appear in the second photo below with my beloved ‘dedushka,’ Alex.
(1a)Who Am I? (1b)What was my childhood nickname? You’d better smile if you call me that today… (2)What name did my mom’s guru give me? (3)Name one of the two theater professor at Hampshire College who gave me encouragement to become an actor. (4a)Who was the artistic director of New York’s Public Theater that invited me to join? (4b)What were the 2 Holocaust themed films that I have appeared in? (5a)What movie did I make that was shot in Paterson? (5b)Who was that wrongly accused middleweight? (5c)What was the name of that notorious bar in Paterson where the murders took place? (5d)What modern troubadour composed and sang the hit song dedicated to that pugilist? (6)This last question is optional because it may be a wee bit too challenging. Name my favorite movie of all-time or else the favorite film I appeared in?
