Sketchbook: Zero Mostel

On September 1, 2010 · 10 Comments


10 Responses to “Sketchbook: Zero Mostel”

  1. Mark says:

    I’m surprise that after several days no one has commented on this yet. Zero Mostel stared in The Producers, but Chaim Topol stared as Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof (Tutte Lemkow played the part of the Fiddler). Did he do the Broadway version of Fiddler on the Roof? My favorite role of his was in “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum”, I still love the song …. “Something familiar, Something peculiar, Something for everyone: A comedy tonight!” Now I sort of remember “Hollywood on Trial” which is the Blacklisted from above, I believe, but the Young Stand-Up and Seventeen… I’ve got no idea.

  2. Mark says:

    I’m surprise that after several days no one has commented on this yet. Zero Mostel stared in The Producers, but Chaim Topol stared as Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof (Tutte Lemkow played the part of the Fiddler). Did he do the Broadway version of Fiddler on the Roof? My favorite role of his was in “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum”, I still love the song …. “Something familiar, Something peculiar, Something for everyone: A comedy tonight!” Now I sort of remember “Hollywood on Trial” which is the Blacklisted from above, I believe, but the Young Stand-Up and Seventeen… I’ve got no idea.

  3. Barry says:

    Mostel was the original person to play the lead in “Fiddler,” in the Broadway production; he won a Tony Award for his performance, and is credited with creating a lot of how that character is played (for instance, the cantor-like singing). Topol played the part in the later Israeli production of the play — cast partly because of his physical resemblance to Mostel — and later played the part in the movie.

    “Blacklisted” “young stand up” and “17” are based on real-life photos of Mostel, not on parts he played. He really was 17 once; he really was a young stand-up comic once; and he really was blacklisted once, alas.

  4. Barry says:

    Mostel was the original person to play the lead in “Fiddler,” in the Broadway production; he won a Tony Award for his performance, and is credited with creating a lot of how that character is played (for instance, the cantor-like singing). Topol played the part in the later Israeli production of the play — cast partly because of his physical resemblance to Mostel — and later played the part in the movie.

    “Blacklisted” “young stand up” and “17” are based on real-life photos of Mostel, not on parts he played. He really was 17 once; he really was a young stand-up comic once; and he really was blacklisted once, alas.

  5. Mark says:

    Yeah, I was guessing they were all from roles he had played. I went on YouTube and watched the film clip with him, – “Zero Mostel’s Testifies at House Un-American Activities Comm” and even with something facing him that was such a threat to his life he is cracking jokes.

  6. Mark says:

    Yeah, I was guessing they were all from roles he had played. I went on YouTube and watched the film clip with him, – “Zero Mostel’s Testifies at House Un-American Activities Comm” and even with something facing him that was such a threat to his life he is cracking jokes.

  7. Barry says:

    Oh, cool! I wasn’t even aware that film clip was there to be seen. It’s not actually Mostel, as I’m sure you know — it’s an actor recreating Mostel’s testimony — but it’s still really neat. And yes, Zero was incredibly brave facing the committee like that.

    (If anyone’s curious, the clip is here.)

  8. Barry says:

    Oh, cool! I wasn’t even aware that film clip was there to be seen. It’s not actually Mostel, as I’m sure you know — it’s an actor recreating Mostel’s testimony — but it’s still really neat. And yes, Zero was incredibly brave facing the committee like that.

    (If anyone’s curious, the clip is here.)

  9. Mark says:

    I have been thinking about Zero Mostel all weekend, last night I loaded up “The Front”, “The Hot Rock”, and “Panic in the Streets” into the instant queue from Netflicks.

    I love history (and math and physics – what the heck does that say about me), and I love “what if…” history. What if Yaphet Kotto had been selected for the role of Cpt. Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation, then he would have been unable to take on the role of Lt. Al Giardello in Homicide: Life on the Street.

    What if… Joseph McCarthy had died in the Solomon Islands or Bougainville, from some tropical disease or Japanese attack, and the whole Blacklist/McCarthyism had never happened… as a result Zero Mostel would have continued on with a successful acting/comedy career. We would have been … as likely as anything… talking about Zero Mostel’s as part of The Rat Pack and his role in Ocean’s 11, it’s unlikely he would have taken the role of Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof. Would he even have stared in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, The Producers, etc … without Zero Mostel’s acting in The Producers, who would Mel Brooks have wanted to fill the role of Max Bialystock? The Producers was carried – sure by the fine writing of Mel Brooks, but also by the outstanding acting of Zero Mostel. Assume that Mel Brooks wasn’t a dishonest man (Assume away), and that The Producers had turned into a flop – (one that even trips to Little Old Lady Land couldn’t have saved it) – then Mel Brooks would have been forced back into writing for sitcoms, maybe even to land up writing for SNL, and that in turn would have had an effect on the career of Gene Wilder… we could continue down this interconnected pathway for a long time, but I’ve got movies to watch!

    BTW… this is the list of movies/shows Netflicks has with Zero Mostel in them:

    Great Bank Robbery
    Broadway’s Lost Treasures III: Tony Awards
    Best Boy
    Watership Down
    All The Muppet Show: Season 2
    The Front
    Foreplay
    Rhinoceros
    The Hot Rock
    Best of The Best of the Electric Company
    The Angel Levine
    The Best of The Electric Company: Vol. 2
    The Producers
    A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
    The Enforcer
    Sirocco
    Panic in the Streets
    Du Barry Was a Lady

  10. Mark says:

    I have been thinking about Zero Mostel all weekend, last night I loaded up “The Front”, “The Hot Rock”, and “Panic in the Streets” into the instant queue from Netflicks.

    I love history (and math and physics – what the heck does that say about me), and I love “what if…” history. What if Yaphet Kotto had been selected for the role of Cpt. Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation, then he would have been unable to take on the role of Lt. Al Giardello in Homicide: Life on the Street.

    What if… Joseph McCarthy had died in the Solomon Islands or Bougainville, from some tropical disease or Japanese attack, and the whole Blacklist/McCarthyism had never happened… as a result Zero Mostel would have continued on with a successful acting/comedy career. We would have been … as likely as anything… talking about Zero Mostel’s as part of The Rat Pack and his role in Ocean’s 11, it’s unlikely he would have taken the role of Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof. Would he even have stared in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, The Producers, etc … without Zero Mostel’s acting in The Producers, who would Mel Brooks have wanted to fill the role of Max Bialystock? The Producers was carried – sure by the fine writing of Mel Brooks, but also by the outstanding acting of Zero Mostel. Assume that Mel Brooks wasn’t a dishonest man (Assume away), and that The Producers had turned into a flop – (one that even trips to Little Old Lady Land couldn’t have saved it) – then Mel Brooks would have been forced back into writing for sitcoms, maybe even to land up writing for SNL, and that in turn would have had an effect on the career of Gene Wilder… we could continue down this interconnected pathway for a long time, but I’ve got movies to watch!

    BTW… this is the list of movies/shows Netflicks has with Zero Mostel in them:

    Great Bank Robbery
    Broadway’s Lost Treasures III: Tony Awards
    Best Boy
    Watership Down
    All The Muppet Show: Season 2
    The Front
    Foreplay
    Rhinoceros
    The Hot Rock
    Best of The Best of the Electric Company
    The Angel Levine
    The Best of The Electric Company: Vol. 2
    The Producers
    A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
    The Enforcer
    Sirocco
    Panic in the Streets
    Du Barry Was a Lady

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