Zero Mostel
Encyclopedia
Samuel Joel “Zero” Mostel (February 28, 1915 – September 8, 1977) was an American
actor
of stage and screen, best known for his portrayal of comic characters such as Tevye
on stage in Fiddler on the Roof
, Pseudolus on stage and on screen in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
, and Max Bialystock in the original film version of The Producers
. He was blacklisted
during the 1950s, and his testimony before the House Committee on Un-American Activities was well-publicized. He was a Tony Award
and Obie Award
winner.
. The two immigrated to the United States (separately: Israel in 1898 and Cina in 1908), where they met and married. Israel already had four children from his first wife; he had four more children with Cina. Samuel, later known as Zero, was Israel's seventh child.
Initially living in the Brownsville
section of Brooklyn
, the family moved to Moodus, Connecticut
, where they bought a farm. The family’s income in those days came from a winery and a slaughterhouse. The farm did not do well. When, according to Zero, an unyielding bank president with fierce mustache and long whip foreclosed the mortgage on the farm, the ten Mostels trekked back to New York and settled on the Lower East Side
of Manhattan
, where the boy attended public school, his character was shaped, and his father was employed as a wine chemist. While not at poverty level, the family had to struggle financially. As a child, Mostel was described by his family as outgoing and lively, and with a developed sense of humor. He showed an intelligence and perception that convinced his father he had the makings of a rabbi; however, Mostel preferred painting and drawing, a passion he was to retain for life. According to Roger Butterfield, his mother made a practice of dressing the boy in a velvet
suit and sending him to the Metropolitan Museum of Art
to copy masterpieces. Zero had a favorite painting, John White Alexander
’s Study for Woman in Black and Green, which he copied every day, to the delight of the gallery crowds. One afternoon, while a crowd was watching over his velvet-clad shoulder, he solemnly copied the whole painting upside down, delighting his audience.
Already at a young age he developed the duality of character that baffled critics years later: when alone he was studious and quiet, but when observed he felt he had to be the center of attention, which he invariably did through use of humor. The fact that at home he spoke English
, Yiddish, Italian
and German
helped him reach out to audiences of many ethnicities in New York.
He attended Public School 188, where he had been an A student (this is in contrast to his later claim that he was nicknamed Zero after his grade average). He also received professional training as a painter through The Educational Alliance
. He completed his high school education at Seward Park High, where his yearbook voiced said: "A future Rembrandt… or perhaps a comedian?".
Mostel attended the City College of New York
, a public college that allowed many poor students to pursue higher education. Mostel belonged to the swimming team and the R.O.T.C., where he distinguished himself by clowning. The story goes that at the College’s Charter Day exercises, the R.O.T.C. unit held a review in honor of the occasion. When he was commanded by the captain to stand at attention, the future comedian "started to crumple like an airless accordion." "Attention!" barked the officer, "not at ease." “Mon capitaine", Mostel replied, "it's not me at ease, it's my uniform." Legend also has it that the R.O.T.C. situation became so critical that on inspection days the staff officers tried to get the youth out of sight. They attempted to detail him on special duty. "Private Mostel, would you be so good as to go to the gymnasium with a message for Corporal S?" they would demand uneasily. "I gotta drill", Mostel, professing not to understand, is supposed to have said. "But we excuse you from drill", pleaded the staff. "I gotta drill", persisted Mostel. "I gotta get hard. I gotta get strong. I gotta get ready to die for dear old City College."
As only beginner classes were available in art, Mostel took them repeatedly to be able to paint and receive professional feedback. During that time he worked odd jobs, and graduated in 1935 with a bachelor’s degree. He then continued studying towards a masters in arts, and also joined the Public Works of Art Project
(PWAP), which paid him a stipend to teach art.
In 1939 he married Clara Sverd, and the couple moved to an apartment in Brooklyn. The marriage did not last, however, since Clara could not accept the many hours Mostel spent in his studio with his fellow artists, and he did not seem to be able to provide for her at the level to which she had been accustomed. They separated in 1941 and divorced in 1944, Clara only agreeing to the divorce in return for a percentage of Mostel's earnings for the rest of his life.
In 1941, the Café Society
—a downtown Manhattan nightclub—approached Mostel with an offer to become a professional comedian and play a regular spot. Mostel accepted, and in the next few months he became the Café Society’s main attraction. It was at the Café Society that he adopted the stage name Zero (Zee to his friends). The press agent of the night club prevailed upon Mostel to adopt this stage name, hoping that it would inspire the comment: “Here’s a man who made something out of nothing.” Thus, at the age of 27, Mostel dropped every other job and occupation to start his show business career.
shows (Keep Them Laughing, Top-Notchers), played at the Paramount Theatre
, appeared in an MGM movie (Du Barry Was a Lady), and booked into La Martinique at US$4,000 a week. He also made cameo appearances at the Yiddish theatre
, the style of which influenced his own. In 1943, Life
magazine described him as “just about the funniest American now living.”
In March 1943, Mostel was drafted by the Army. His length of service is hard to determine as conflicting accounts exist—some say that he was released after six months due to colitis
, others that he served to the end of the war. At any rate it is apparent that he was honorably discharged and gave the troops many months of free entertainment through the USO until 1945.
Mostel married Kathryn (Kate) Cecilia Harkin, a Chez Paree club chorus girl, on July 2, 1944, after two years of courtship. The marriage was shaky at times, again mostly due to Mostel’s spending most of his time in his art studio. Their relationship was described by friends of the family as complicated, with many fights but having mutual adoration. The couple stayed together until Mostel's death, bearing two children: film actor Joshua
(Josh) in 1946 and Tobias (Toby) in 1948.
After Mostel’s discharge from the army, his career took off again. He appeared in a series of plays, musicals, operas and movies. In 1946 he even made an attempt at serious operatic acting in The Beggar's Opera
, but received lukewarm reviews. Critics saw him as a versatile performer, who was equally adept at a Molière
play as he was on the stage of a night club.
Mostel's rise was aided by his appearances on early TV in the late 1940s. He had his own show in 1948 called Off The Record on WABD-TV (DuMont Channel 5 of the time in NYC) with comedian partner Joey Faye. The early live TV show was featured in Life Magazine that year (Oct - Nov 1948), with pictures from the telecast, followed by Zero sending in a Letter to the Editor published in the Life magazine December 1948 issue thanking them for the free publicity. An October 1948 Billboard article describes disputes between the show producer and DuMont on their not providing live studio audiences for the program which Zero needed to play off to perform at his peak. Around same time, Zero had a live TV show on WPIX (Channel 11 in NYC, which launched its broadcasts in June 1948) called "Channel Zero". A rare kinescope of the December 1948 episode is archived at the Paley Center in NYC, and is shown on occasion on WPIX anniversary celebrations (including on YouTube). Zero also appears in the May 11, 1949 Toast of the Town broadcast hosted by Ed Sullivan, doing a hilarious and crazy routine as only he could. This is also available on video from the original kinescope recording which survived from this show. All of these preceded his being blacklisting from TV.
Mostel's choice of political causes led to his surveillance by the FBI. According to his FBI file, he was seen at many Communist Party
meetings in 1941 and was active in support of Free Earl Browder
Movement.
. Kazan describes his attitude and feelings during that period, where, according to biographer Arthur Sainer, "MGM blacklisted Zero Mostel way before the days of the blacklist":
Mostel made 5 movies in 1951, then, once officially blacklisted, he was not to appear on the screen again until 1959.
With growing popularity and many excellent reviews, Mostel’s career nonetheless came to a complete halt during the 1950s. Seeing many of his show business friends blacklisted and forced to name names of supposed Communists, it came as no surprise to him that he was named, too. On January 29, 1952, Martin Berkeley identified him to the House Un-American Activities Committee
(HUAC) as having been a member of the Communist party (Berkeley had named 160 people in all—more than any other witness). This was enough to stifle Mostel's career even before he was subpoenaed to appear before HUAC, which happened on August 14, 1955.
The committee was presided over by chairman Clyde Doyle
. Mostel, who could not afford to hire a lawyer, testified before the committee on his own. Frank Wilkinson
recalled the proceedings thus:
Thus Mostel refused the opportunity to ingratiate himself by giving the committee more names, choosing instead not to answer any question that might incriminate him (a direct refusal to name names would have allowed the committee to find him in contempt). His testimony had won him admiration in the blacklisted community, as in addition to not naming names he also confronted the committee on ideological matters, something that was rarely done. Among other things, he referred to Twentieth Century Fox as “Eighteenth Century Fox” (due to their collaboration with the committee), and manipulated the committee members to make them appear foolish.
The admiration he received for his testimony did nothing to take him out of the blacklist, however, and the family had to struggle throughout the 1950s with little income. Mostel used this time to work in his studio. Later he would say that he cherished those years for the time it had afforded him to do what he loved most. Mostel’s appearance before the HUAC (as well as others') was incorporated into Eric Bentley
's 1972 play Are You Now or Have You Ever Been…?
, a play based on the novel Ulysses
, which he greatly admired in his youth. It was an Off-Off-Broadway
play produced in a small Houston Street theater, but the reviews Mostel received were overwhelmingly favorable. Most notably, Newsweek
’s Jack Kroll compared him to Laurence Olivier
, writing, “Something unbelievable happened. A fat comedian named Zero Mostel gave a performance that was even more astonishing than Olivier’s.” Mostel received the Obie award
for best Off Broadway performance of the 1958–59 season.
After the success of Ulysses, Mostel received many offers to appear in classic roles, especially abroad. However, artistic differences with the directors and the low salaries he was offered prevented these from ever materializing. By this time the blacklist was beginning to crumble, and in 1959, appeared twice on TV's The Play of the Week.
, and remained hospitalized for four months. The gamble paid off, but for the rest of his life the massively-scarred leg gave him pain and required frequent rests and baths. After incurring his injury he retained the famous Harry Lipsig (the 5'3" self-described, "King of Torts"). The prospect of having Harry Lipsig, a Brooklyn street lawyer and spitfire of a man who was renowned for his schmaltzy renderings of depredation to NY juries looking to roast the insurance companies, combined with the prospect of the injured party being none other than Zero Mostel must have terrified the MTA counsel, because the case was settled for an undisclosed sum. Shortly thereafter the Mostels were able to leave the rented apartment on 86th Street for a co-op apartment they bought at The Dakota
. From this time forward Mostel would carry a cane when he attended the Metropolitan Opera
, to go along with the cape that he also favored.
Later that year Mostel took on the role of Estragon
in a TV adaptation of Waiting for Godot
. In 1961, he played Jean in Rhinoceros
to very favorable reviews. The New Republic
’s Robert Brustein said that he had “a great dancer’s control of movement, a great actor’s control of voice, a great mime’s control of facial expressions.” His transition onstage from man to rhinoceros became a thing of legend; he won his first Tony Award
for Best Actor, even though he was not in the lead role.
In 1962 Mostel began work on the role of Pseudolus in the Broadway musical A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
, which was to be one of his best remembered roles. The role of Pseudolus was originally offered to Phil Silvers
, who declined it, saying he did not want to do this "old shtick." Mostel did not originally want to do the role either, which he thought below his capabilities, but was convinced by his wife and agent. The reviews were excellent, and, after a few slow weeks after which the play was partially rewritten with a new opening song, "Comedy Tonight," which became the play's most popular piece, the show became a great commercial success, running 964 performances and conferring on Mostel a star status (he also won a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for this role). It was also produced as a movie version in 1966, also starring Mostel (and Silvers).
On September 22, 1964, Mostel opened as Tevye in the original Broadway production of Fiddler on the Roof
. Mostel’s respect for the works of Sholem Aleichem made him insist that more of the author's mood and style be incorporated into the musical, and he made major contributions to its shape. He also created the cantorial
sounds made famous in songs such as “If I Were a Rich Man
”. In later years, the actors who followed Mostel in the role of Tevye invariably followed his staging. The show received rave reviews and was a great commercial success, running 3242 performances, a record at the time. Mostel received a Tony Award
for it and was invited for a reception in the White House
, officially ending his political pariah status.
In 1967, Mostel appeared as Potemkin in Great Catherine
, and in 1968 he took on possibly his best remembered role as Max Bialystock in The Producers
. Mostel refused to accept the role at first, but director Mel Brooks
persuaded him to show the script to his wife, who then talked Mostel into doing it. His performance received mixed reviews, and was not a great success at first, but the film has achieved cult status since.
He lived in The Belnord
on the Upper West Side
of Manhattan.
, The Angel Levine
, Once Upon a Scoundrel, and Mastermind. This caused the devaluation of his star power: once a top-billing actor, he now had to make do with featured billing, and his appearance in a movie or play no longer guaranteed success.
There have been a few exceptions, however: a successful revival tour of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
, whose young co-star, Robert Rosen, went on to 1980s rock-stardom as Robert Ozn
; the movie version of Rhinoceros, The Front
(where he played Hecky Brown, a blacklisted performer whose story bears a similarity to Mostel’s own, and for which he was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor), and theatrical revivals of Fiddler and Ulysses in Nighttown. He also made memorable appearances in children’s shows such as Sesame Street
, The Electric Company
(for which he performed the Spellbinder in the Letterman cartoons), and gave voice to the boisterous seagull Kehaar in the animated film Watership Down
. He also appeared as a guest star during Season 2 of The Muppet Show, filmed during the summer of 1977. Mostel would have the distinction of being the only guest in the show's history to die before his appearance was broadcast.
's new play The Merchant (in which Mostel played a re-imagined version of Shakespeare's Shylock
) in Philadelphia, he collapsed in his dressing room and was taken to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. He was diagnosed with a respiratory disorder and it was believed he was in no danger and would be released soon. However, on September 8, 1977, Mostel complained of dizziness and lost consciousness. The attending physicians were unable to revive him, and he was pronounced dead that evening. It is believed that he suffered an aortic aneurysm
. Wesker wrote a book chronicling the out-of-town tribulations that beset the play and culminated in Zero's death called The Birth of Shylock and the Death of Zero Mostel.
In accordance with his final requests, his family did not stage any funeral or other memorial service to mark his death. Mostel was cremated following his death; the location of his ashes is not publicly known.
stated this as a reason for preferring Chaim Topol
to him for the role of Tevye in the movie version of Fiddler on the Roof
. Mostel took exception to these criticisms: “There’s a kind of silliness in the theater about what one contributes to a show. The producer obviously contributes the money… but must the actor contribute nothing at all? I’m not a modest fellow about those things. I contribute a great deal. And they always manage to hang you for having an interpretation. Isn’t [the theater] where your imagination should flower? Why must it always be dull as shit?”
Other producers, such as Jerome Robbins
and Hal Prince
, preferred to hire Mostel on short contracts, knowing that he would become less faithful to the script as time went on. His exuberant personality, though largely responsible for his success, had also intimidated others in his profession and prevented him from receiving some important roles.
In his autobiography, Kiss Me Like A Stranger, actor Gene Wilder
describes being initially terrified of Mostel. However, just after being introduced, Mostel got up, walked over to Wilder, and planted a big kiss on him. Wilder claims to be grateful to Mostel for teaching him such a valuable lesson, and for picking Wilder up every day so that they could ride to work together. He also tells the story of a dinner celebrating the release of The Producers
. Mostel switched Wilder's place card with Dick Shawn
's, allowing Wilder to sit at the main table. Mostel and Wilder would later go on to work together in Rhinoceros
and the Letterman cartoons for the children's show The Electric Company
. The two remained close friends until Mostel's death.
Mostel's script for Fiddler on the Roof
is held at The New York Library of The Performing Arts.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
of stage and screen, best known for his portrayal of comic characters such as Tevye
Tevye
Tevye the Dairyman is the protagonist of several of Sholem Aleichem's stories, originally written in Yiddish and first published in 1894. The character became best known from the fictional memoir Tevye and his Daughters , about a pious Jewish milkman in Tsarist Russia, and the troubles he has with...
on stage in Fiddler on the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in Tsarist Russia in 1905. It is based on Tevye and his Daughters by Sholem Aleichem...
, Pseudolus on stage and on screen in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart....
, and Max Bialystock in the original film version of The Producers
The Producers (1968 film)
The Producers is a 1968 American satirical dark comedy cult classic film written and directed by Mel Brooks. The film is set in the late 1960s and it tells the story of a theatrical producer and an accountant who want to produce a sure-fire Broadway flop...
. He was blacklisted
Hollywood blacklist
The Hollywood blacklist—as the broader entertainment industry blacklist is generally known—was the mid-twentieth-century list of screenwriters, actors, directors, musicians, and other U.S. entertainment professionals who were denied employment in the field because of their political beliefs or...
during the 1950s, and his testimony before the House Committee on Un-American Activities was well-publicized. He was a Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
and Obie Award
Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City...
winner.
Early life
Mostel was born to Israel Mostel, an Eastern European Jew, and Cina "Celia" Druchs, also from a Jewish family, who was born in Poland and raised in ViennaVienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. The two immigrated to the United States (separately: Israel in 1898 and Cina in 1908), where they met and married. Israel already had four children from his first wife; he had four more children with Cina. Samuel, later known as Zero, was Israel's seventh child.
Initially living in the Brownsville
Brownsville, Brooklyn
Brownsville is a residential neighborhood located in eastern Brooklyn, New York City.The total land area is one square mile, and the ZIP code for the neighborhood is 11212....
section of Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, the family moved to Moodus, Connecticut
Moodus, Connecticut
Moodus is a census-designated place in East Haddam, a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 1,263 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
, where they bought a farm. The family’s income in those days came from a winery and a slaughterhouse. The farm did not do well. When, according to Zero, an unyielding bank president with fierce mustache and long whip foreclosed the mortgage on the farm, the ten Mostels trekked back to New York and settled on the Lower East Side
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, where the boy attended public school, his character was shaped, and his father was employed as a wine chemist. While not at poverty level, the family had to struggle financially. As a child, Mostel was described by his family as outgoing and lively, and with a developed sense of humor. He showed an intelligence and perception that convinced his father he had the makings of a rabbi; however, Mostel preferred painting and drawing, a passion he was to retain for life. According to Roger Butterfield, his mother made a practice of dressing the boy in a velvet
Velvet
Velvet is a type of woven tufted fabric in which the cut threads are evenly distributed,with a short dense pile, giving it a distinctive feel.The word 'velvety' is used as an adjective to mean -"smooth like velvet".-Composition:...
suit and sending him to the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
to copy masterpieces. Zero had a favorite painting, John White Alexander
John White Alexander
John White Alexander was an American portrait, figure, and decorative painter and illustrator.-Biography:thumb|“Isabella and the Pot of Basil”, oil on canvas, 1897, [[Museum of Fine Arts, Boston]]...
’s Study for Woman in Black and Green, which he copied every day, to the delight of the gallery crowds. One afternoon, while a crowd was watching over his velvet-clad shoulder, he solemnly copied the whole painting upside down, delighting his audience.
Already at a young age he developed the duality of character that baffled critics years later: when alone he was studious and quiet, but when observed he felt he had to be the center of attention, which he invariably did through use of humor. The fact that at home he spoke English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, Yiddish, Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
and German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
helped him reach out to audiences of many ethnicities in New York.
He attended Public School 188, where he had been an A student (this is in contrast to his later claim that he was nicknamed Zero after his grade average). He also received professional training as a painter through The Educational Alliance
The Educational Alliance
The Educational Alliance has been serving Downtown Manhattan since 1889.Founded as a partnership between the Aguilar Free Library, the Young Men's Hebrew Association , and the Hebrew Institute, the main purpose was to serve as a settlement house for Eastern European Jews immigrating to New York...
. He completed his high school education at Seward Park High, where his yearbook voiced said: "A future Rembrandt… or perhaps a comedian?".
Mostel attended the City College of New York
City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...
, a public college that allowed many poor students to pursue higher education. Mostel belonged to the swimming team and the R.O.T.C., where he distinguished himself by clowning. The story goes that at the College’s Charter Day exercises, the R.O.T.C. unit held a review in honor of the occasion. When he was commanded by the captain to stand at attention, the future comedian "started to crumple like an airless accordion." "Attention!" barked the officer, "not at ease." “Mon capitaine", Mostel replied, "it's not me at ease, it's my uniform." Legend also has it that the R.O.T.C. situation became so critical that on inspection days the staff officers tried to get the youth out of sight. They attempted to detail him on special duty. "Private Mostel, would you be so good as to go to the gymnasium with a message for Corporal S?" they would demand uneasily. "I gotta drill", Mostel, professing not to understand, is supposed to have said. "But we excuse you from drill", pleaded the staff. "I gotta drill", persisted Mostel. "I gotta get hard. I gotta get strong. I gotta get ready to die for dear old City College."
As only beginner classes were available in art, Mostel took them repeatedly to be able to paint and receive professional feedback. During that time he worked odd jobs, and graduated in 1935 with a bachelor’s degree. He then continued studying towards a masters in arts, and also joined the Public Works of Art Project
Public Works of Art Project
The Public Works of Art Project was a program to employ artists, as part of the New Deal, during the Great Depression. It was the first such program, running from December 1933 to June 1934...
(PWAP), which paid him a stipend to teach art.
In 1939 he married Clara Sverd, and the couple moved to an apartment in Brooklyn. The marriage did not last, however, since Clara could not accept the many hours Mostel spent in his studio with his fellow artists, and he did not seem to be able to provide for her at the level to which she had been accustomed. They separated in 1941 and divorced in 1944, Clara only agreeing to the divorce in return for a percentage of Mostel's earnings for the rest of his life.
Early comic routines
Part of Mostel’s PWAP duty was to give gallery talks at New York’s museums. Leading groups of students through the many paintings, Mostel could not suppress his comedic nature, and his lectures were noted less for their artistic content, but more for his sense of humor. As his reputation grew, he was invited to entertain at parties and other social occasions, earning three to five dollars per performance. Labor Union Social Clubs followed, where Mostel mixed his comic routine with social commentary. These performances would play a large role in his eventual blacklisting in the next decade.In 1941, the Café Society
Café Society
Café society was the collective description for the so-called "Beautiful People" and "Bright Young Things" who gathered in fashionable cafes and restaurants in New York, Paris, and London beginning in the late 19th century...
—a downtown Manhattan nightclub—approached Mostel with an offer to become a professional comedian and play a regular spot. Mostel accepted, and in the next few months he became the Café Society’s main attraction. It was at the Café Society that he adopted the stage name Zero (Zee to his friends). The press agent of the night club prevailed upon Mostel to adopt this stage name, hoping that it would inspire the comment: “Here’s a man who made something out of nothing.” Thus, at the age of 27, Mostel dropped every other job and occupation to start his show business career.
Rise
Mostel’s rise from this point on was rapid. In 1942 alone his salary at the Café Society went up from US$40 a week to US$450; he appeared on radio shows, opened in two BroadwayBroadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
shows (Keep Them Laughing, Top-Notchers), played at the Paramount Theatre
Paramount Theater (New York City)
The Paramount Theatre was a noted movie palace located at 43rd Street and Broadway in the Times Square district of New York City. Opened in 1926, it was the premiere showcase for Paramount Pictures and also became a popular live performance venue. The theater was closed in 1964 and its space...
, appeared in an MGM movie (Du Barry Was a Lady), and booked into La Martinique at US$4,000 a week. He also made cameo appearances at the Yiddish theatre
Yiddish theatre
Yiddish theatre consists of plays written and performed primarily by Jews in Yiddish, the language of the Central European Ashkenazi Jewish community. The range of Yiddish theatre is broad: operetta, musical comedy, and satiric or nostalgic revues; melodrama; naturalist drama; expressionist and...
, the style of which influenced his own. In 1943, Life
Life (magazine)
Life generally refers to three American magazines:*A humor and general interest magazine published from 1883 to 1936. Time founder Henry Luce bought the magazine in 1936 solely so that he could acquire the rights to its name....
magazine described him as “just about the funniest American now living.”
In March 1943, Mostel was drafted by the Army. His length of service is hard to determine as conflicting accounts exist—some say that he was released after six months due to colitis
Colitis
In medicine, colitis refers to an inflammation of the colon and is often used to describe an inflammation of the large intestine .Colitides may be acute and self-limited or chronic, i.e...
, others that he served to the end of the war. At any rate it is apparent that he was honorably discharged and gave the troops many months of free entertainment through the USO until 1945.
Mostel married Kathryn (Kate) Cecilia Harkin, a Chez Paree club chorus girl, on July 2, 1944, after two years of courtship. The marriage was shaky at times, again mostly due to Mostel’s spending most of his time in his art studio. Their relationship was described by friends of the family as complicated, with many fights but having mutual adoration. The couple stayed together until Mostel's death, bearing two children: film actor Joshua
Josh Mostel
Joshua "Josh" Mostel is an American actor who is best known for his roles in Jesus Christ Superstar and two Adam Sandler films .-Life and career:...
(Josh) in 1946 and Tobias (Toby) in 1948.
After Mostel’s discharge from the army, his career took off again. He appeared in a series of plays, musicals, operas and movies. In 1946 he even made an attempt at serious operatic acting in The Beggar's Opera
The Beggar's Opera
The Beggar's Opera is a ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch. It is one of the watershed plays in Augustan drama and is the only example of the once thriving genre of satirical ballad opera to remain popular today...
, but received lukewarm reviews. Critics saw him as a versatile performer, who was equally adept at a Molière
Molière
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière, was a French playwright and actor who is considered to be one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature...
play as he was on the stage of a night club.
Mostel's rise was aided by his appearances on early TV in the late 1940s. He had his own show in 1948 called Off The Record on WABD-TV (DuMont Channel 5 of the time in NYC) with comedian partner Joey Faye. The early live TV show was featured in Life Magazine that year (Oct - Nov 1948), with pictures from the telecast, followed by Zero sending in a Letter to the Editor published in the Life magazine December 1948 issue thanking them for the free publicity. An October 1948 Billboard article describes disputes between the show producer and DuMont on their not providing live studio audiences for the program which Zero needed to play off to perform at his peak. Around same time, Zero had a live TV show on WPIX (Channel 11 in NYC, which launched its broadcasts in June 1948) called "Channel Zero". A rare kinescope of the December 1948 episode is archived at the Paley Center in NYC, and is shown on occasion on WPIX anniversary celebrations (including on YouTube). Zero also appears in the May 11, 1949 Toast of the Town broadcast hosted by Ed Sullivan, doing a hilarious and crazy routine as only he could. This is also available on video from the original kinescope recording which survived from this show. All of these preceded his being blacklisting from TV.
Mostel's choice of political causes led to his surveillance by the FBI. According to his FBI file, he was seen at many Communist Party
Communist party
A political party described as a Communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of communism through a communist form of government...
meetings in 1941 and was active in support of Free Earl Browder
Earl Browder
Earl Russell Browder was an American communist and General Secretary of the Communist Party USA from 1934 to 1945. He was expelled from the party in 1946.- Early years :...
Movement.
Blacklist years and HUAC testimony
It was not until 1950 that Mostel again acted in movies, for a role in the Oscar winning film Panic in the Streets, at the request of its director, Elia KazanElia Kazan
Elia Kazan was an American director and actor, described by the New York Times as "one of the most honored and influential directors in Broadway and Hollywood history". Born in Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, to Greek parents originally from Kayseri in Anatolia, the family emigrated...
. Kazan describes his attitude and feelings during that period, where, according to biographer Arthur Sainer, "MGM blacklisted Zero Mostel way before the days of the blacklist":
- Each director has a favorite in his cast, . . . my favorite this time was Zero Mostel—but not to bully. I thought him an extraordinary artist and a delightful companion, one of the funniest and most original men I'd ever met. . . I constantly sought his company. . . He was one of the three people whom I rescued from the "industry's" blacklist. . . For a long time, Zero had not been able to get work in films, but I got him in my film."
Mostel made 5 movies in 1951, then, once officially blacklisted, he was not to appear on the screen again until 1959.
With growing popularity and many excellent reviews, Mostel’s career nonetheless came to a complete halt during the 1950s. Seeing many of his show business friends blacklisted and forced to name names of supposed Communists, it came as no surprise to him that he was named, too. On January 29, 1952, Martin Berkeley identified him to the House Un-American Activities Committee
House Un-American Activities Committee
The House Committee on Un-American Activities or House Un-American Activities Committee was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. In 1969, the House changed the committee's name to "House Committee on Internal Security"...
(HUAC) as having been a member of the Communist party (Berkeley had named 160 people in all—more than any other witness). This was enough to stifle Mostel's career even before he was subpoenaed to appear before HUAC, which happened on August 14, 1955.
The committee was presided over by chairman Clyde Doyle
Clyde Doyle
Clyde Gilman Doyle was a United States Representative from California. He was born in Oakland, Alameda County, California. He attended public schools in Oakland, Seattle, Washington, Los Angeles and Long Beach, California. He graduated from the College of Law of the University of Southern...
. Mostel, who could not afford to hire a lawyer, testified before the committee on his own. Frank Wilkinson
Frank Wilkinson
Frank Wilkinson was a civil liberties activist, Executive Director of the National Committee Against Repressive Legislation and Executive Director of the First Amendment Foundation....
recalled the proceedings thus:
"It began with the committee's counsel immediately launching his attack. 'Mr. Mostel, are you or are you not a Communist?' Zero leaped out of his chair behind the counsel's table, knocking the microphones to the floor, and reached for the throat of the HUAC's attorney while shouting, 'That man called me a Communist! Get him out of here! He asked me if I'm a Communist! Get him out of here!'
"The committee was roaring with laughter. They were delighted. Here they had Zero Mostel all to themselves, on stage, in a private dining room. Zero went on playing and parlaying with them for at least twenty minutes, responding to their questions by reciting each amendment in the Bill of Rights.
"Finally, the HUAC's lawyers cautiously said, 'Mr. Mostel, we know all about those amendments. We simply want to know are you, or are you not, claiming the Fifth AmendmentTaking the FifthThe Self-Incrimination Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that "no person . . . shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself."...
'.
"He didn’t ask Zero, 'Are you or are you not a Communist.' He asked him, 'Are you or are you not claiming the Fifth Amendment.' What they wanted him to say was 'Yes'. After another ten minutes of sparring, Zero said, 'Yes, I'm claiming the Fifth Amendment'.
"The hearings were stopped right there. The committee's PR guy goes to the door and opens it. He doesn't say a word to the crowd of reporters. He just holds up five fingers, and the press dashes off to the telephones there in the hotel. The headlines the next morning: 'Zero Mostel Pleads Fifth Amendment at HUAC Meeting.'"
Thus Mostel refused the opportunity to ingratiate himself by giving the committee more names, choosing instead not to answer any question that might incriminate him (a direct refusal to name names would have allowed the committee to find him in contempt). His testimony had won him admiration in the blacklisted community, as in addition to not naming names he also confronted the committee on ideological matters, something that was rarely done. Among other things, he referred to Twentieth Century Fox as “Eighteenth Century Fox” (due to their collaboration with the committee), and manipulated the committee members to make them appear foolish.
The admiration he received for his testimony did nothing to take him out of the blacklist, however, and the family had to struggle throughout the 1950s with little income. Mostel used this time to work in his studio. Later he would say that he cherished those years for the time it had afforded him to do what he loved most. Mostel’s appearance before the HUAC (as well as others') was incorporated into Eric Bentley
Eric Bentley
Eric Bentley is a critic, playwright, singer, editor and translator. He became an American citizen in 1948, and currently lives in New York City...
's 1972 play Are You Now or Have You Ever Been…?
Ulysses in Nighttown and career revival
In 1957, Toby Cole, a New York theatrical agent who strongly opposed the blacklist, contacted Mostel and asked to represent him. The partnership was to have the effect of reviving Mostel’s career and making him a household name. Mostel accepted the role of Leopold Bloom in Ulysses in NighttownUlysses in Nighttown
Ulysses in Nighttown is a play based on an episode from the novel Ulysses by James Joyce that was adapted by Marjorie Barkentin and contains incidental music by Peter Link. The show opened Off-Broadway in 1958 with Zero Mostel to a long and successful run, earning Mostel an Obie Award...
, a play based on the novel Ulysses
Ulysses (novel)
Ulysses is a novel by the Irish author James Joyce. It was first serialised in parts in the American journal The Little Review from March 1918 to December 1920, and then published in its entirety by Sylvia Beach on 2 February 1922, in Paris. One of the most important works of Modernist literature,...
, which he greatly admired in his youth. It was an Off-Off-Broadway
Off-Off-Broadway
Off-Off-Broadway theatrical productions in New York City are those in theatres that are smaller than Broadway and Off-Broadway theatres. Off-Off-Broadway theaters are often defined as theaters that have fewer than 100 seats, though the term can be used for any show in the New York City area that...
play produced in a small Houston Street theater, but the reviews Mostel received were overwhelmingly favorable. Most notably, Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
’s Jack Kroll compared him to Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
, writing, “Something unbelievable happened. A fat comedian named Zero Mostel gave a performance that was even more astonishing than Olivier’s.” Mostel received the Obie award
Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City...
for best Off Broadway performance of the 1958–59 season.
After the success of Ulysses, Mostel received many offers to appear in classic roles, especially abroad. However, artistic differences with the directors and the low salaries he was offered prevented these from ever materializing. By this time the blacklist was beginning to crumble, and in 1959, appeared twice on TV's The Play of the Week.
1960s and height of career
On 13 January 1960, while exiting a taxi on his way back from rehearsals for the play The Good Soup, Mostel was hit by a number 18 (now the M86) 86th Street crosstown bus, and his leg was crushed. The doctors wanted to amputate the leg, which would have effectively ended his stage career. Mostel refused, accepting the risk of gangreneGangrene
Gangrene is a serious and potentially life-threatening condition that arises when a considerable mass of body tissue dies . This may occur after an injury or infection, or in people suffering from any chronic health problem affecting blood circulation. The primary cause of gangrene is reduced blood...
, and remained hospitalized for four months. The gamble paid off, but for the rest of his life the massively-scarred leg gave him pain and required frequent rests and baths. After incurring his injury he retained the famous Harry Lipsig (the 5'3" self-described, "King of Torts"). The prospect of having Harry Lipsig, a Brooklyn street lawyer and spitfire of a man who was renowned for his schmaltzy renderings of depredation to NY juries looking to roast the insurance companies, combined with the prospect of the injured party being none other than Zero Mostel must have terrified the MTA counsel, because the case was settled for an undisclosed sum. Shortly thereafter the Mostels were able to leave the rented apartment on 86th Street for a co-op apartment they bought at The Dakota
The Dakota
The Dakota, constructed from October 25, 1880 to October 27, 1884, is a co-op apartment building located on the northwest corner of 72nd Street and Central Park West in the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City...
. From this time forward Mostel would carry a cane when he attended the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
, to go along with the cape that he also favored.
Later that year Mostel took on the role of Estragon
Estragon
Estragon is one of the two main characters from Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot. His name is the French word for tarragon.- The impulsive misanthrope :...
in a TV adaptation of Waiting for Godot
Waiting for Godot
Waiting for Godot is an absurdist play by Samuel Beckett, in which two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, wait endlessly and in vain for someone named Godot to arrive. Godot's absence, as well as numerous other aspects of the play, have led to many different interpretations since the play's...
. In 1961, he played Jean in Rhinoceros
Rhinoceros (play)
Rhinoceros is a play by Eugène Ionesco, written in 1959. The play belongs to the school of drama known as the Theatre of the Absurd...
to very favorable reviews. The New Republic
The New Republic
The magazine has also published two articles concerning income inequality, largely criticizing conservative economists for their attempts to deny the existence or negative effect increasing income inequality is having on the United States...
’s Robert Brustein said that he had “a great dancer’s control of movement, a great actor’s control of voice, a great mime’s control of facial expressions.” His transition onstage from man to rhinoceros became a thing of legend; he won his first Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for Best Actor, even though he was not in the lead role.
In 1962 Mostel began work on the role of Pseudolus in the Broadway musical A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart....
, which was to be one of his best remembered roles. The role of Pseudolus was originally offered to Phil Silvers
Phil Silvers
Phil Silvers was an American entertainer and comedy actor, known as "The King of Chutzpah." He is best known for starring in The Phil Silvers Show, a 1950s sitcom set on a U.S...
, who declined it, saying he did not want to do this "old shtick." Mostel did not originally want to do the role either, which he thought below his capabilities, but was convinced by his wife and agent. The reviews were excellent, and, after a few slow weeks after which the play was partially rewritten with a new opening song, "Comedy Tonight," which became the play's most popular piece, the show became a great commercial success, running 964 performances and conferring on Mostel a star status (he also won a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for this role). It was also produced as a movie version in 1966, also starring Mostel (and Silvers).
On September 22, 1964, Mostel opened as Tevye in the original Broadway production of Fiddler on the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in Tsarist Russia in 1905. It is based on Tevye and his Daughters by Sholem Aleichem...
. Mostel’s respect for the works of Sholem Aleichem made him insist that more of the author's mood and style be incorporated into the musical, and he made major contributions to its shape. He also created the cantorial
Hazzan
A hazzan or chazzan is a Jewish cantor, a musician trained in the vocal arts who helps lead the congregation in songful prayer.There are many rules relating to how a cantor should lead services, but the idea of a cantor as a paid professional does not exist in classical rabbinic sources...
sounds made famous in songs such as “If I Were a Rich Man
If I Were a Rich Man (song)
"If I Were a Rich Man" is a song from the 1964 musical Fiddler on the Roof. It was written by Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock. The song is performed by Tevye, the main character in the musical, and reflects his dreams of glory....
”. In later years, the actors who followed Mostel in the role of Tevye invariably followed his staging. The show received rave reviews and was a great commercial success, running 3242 performances, a record at the time. Mostel received a Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for it and was invited for a reception in the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
, officially ending his political pariah status.
In 1967, Mostel appeared as Potemkin in Great Catherine
Great Catherine
Great Catherine is a 1968 British comedy film directed by Gordon Flemyng, based on a play by George Bernard Shaw, and starring Peter O'Toole, Zero Mostel, Jeanne Moreau and Jack Hawkins...
, and in 1968 he took on possibly his best remembered role as Max Bialystock in The Producers
The Producers (1968 film)
The Producers is a 1968 American satirical dark comedy cult classic film written and directed by Mel Brooks. The film is set in the late 1960s and it tells the story of a theatrical producer and an accountant who want to produce a sure-fire Broadway flop...
. Mostel refused to accept the role at first, but director Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks is an American film director, screenwriter, composer, lyricist, comedian, actor and producer. He is best known as a creator of broad film farces and comic parodies. He began his career as a stand-up comic and as a writer for the early TV variety show Your Show of Shows...
persuaded him to show the script to his wife, who then talked Mostel into doing it. His performance received mixed reviews, and was not a great success at first, but the film has achieved cult status since.
He lived in The Belnord
The Belnord
The Belnord is an apartment building on West 86th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City.It was designed in 1908 by the noted architectural firm of Hiss and Weekes. It is 13 stories tall and features Italian Renaissance style decorative elements...
on the Upper West Side
Upper West Side
The Upper West Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, New York City, that lies between Central Park and the Hudson River and between West 59th Street and West 125th Street...
of Manhattan.
Last years
In his last decade, Mostel showed little enthusiasm for artistic theatrical progress. Rather than choosing roles that would bring him critical acclaim or that he wanted to do, he seemed to be available for any role that paid well. The result was a succession of movies for which, for the first time since he had established himself as a performer, reviews were mixed at best. Such endeavors were The Great Bank RobberyThe Great Bank Robbery
The Great Bank Robbery is a 1969 Western comedy film from Warner Brothers directed by Hy Averback and written by William Peter Blatty, based on the novel by Frank O'Rourke...
, The Angel Levine
The Angel Levine
The Angel Levine is a 1970 U.S. film directed by Jan Kadar and based on a short story by Bernard Malamud. The film is about an impoverished New York City tailor who is unable to work due to health problems, which creates a financial strain since his wife is seriously ill...
, Once Upon a Scoundrel, and Mastermind. This caused the devaluation of his star power: once a top-billing actor, he now had to make do with featured billing, and his appearance in a movie or play no longer guaranteed success.
There have been a few exceptions, however: a successful revival tour of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart....
, whose young co-star, Robert Rosen, went on to 1980s rock-stardom as Robert Ozn
Robert Ozn
Robert Ozn , New York City born producer, screenwriter recording artist and actor, best known for being the vocal half of 80s synth pop duo EBN-OZN solo act, Dada Nada, and for his later work as co-producer and co-writer with Colin Greene of the human-rights themed feature film I Witness starring...
; the movie version of Rhinoceros, The Front
The Front
The Front is a 1976 film drama about the Hollywood blacklist during the age of live television. It is written by Walter Bernstein, directed by Martin Ritt and stars Woody Allen and Zero Mostel....
(where he played Hecky Brown, a blacklisted performer whose story bears a similarity to Mostel’s own, and for which he was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor), and theatrical revivals of Fiddler and Ulysses in Nighttown. He also made memorable appearances in children’s shows such as Sesame Street
Sesame Street
Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
, The Electric Company
The Electric Company
The Electric Company is an educational American children's television series that was produced by the Children's Television Workshop for PBS in the United States. PBS broadcast 780 episodes over the course of its six seasons from October 25, 1971 to April 15, 1977...
(for which he performed the Spellbinder in the Letterman cartoons), and gave voice to the boisterous seagull Kehaar in the animated film Watership Down
Watership Down (film)
Watership Down is a 1978 English adventure drama animated film written, produced and directed by Martin Rosen and based on the book by Richard Adams. It was financed by a consortium of British financial institutions...
. He also appeared as a guest star during Season 2 of The Muppet Show, filmed during the summer of 1977. Mostel would have the distinction of being the only guest in the show's history to die before his appearance was broadcast.
Death
In the last four months of his life, Mostel took on a nutritionally unsound diet (later described by his friends as a starvation diet) that reduced his weight from 304 to 215 pounds. During rehearsals for Arnold WeskerArnold Wesker
Sir Arnold Wesker is a prolific British dramatist known for his contributions to kitchen sink drama. He is the author of 42 plays, 4 volumes of short stories, 2 volumes of essays, a book on journalism, a children's book, extensive journalism, poetry and other assorted writings...
's new play The Merchant (in which Mostel played a re-imagined version of Shakespeare's Shylock
Shylock
Shylock is a fictional character in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice.-In the play:In The Merchant of Venice, Shylock is a Jewish moneylender who lends money to his Christian rival, Antonio, setting the security at a pound of Antonio's flesh...
) in Philadelphia, he collapsed in his dressing room and was taken to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. He was diagnosed with a respiratory disorder and it was believed he was in no danger and would be released soon. However, on September 8, 1977, Mostel complained of dizziness and lost consciousness. The attending physicians were unable to revive him, and he was pronounced dead that evening. It is believed that he suffered an aortic aneurysm
Aortic aneurysm
An aortic aneurysm is a general term for any swelling of the aorta to greater than 1.5 times normal, usually representing an underlying weakness in the wall of the aorta at that location...
. Wesker wrote a book chronicling the out-of-town tribulations that beset the play and culminated in Zero's death called The Birth of Shylock and the Death of Zero Mostel.
In accordance with his final requests, his family did not stage any funeral or other memorial service to mark his death. Mostel was cremated following his death; the location of his ashes is not publicly known.
Professional relationships
Mostel had often collided with directors and other performers in the course of his professional career. He was described as irreverent, believing himself to be a comic genius (many critics agreed with him) and showed little patience for incompetence. He often improvised, which was received well by audiences but which often left other performers (who were not prepared for his ad-libbed lines) confused and speechless during live performances. He often dominated the stage whether or not his role called for it. Norman JewisonNorman Jewison
Norman Frederick Jewison, CC, O.Ont is a Canadian film director, producer, actor and founder of the Canadian Film Centre. Highlights of his directing career include In the Heat of the Night , The Thomas Crown Affair , Fiddler on the Roof , Jesus Christ Superstar , Moonstruck , The Hurricane and The...
stated this as a reason for preferring Chaim Topol
Chaim Topol
Chaim Topol , often billed simply as Topol, is an Israeli theatrical and film performer, actor, writer and producer. He has been nominated for an Oscar and Tony Award, and has won two Golden Globes.-Early life:...
to him for the role of Tevye in the movie version of Fiddler on the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof (film)
Fiddler on the Roof is the 1971 film adaptation of the 1964 Broadway musical of the same name, with music composed by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in Tsarist Russia in 1905, about Tevye and his Daughters. It was directed by Norman Jewison. The film won three...
. Mostel took exception to these criticisms: “There’s a kind of silliness in the theater about what one contributes to a show. The producer obviously contributes the money… but must the actor contribute nothing at all? I’m not a modest fellow about those things. I contribute a great deal. And they always manage to hang you for having an interpretation. Isn’t [the theater] where your imagination should flower? Why must it always be dull as shit?”
Other producers, such as Jerome Robbins
Jerome Robbins
Jerome Robbins was an American theater producer, director, and choreographer known primarily for Broadway Theater and Ballet/Dance, but who also occasionally directed films and directed/produced for television. His work has included everything from classical ballet to contemporary musical theater...
and Hal Prince
Hal Prince
Harold Smith Prince is an American theatrical producer and director associated with many of the best-known Broadway musical productions of the past half-century...
, preferred to hire Mostel on short contracts, knowing that he would become less faithful to the script as time went on. His exuberant personality, though largely responsible for his success, had also intimidated others in his profession and prevented him from receiving some important roles.
In his autobiography, Kiss Me Like A Stranger, actor Gene Wilder
Gene Wilder
Gene Wilder is an American stage and screen actor, director, screenwriter, and author.Wilder began his career on stage, making his screen debut in the film Bonnie and Clyde in 1967. His first major role was as Leopold Bloom in the 1968 film The Producers...
describes being initially terrified of Mostel. However, just after being introduced, Mostel got up, walked over to Wilder, and planted a big kiss on him. Wilder claims to be grateful to Mostel for teaching him such a valuable lesson, and for picking Wilder up every day so that they could ride to work together. He also tells the story of a dinner celebrating the release of The Producers
The Producers (1968 film)
The Producers is a 1968 American satirical dark comedy cult classic film written and directed by Mel Brooks. The film is set in the late 1960s and it tells the story of a theatrical producer and an accountant who want to produce a sure-fire Broadway flop...
. Mostel switched Wilder's place card with Dick Shawn
Dick Shawn
Dick Shawn was an American actor and comedian.-Early life and career:Shawn was born as Richard Schulefand in Buffalo, New York. He played Sylvester Marcus, son of Mrs. Marcus , in Stanley Kramer's It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World and Lorenzo St...
's, allowing Wilder to sit at the main table. Mostel and Wilder would later go on to work together in Rhinoceros
Rhinoceros (play)
Rhinoceros is a play by Eugène Ionesco, written in 1959. The play belongs to the school of drama known as the Theatre of the Absurd...
and the Letterman cartoons for the children's show The Electric Company
The Electric Company
The Electric Company is an educational American children's television series that was produced by the Children's Television Workshop for PBS in the United States. PBS broadcast 780 episodes over the course of its six seasons from October 25, 1971 to April 15, 1977...
. The two remained close friends until Mostel's death.
Mostel's script for Fiddler on the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in Tsarist Russia in 1905. It is based on Tevye and his Daughters by Sholem Aleichem...
is held at The New York Library of The Performing Arts.
Stage
- Cafe Crown (1942) (made some impromptu appearances on stage, but was not officially part of cast)
- Keep 'em Laughing (1942)
- Top-Notchers (1942)
- Concert Varieties (1945)
- Beggar's HolidayBeggar's HolidayBeggar's Holiday is a musical with a book and lyrics by John La Touche and music by Duke Ellington.An updated version of The Beggar's Opera by John Gay, it focuses on a corrupt world inhabited by rakish mobsters and their double crossing gangs, raffish madams and their dissolute whores, panhandlers...
(1946) - Flight Into EgyptFlight into EgyptThe flight into Egypt is a biblical event described in the Gospel of Matthew , in which Joseph fled to Egypt with his wife Mary and infant son Jesus after a visit by Magi because they learn that King Herod intends to kill the infants of that area...
(1952) - Lunatics and LoversLunatics and LoversLunatics and Lovers is a 1976 Italian comedy film directed by Flavio Mogherini.-Cast:* Marcello Mastroianni - Marchese Luca Maria* Lino Toffolo - Agostino* Claudia Mori - Luca Maria's wife* Adriano Celentano - Sprint Boss...
(1954) (replaced Buddy HackettBuddy HackettBuddy Hackett was an American comedian and actor.-Early life:Hackett was born in Brooklyn, New York, New York, the son of a Jewish upholsterer. He grew up on 54th and 14th Ave in Borough Park, Brooklyn, across from Public School 103...
during his vacation) - Good as Gold (1957)
- Ulysses in NighttownUlysses in NighttownUlysses in Nighttown is a play based on an episode from the novel Ulysses by James Joyce that was adapted by Marjorie Barkentin and contains incidental music by Peter Link. The show opened Off-Broadway in 1958 with Zero Mostel to a long and successful run, earning Mostel an Obie Award...
(1958) - The Good Soup (1960) (was replaced before opening by Jules Munshin due to an accident which broke his leg)
- RhinocerosRhinoceros (play)Rhinoceros is a play by Eugène Ionesco, written in 1959. The play belongs to the school of drama known as the Theatre of the Absurd...
(1961) - A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the ForumA Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the ForumA Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart....
(1962) - Fiddler on the RoofFiddler on the RoofFiddler on the Roof is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in Tsarist Russia in 1905. It is based on Tevye and his Daughters by Sholem Aleichem...
(1964) - Ulysses in NighttownUlysses in NighttownUlysses in Nighttown is a play based on an episode from the novel Ulysses by James Joyce that was adapted by Marjorie Barkentin and contains incidental music by Peter Link. The show opened Off-Broadway in 1958 with Zero Mostel to a long and successful run, earning Mostel an Obie Award...
(1974) (revival) - Fiddler on the RoofFiddler on the RoofFiddler on the Roof is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in Tsarist Russia in 1905. It is based on Tevye and his Daughters by Sholem Aleichem...
(1976) (revival)
Filmography
- Du Barry Was a LadyDuBarry Was a Lady (film)DuBarry Was a Lady is a 1943 Technicolor film, starring Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, and Gene Kelly, and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It is based on the 1939 stage musical of the same name....
(1943) - Panic in the Streets (1950)
- The Enforcer (1951)
- SiroccoSirocco (film)Sirocco is an American film noir directed by Curtis Bernhardt and written by A.I. Bezzerides and Hans Jacoby. It is based on the novel Coup de Grace written by Joseph Kessel. The drama features Humphrey Bogart, Märta Torén, Lee J. Cobb, among others.-Plot:In 1925 Damascus, the natives are engaged...
(1951) - Mr. Belvedere Rings the BellMr. Belvedere Rings the BellMr. Belvedere Rings the Bell is a 1951 comedy film, the third and final one starring Clifton Webb as Lynn Belvedere. Mr. Belvedere lies about his age and lives in a senior citizens home to determine if there was any point in growing old...
(1951) - The Guy Who Came BackThe Guy Who Came BackThe Guy Who Came Back is a 1951 film made by 20th Century Fox, directed by Joseph M. Newman, and starring by Paul Douglas, Joan Bennett and Linda Darnell. The screenplay was written byAllan Scott, based on story by W.G...
(1951) - The Model and the Marriage BrokerThe Model and the Marriage BrokerThe Model and the Marriage Broker is a 1951 comedy film about a model who is so pleased with the work of a marriage broker, she decides to return the favor.-Cast:* Jeanne Crain as Kitty Bennett* Scott Brady as Matt Hornbeck* Thelma Ritter as Mae Swasey...
(1951) - Waiting for GodotWaiting for GodotWaiting for Godot is an absurdist play by Samuel Beckett, in which two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, wait endlessly and in vain for someone named Godot to arrive. Godot's absence, as well as numerous other aspects of the play, have led to many different interpretations since the play's...
(1961) - A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the ForumA Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (film)A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is a 1966 farce musical comedy film, based on the stage musical.Inspired by the farces of the ancient Roman playwright Plautus – specifically Pseudolus, Miles Gloriosus and Mostellaria – it tells the bawdy story of a slave named Pseudolus...
(1966) - Children of the Exodus (1967) (short subject) (narrator)
- The ProducersThe Producers (1968 film)The Producers is a 1968 American satirical dark comedy cult classic film written and directed by Mel Brooks. The film is set in the late 1960s and it tells the story of a theatrical producer and an accountant who want to produce a sure-fire Broadway flop...
(1968) - Great CatherineGreat CatherineGreat Catherine is a 1968 British comedy film directed by Gordon Flemyng, based on a play by George Bernard Shaw, and starring Peter O'Toole, Zero Mostel, Jeanne Moreau and Jack Hawkins...
(1968) - The Great Bank RobberyThe Great Bank RobberyThe Great Bank Robbery is a 1969 Western comedy film from Warner Brothers directed by Hy Averback and written by William Peter Blatty, based on the novel by Frank O'Rourke...
(1969) - The Angel LevineThe Angel LevineThe Angel Levine is a 1970 U.S. film directed by Jan Kadar and based on a short story by Bernard Malamud. The film is about an impoverished New York City tailor who is unable to work due to health problems, which creates a financial strain since his wife is seriously ill...
(1970) - The Hot RockThe Hot Rock (film)The Hot Rock is a 1972 comic caper film written by William Goldman and directed by Peter Yates, starring Robert Redford, George Segal and Moses Gunn. The film was based upon Donald E...
(1972) - Once Upon a Scoundrel (1973)
- Marco (film) (1973)
- RhinocerosRhinoceros (film)Rhinoceros is a 1974 comedy film based on the play by Eugène Ionesco. The film was produced and released as part of the American Film Theatre, which adapted theatrical works for a subscription-driven cinema series.-Plot:...
(1974) - Fore PlayFore PlayFore Play is a 1975 comedy film co-directed by future Academy Award-winner John G. Avildsen. It is currently being distributed by Troma Entertainment...
(1975) - Journey Into FearJourney into Fear (1975 film)Journey into Fear is a 1975 Canadian thriller film directed by Daniel Mann, and based on the novel Journey into Fear by Eric Ambler. It starred Sam Waterston, Zero Mostel, Yvette Mimieux, Vincent Price, Donald Pleasence, Shelley Winters, Stanley Holloway, Joseph Wiseman and Ian McShane....
(1975) - Mastermind (1976)
- The FrontThe FrontThe Front is a 1976 film drama about the Hollywood blacklist during the age of live television. It is written by Walter Bernstein, directed by Martin Ritt and stars Woody Allen and Zero Mostel....
(1976) - Hollywood on TrialHollywood on TrialHollywood on Trial is a 1976 documentary film directed by David Helpern. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.-Cast:* Walter Bernstein - Himself* Alvah Bessie - Himself* Lester Cole - Himself...
(1976) (documentary) - Watership DownWatership Down (film)Watership Down is a 1978 English adventure drama animated film written, produced and directed by Martin Rosen and based on the book by Richard Adams. It was financed by a consortium of British financial institutions...
(1978) (voice) - Best BoyBest Boy (film)Best Boy is a 1979 documentary made by Ira Wohl. The film achieved high critical acclaim, and won many awards including the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 1979....
(1979) (documentary)
External links
- Bio of Mostel (archiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
link) - Playbill article including a Mostel Who's Who entry