I was about 8 years old when I first met Norman Lear.
My dad, Carl Reiner, was working on Sid Caesar’s Show of Shows and Norman was writing for Colgate Comedy Hour, so they were both in New York. In those days, it was a small world of people who trafficked in sketch comedy. Mel Brooks, Larry Gelbart, Dom DeLuise — all these guys and their families would hang out together. My family and Norman’s family used to have summer houses near each other on Fire Island, and Norman had a daughter, Ellen, who was around my age, so we used to play together.
One day Ellen and I were playing jacks — I was teaching her how, explaining the rules, showing her what to do. Norman came over to watch and he started to laugh. Apparently, I was teaching her in a funny way, which he found hysterical. And he...
My dad, Carl Reiner, was working on Sid Caesar’s Show of Shows and Norman was writing for Colgate Comedy Hour, so they were both in New York. In those days, it was a small world of people who trafficked in sketch comedy. Mel Brooks, Larry Gelbart, Dom DeLuise — all these guys and their families would hang out together. My family and Norman’s family used to have summer houses near each other on Fire Island, and Norman had a daughter, Ellen, who was around my age, so we used to play together.
One day Ellen and I were playing jacks — I was teaching her how, explaining the rules, showing her what to do. Norman came over to watch and he started to laugh. Apparently, I was teaching her in a funny way, which he found hysterical. And he...
- 12/11/2023
- by Rob Reiner
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Judd Hirsch has portrayed several memorable characters over the past 50 years including Alex Rieger in the classic ABC/NBC 1978-83 sitcom “Taxi” for which he won two Emmys, the caring psychiatrist Dr. Berger in 1980’s “Ordinary People,” which earned him a supporting actor Oscar nomination, and Eddie Ross, the angry, verbally abusive bartender in Herb Gardner’s 1992 play “Conversations with My Father,” for which he won a Tony. His latest indelible character is the colorful Uncle Boris, a former lion tamer and film worker, in Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans,” earning a second Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for Hirsch.
Hirsch, who just won the AARP’s Movies for Grownups Award for supporting actor, has made Academy Award history with his nomination. He eclipsed by one year the 41-year gap between bids set by Henry Fonda. At age 87, Hirsch would be the oldest acting winner; Christopher Plummer was 82 when he won for 2011’ “Beginners.
Hirsch, who just won the AARP’s Movies for Grownups Award for supporting actor, has made Academy Award history with his nomination. He eclipsed by one year the 41-year gap between bids set by Henry Fonda. At age 87, Hirsch would be the oldest acting winner; Christopher Plummer was 82 when he won for 2011’ “Beginners.
- 1/30/2023
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Judd Hirsch is a living legend. Best known for his portrayal of cabbie Alex Rieger, the warm, principled central character of the classic sitcom "Taxi," Hirsch has been effortlessly segueing from television to stage to film and back again for over 50 years. He won two Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series Emmys for "Taxi," and two Tonys for his performances in Herb Gardner's "Conversations with My Father" and "I'm Not Rappaport." He received a Best Supporting Actor nomination in 1980 for his portrayal of the tough, yet compassionate psychiatrist Dr. Berger in Robert Redford's "Ordinary People." He probably would've won that year, but he was the victim of category fraud when Paramount opted to run his co-star, Timothy Hutton, in the Supporting Actor category rather than Best Actor, even though the young performer was clearly the lead of the movie. Hutton won, and Hirsch hasn't been nominated since.
- 1/24/2023
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
Rita Gardner, an original cast member of the long-running Off Broadway phenomenon The Fantasticks, died Saturday of leukemia at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York. She was 87.
Gardner’s death was announced by her friend and colleague Alex Rybeck on Facebook.
In 1960, Gardner, who had recently appeared Off Broadway in the Jerry Herman musical review Nightcap, was cast in what would be her signature role: Luisa, or “The Girl,” in the Harvey Schmidt-Tom Jones musical The Fantasticks. Based loosely on Edmond Rostand’s 1894 play The Romancers, the musical told the allegorical story of two fathers who trick their children – The Girl, Luisa, and The Boy, Matt – into falling in love by pretending to oppose the union.
The production, at a tiny Off Broadway venue in Greenwich Village called the Sullivan Street Playhouse, became a huge success, spawning a hit song (“Try To Remember”), running 42 years and boosting the careers of...
Gardner’s death was announced by her friend and colleague Alex Rybeck on Facebook.
In 1960, Gardner, who had recently appeared Off Broadway in the Jerry Herman musical review Nightcap, was cast in what would be her signature role: Luisa, or “The Girl,” in the Harvey Schmidt-Tom Jones musical The Fantasticks. Based loosely on Edmond Rostand’s 1894 play The Romancers, the musical told the allegorical story of two fathers who trick their children – The Girl, Luisa, and The Boy, Matt – into falling in love by pretending to oppose the union.
The production, at a tiny Off Broadway venue in Greenwich Village called the Sullivan Street Playhouse, became a huge success, spawning a hit song (“Try To Remember”), running 42 years and boosting the careers of...
- 9/26/2022
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Who knew when the year began that a sequel to a 36-year-old movie starring its 60-year-old actor who headlined the original would be the box office champ so far this year? But “Top Gun: Maverick” starring Tom Cruise, which was released Aug. 23 on digital formats while still flying high in theaters is not only the No. 1 film of the year with a staggering haul of 683.4 million domestically and 720 million overseas. And the acclaimed film didn’t even play in China or Russia. “Top Gun: Maverick” is also the biggest film of Cruise’s career which began in 1981 with Franco Zeffirelli’s “Endless Love.”
And with the digital release, let’s relive 1986, the year we first felt the need for speed and flew into the danger zone. The year the original “Top Gun” took our breath away.
Top 10 Box Office Hits
Top Gun (natch)
Crocodile Dundee
Platoon
The Karate Kid Part...
And with the digital release, let’s relive 1986, the year we first felt the need for speed and flew into the danger zone. The year the original “Top Gun” took our breath away.
Top 10 Box Office Hits
Top Gun (natch)
Crocodile Dundee
Platoon
The Karate Kid Part...
- 8/24/2022
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
The fourth season of Netflix’s “Stranger Things” is set in 1986. Talk about déjà vu.
The top movie of the year was “Top Gun” starring Tom Cruise and this year, the sequel “Top Gun: Maverick” is the top flick earning nearly 582 million in North America. “Cobra Kai,”the TV sequel to “Karate Kid,” is one of the most popular series on Netflix and several “Star Trek” series have blasted off on “Paramount+.
A handful the top ten TV series including “Cheers,” “Murder, She Wrote” and “The Golden Girls” are living on in repeats. One of the top series, “60 Minutes,” is still chugging away on CBS after 54 seasons making it the longest running primetime series on the small screen. And Michael J. Fox, who won the Emmy that year for “Family Ties,” will receive an honorary Oscar this fall.
So, in honor of “Stranger Things” let’s take the time...
The top movie of the year was “Top Gun” starring Tom Cruise and this year, the sequel “Top Gun: Maverick” is the top flick earning nearly 582 million in North America. “Cobra Kai,”the TV sequel to “Karate Kid,” is one of the most popular series on Netflix and several “Star Trek” series have blasted off on “Paramount+.
A handful the top ten TV series including “Cheers,” “Murder, She Wrote” and “The Golden Girls” are living on in repeats. One of the top series, “60 Minutes,” is still chugging away on CBS after 54 seasons making it the longest running primetime series on the small screen. And Michael J. Fox, who won the Emmy that year for “Family Ties,” will receive an honorary Oscar this fall.
So, in honor of “Stranger Things” let’s take the time...
- 7/11/2022
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Actor Joseph Siravo — who played Tony Soprano’s father on The Sopranos and also appeared in films like Carlito’s Way and numerous Broadway shows — died Sunday, NJ.com reports. He was 64.
Siravo died after a battle with cancer, having been diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer in 2017. He was later diagnosed with colon cancer and had part of his colon removed.
Although not necessarily a series regular, Siravo played a key role on The Sopranos, popping up as Tony’s father, Giovanni Frances “Johnny Boy” Soprano, in memorable flashback scenes scattered throughout the series.
Siravo died after a battle with cancer, having been diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer in 2017. He was later diagnosed with colon cancer and had part of his colon removed.
Although not necessarily a series regular, Siravo played a key role on The Sopranos, popping up as Tony’s father, Giovanni Frances “Johnny Boy” Soprano, in memorable flashback scenes scattered throughout the series.
- 4/12/2021
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Normal 0 false false false En-us X-none X-none
“Adult With Sidekick”
By Raymond Benson
Perhaps what might have been an unexpected Oscar nominee for Best Picture of 1965 was A Thousand Clowns, an adaptation of the Broadway play written by Herb Gardner (who also penned the screenplay and was nominated for his work). Fred Coe had directed the stage production, which garnered Tony nominations for Best Play, Best Featured Actor, and awarded Sandy Dennis a trophy for Featured Actress. Just about everyone involved in the Broadway production went on to make the film, also directed by Coe, except, oddly enough, Dennis. Martin Balsam is also new to the film, replacing Larry Haines, and Balsam walked away with an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Jason Robards’ savvy brother and manager.
While Jason Robards (Jr.) as Murray Burns is the tale’s protagonist, it is indeed young Barry Gordon as Murray’s nephew,...
“Adult With Sidekick”
By Raymond Benson
Perhaps what might have been an unexpected Oscar nominee for Best Picture of 1965 was A Thousand Clowns, an adaptation of the Broadway play written by Herb Gardner (who also penned the screenplay and was nominated for his work). Fred Coe had directed the stage production, which garnered Tony nominations for Best Play, Best Featured Actor, and awarded Sandy Dennis a trophy for Featured Actress. Just about everyone involved in the Broadway production went on to make the film, also directed by Coe, except, oddly enough, Dennis. Martin Balsam is also new to the film, replacing Larry Haines, and Balsam walked away with an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Jason Robards’ savvy brother and manager.
While Jason Robards (Jr.) as Murray Burns is the tale’s protagonist, it is indeed young Barry Gordon as Murray’s nephew,...
- 6/12/2020
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Neuroses flow thicker than blood through the veins of the clan under analysis in The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected), Noah Baumbach’s rambling, often stingingly amusing look at messy accounts being settled within a disorderly family. Working firmly within the tradition of New York Jewish humor distinctively mined by the likes of Woody Allen, Neil Simon, Carl Reiner, Herb Gardner, Elaine May and so many others, Baumbach’s film for Netflix is more conventionally conceived than some of his best work but benefits from sterling turns from a wonderful cast, most notably Dustin Hoffman and, no kidding, Adam Sandler.
Screwed-up families...
Screwed-up families...
- 5/21/2017
- by Todd McCarthy
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
'Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me?' with Dustin Hoffman. Long-titled movie 'Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me?': Messy filmmaking with one single bright spot To call Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me? a curiosity is to perhaps infer quality buried in its quirk, or virtue obscured by its capriciousness. That's not the case, really, as this largely existential film is an absolute mess with only one bright spot of redemption (more on her later). Directed by Ulu Grosbard, Who Is Harry Kellerman… – with its long-winded, desperate title – is a curiosity along the lines of a relic, a work that somehow speaks of its time. Unfortunately, it really does not speak coherently, even if the film is unmistakably post-Woodstock, pre-Watergate, and all-American, with errant themes of success,...
- 9/8/2015
- by Doug Johnson
- Alt Film Guide
When I was 12, I did a play called "Conversations With My Father" on Broadway, and I worked opposite Judd Hirsch in a role that he ultimately won a Tony for. It's a beautiful play, and one of Herb Gardner's last. It's the story of immigrants on Canal Street before and after World War II, and it's really an epic story that goes through different periods of time, bookended by scenes in the 1970s. Judd is so winning and beautiful. It's a character that, in the wrong hands, can be very unlikable. And Judd just found a way to make this guy so real and found humanity in this guy. No matter what you think of him or how he acts, it doesn't matter. Because of his humanity, you sympathize with him. It was so poignant and so good. In the theater, it's an interesting intimacy you have with a.
- 7/31/2012
- by help@backstage.com (Jason Biggs)
- backstage.com
The second rialto production of John Guare's dark comedy "The House of Blue Leaves" opened Monday to respectful reviews. While most of the critics lauded the performers, they found the overall production lacking. Despite an off-Broadway run in 1971 for which it won the Best American Play prize from the New York Drama Critics Circle, the first Broadway staging of "Blue Leaves" in 1986 contended for Best Play; it lost to "I'm Not Rappaport" by Herb Gardner. Twenty-five years ago, the stellar cast included Swoosie Kurtz, who won the Featured Play Actress Tony for her portrayal of Bananas, the madcap wife of Artie. As that would-be songwriter, John Mahoney took home the Featured Play Actor prize. Also in the company was Ben Stiller as their wayward son and Stockard Channing, who was a Featured Play Actress nominee for her work as Artie's mistress Bunny. Stiller is headlining this new production taking...
- 4/26/2011
- Gold Derby
South African playwright Athol Fugard is to receive an honorary award at the Tony Awards on June 12. In making the announcement, the kudos commitee described Fugard as "a playwright whose art has always spoken out against racism and who continues to be an active voice for freedom and equality". The film adapation of his novel "Tsotsi" won the 2005 Academy Award for Best Foreign Lanuage Film. Fuguard contended for Best Play four times over the years. He lost his first two bids to British scribe Peter Shaffer -- first in 1975 when "Equuus" edged out "Sizwe Banzi Is Dead and the Island" and again in 1981 when "A Lesson from Aloes" was defeated by "Amadeus." In 1982, David Edgar's adaptation of "The Life and Times of Nicholas Nickelby" beat out "Master Harold … and the Boys" (1982) while "I'm Not Rappaport" by Herb Gardner prevailed over "Blood Knot" in 1986...
- 4/6/2011
- Gold Derby
As the founder and CEO of McCorkle Casting, Patricia McCorkle has worked on hundreds of projects for stage and screen since 1979. She cast a pool of undiscovered young actors in Stanley Jaffe's film "School Ties"—including Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Brendan Fraser, and Chris O'Donnell—and has tagged a long list of actors early in their careers, from Holly Hunter and Samuel L. Jackson to Kelsey Grammer and Calista Flockhart. Her film and TV credits include "Ghost Town," "Funny Money," the remake of "The Thomas Crown Affair," "Die Hard: With a Vengeance," "Splash," "All the Right Moves," "Californication," "The L Word," "Strangers With Candy," and "Hack." Her Broadway credits include Martin McDonagh's "The Lieutenant of Inishmore," two revivals of "The Glass Menagerie" (one starring Jessica Lange and one starring Julie Harris), Arthur Miller's "The Ride Down Mt. Morgan," "Blood Brothers," Aaron Sorkin's "A Few Good Men,...
- 12/3/2009
- backstage.com
Jason Biggs is perhaps best known for playing geeky Jim Levenstein, who does something naughty with an apple pie in the first of the American Pie films. No doubt Biggs has suffered a tad from typecasting as a result. Worse, he good-naturedly asserts," some people confuse me with the character I play. But those movies are the best thing that ever happened. They've given me freedom. I don't want anyone to misconstrue that. Have I not gotten parts because of what I've done? Absolutely! You get some, you lose some. It's called a career. I hope to have a career. I hope to have longevity. Do I want to diversify? Sure. And I think I have. But I won't turn into a Nic Cage overnight. If there is a certain Jason Biggs character that I do, and if that has kept me in a certain kind of world for most of my career,...
- 10/15/2008
- by Simi Horwitz
- backstage.com
Deon LucasTouched by 'Anna' Angel All actors/artists fighting to jump-start their careers, consider this: All that you touch, you change. All that you change, changes you. The only lasting truth is change. God is change. September marks the beginning of my favorite season: fall. Not only is it the time that all the new shows arrive, but it also gives us Southern Californians the rare opportunity to layer up with fashion. It's time for actors to bring out those cardigans, argyle socks, tweeds, leathers, and boots. In Hollywood, image often determines whether an actor is even called in to audition. Lately, I've really been focusing on styling, for myself as well as others, and have recently been enlisted as a personal stylist by a few industry people. This month I did something that I didn't think I would ever do: I enrolled in two workshops at the network studios.
- 10/7/2008
- backstage.com
Can summer really be over already? In August, our Take Five actors do some networking, table reading, casting workshops, commercial callbacks -- and hitting the wall.Deon LucasHitting the Dance FloorIt's hard to believe that we're exiting summer already. August was a busy month. And it seems as if 2009 is right around the corner. For me the month started with a private birthday party for actor Meagan Good. She had a party at a nightclub on Sunset Boulevard, and I got invited by a friend of mine who is close to Meagan. The event was fun, and it allowed me to meet a few interesting people in the industry. I also danced with Toccara, from America's Next Top Model.The following weekend afforded me the opportunity to see Monsters of Hip Hop, a theatre-dance workshop at the El Portal Theatre in NoHo. The show was amazing. Some of the biggest choreographers,...
- 9/4/2008
- backstage.com
A bench in Central Park is the primary setting for Herb Gardner's "I'm Not Rappaport". Unfortunately, this filmic adaptation of Gardner's successful play largely sits in one place too, as if still on a stage.
Its sedentary visuals are largely overcome by Walter Matthau's crackling central performance as an elderly firebrand who rants and rages not only against life's ongoing injustices but also against his own incipient infirmity.
"Rappaport" should wrap some solid, select-site holiday business, but even with Matthau's blustery performance, "Rappaport"'s inert visualization, as well as its from-the-penthouse vantage point on Central Park's seedier sides, will hinder it from doing more than one lap around the boxoffice park.
With a bench as his primary soapbox, senior citizen Nat (Matthau) still fights the good fight. An old-time Lefty with a lifetime of union causes under his belt, Nat now finds himself a crusader without a movement. Too feisty and socially concerned to sit still, he insinuates himself into what he considers local injustices, protesting the high prices at the deli, for instance. He's a local-yokel Ralph Nader and Rosa Luxembourg rolled into one and his squirrelly tactics are not only provocative but amusing -- though least amusing for his protective daughter (Amy Irving), who fears that her elderly father will soon get himself into serious legal or physical danger.
In this outing, Matthau switches odd-couple partners and is paired with Ossie Davis, who plays Midge, a soft-spoken, gentle man whose nonconfrontational ways are the antithesis of Nat's feisty nature. It's their relationship that's the crux of the story and writer-director Gardner's perceptions are vital and touching. At its best, "Rappaport" is a very moving glimpse into the last days of two very different, idiosyncratic men who, through the restrictions of old age and economics, find themselves together at the end of their lives.
As powerful and commanding as Matthau is in his performance, so too is Davis in his portrayal of the low-key Midge. Beneath his character's fearful diffidence, Davis shows the stern mettle of a man who has survived many hurtful personal wars. In a supporting role, Amy Irving is also sympathetic as Nat's loving daughter whose patience is at the breaking point because of his shenanigans.
The central story is, unfortunately, thinly backscaped: Other denizens of the Park ring false, including a Latino thug (Guillermo Diaz), an ersatz cowboy (Craig T. Nelson) and a troubled teen (Martha Plimpton).
Under Gardner's static direction, the technical contributions do little to flesh out the vitality and energy of the location and the life situation. While composer Gerry Mulligan's baleful sax sounds clue us to the inner fears of Nat and Midge, the thin sounds convey none of the roiling nature of the Park setting. Throughout, cinematographer Adam Holender's static shooting confines "Rappaport" to the squeezed dimension of a stage proscenium, never allowing it to reach the billowing contradictory forces of its central characters' personalities.
I'M NOT RAPPAPORT
Gramercy Pictures
Producers John Penotti, John Starke
Screenwriter-director Herb Gardner
Executive producer David Sameth
Director of photography Adam Holender
Production designer Mark Friedberg
Editors Wendey Stanzler, Emily Paine
Music Gerry Mulligan
Costume designer Jennifer Von Mayrhauser
Casting Lynn Kressel
Sound mixer James Sabat
Color/stereo
Cast:
Nat Walter Matthau
Midge Ossie Davis
Clara Amy Irving
The Cowboy Craig T. Nelson
Danforth Boyd Gaines
Laurie Martha Plimpton
J.C. Guillermo Diaz
Clara Lemlich Elina Lowensohn
Running time -- 135 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
Its sedentary visuals are largely overcome by Walter Matthau's crackling central performance as an elderly firebrand who rants and rages not only against life's ongoing injustices but also against his own incipient infirmity.
"Rappaport" should wrap some solid, select-site holiday business, but even with Matthau's blustery performance, "Rappaport"'s inert visualization, as well as its from-the-penthouse vantage point on Central Park's seedier sides, will hinder it from doing more than one lap around the boxoffice park.
With a bench as his primary soapbox, senior citizen Nat (Matthau) still fights the good fight. An old-time Lefty with a lifetime of union causes under his belt, Nat now finds himself a crusader without a movement. Too feisty and socially concerned to sit still, he insinuates himself into what he considers local injustices, protesting the high prices at the deli, for instance. He's a local-yokel Ralph Nader and Rosa Luxembourg rolled into one and his squirrelly tactics are not only provocative but amusing -- though least amusing for his protective daughter (Amy Irving), who fears that her elderly father will soon get himself into serious legal or physical danger.
In this outing, Matthau switches odd-couple partners and is paired with Ossie Davis, who plays Midge, a soft-spoken, gentle man whose nonconfrontational ways are the antithesis of Nat's feisty nature. It's their relationship that's the crux of the story and writer-director Gardner's perceptions are vital and touching. At its best, "Rappaport" is a very moving glimpse into the last days of two very different, idiosyncratic men who, through the restrictions of old age and economics, find themselves together at the end of their lives.
As powerful and commanding as Matthau is in his performance, so too is Davis in his portrayal of the low-key Midge. Beneath his character's fearful diffidence, Davis shows the stern mettle of a man who has survived many hurtful personal wars. In a supporting role, Amy Irving is also sympathetic as Nat's loving daughter whose patience is at the breaking point because of his shenanigans.
The central story is, unfortunately, thinly backscaped: Other denizens of the Park ring false, including a Latino thug (Guillermo Diaz), an ersatz cowboy (Craig T. Nelson) and a troubled teen (Martha Plimpton).
Under Gardner's static direction, the technical contributions do little to flesh out the vitality and energy of the location and the life situation. While composer Gerry Mulligan's baleful sax sounds clue us to the inner fears of Nat and Midge, the thin sounds convey none of the roiling nature of the Park setting. Throughout, cinematographer Adam Holender's static shooting confines "Rappaport" to the squeezed dimension of a stage proscenium, never allowing it to reach the billowing contradictory forces of its central characters' personalities.
I'M NOT RAPPAPORT
Gramercy Pictures
Producers John Penotti, John Starke
Screenwriter-director Herb Gardner
Executive producer David Sameth
Director of photography Adam Holender
Production designer Mark Friedberg
Editors Wendey Stanzler, Emily Paine
Music Gerry Mulligan
Costume designer Jennifer Von Mayrhauser
Casting Lynn Kressel
Sound mixer James Sabat
Color/stereo
Cast:
Nat Walter Matthau
Midge Ossie Davis
Clara Amy Irving
The Cowboy Craig T. Nelson
Danforth Boyd Gaines
Laurie Martha Plimpton
J.C. Guillermo Diaz
Clara Lemlich Elina Lowensohn
Running time -- 135 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
- 12/22/1996
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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