Zero Mostel  

From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia

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Samuel Joel "Zero" Mostel (February 28, 1915 – September 8, 1977) was an American actor and comedian 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. Mostel was a student of Don Richardson, using an acting technique based on muscle memory. He was blacklisted during the 1950s, and his testimony before the House Committee on Un-American Activities was well-publicized. He was an Obie Award and three-time Tony Award winner.

Work

T.V.

• The Little Drummer Boy, Book II - Brutus (TV special) (1976)
• The Muppet Show (Season 2 Episode 2, aired posthumously)<ref name=muppet /> (1977)

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 Holiday (1946)
• Flight Into Egypt (1952)
• Lunatics and Lovers (1954) (replaced Buddy Hackett during his vacation)
• Good as Gold (1957)
• Ulysses in Nighttown (1958)
• The Good Soup (1960) (was replaced before opening by Jules Munshin due to an accident which broke his leg)
• Rhinoceros (1961)
• A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962)
• Fiddler on the Roof (1964)
• A Pray by Blecht (1969) (opening eventually cancelled)
• Fiddler on the Roof (1971)
• A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1973)
• Ulysses in Nighttown (1974)
• Fiddler on the Roof (1976)

Filmography

• Du Barry Was a Lady (1943)
• Panic in the Streets (1950)
• The Enforcer (1951)
• Sirocco (1951)
• Mr. Belvedere Rings the Bell (1951)
• The Guy Who Came Back (1951)
• The Model and the Marriage Broker (1951)
• Waiting for Godot (1961)
• A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966)
• Children of the Exodus (1967) (short subject) (narrator)
• The Producers (1968)
• Great Catherine (1968)
• The Great Bank Robbery (1969)
• The Angel Levine (1970)
• The Hot Rock (1972)
• Once Upon a Scoundrel (1973)
• Marco (1973)
• Rhinoceros (1974)
• Fore Play (1975)
• Journey Into Fear (1975)
• Mastermind (1976)
• The Front (1976)
• Hollywood on Trial (1976) (documentary)
• Watership Down (1978) (voice)
• Best Boy (1979) (documentary)

Book

• Zero Mostel's Book of Villains [with Israel Shenker, photographs by Alex Gotfryd] (Doubleday, 1976)