Joel Grey

Joel Grey (born Joel David Katz; April 11, 1932) is an American actor, singer, dancer, photographer, and theatre director. He is best known for portraying the Master of Ceremonies in the musical Cabaret on Broadway and in Bob Fosse's 1972 film adaptation. He has won an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Tony Award for his performances in the Cabaret stage musical and film. He earned the Lifetime Achievement Tony Award at the 76th Tony Awards in 2023.

Grey's Tony-nominated roles include for the musical George M! (1968), Goodtime Charley (1975), and The Grand Tour (1979). After portraying Amos Hart in the Broadway revival of Chicago (1996), he originated the role of the Wizard of Oz in the musical Wicked (2003) and played Moonface Martin in the 2011 revival of Anything Goes. He co-directed the 2011 revival of Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart with George C. Wolfe, earning a Tony Award nomination for Best Direction of a Play at the 65th Tony Awards.

He earned a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture nomination for his role in Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (1985) at the 43rd Golden Globe Awards. His other film roles include in Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson (1976), Kafka (1991), The Music of Chance (1993), The Fantasticks (2000), and Dancer in the Dark (2000). He earned an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series at the 45th Primetime Emmy Awards for Brooklyn Bridge (1993). He also acted in Oz (2003), Alias (2005), House (2006), Nurse Jackie (2011), and The Old Man (2022).

Joel Grey was born Joel Katz in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Goldie "Grace" (née Epstein) and Mickey Katz, an actor, comedian, and musician. Both his parents were Jewish. He attended Alexander Hamilton High School in Los Angeles.

Grey started his career, at age 10, in the Cleveland Play House's Curtain Pullers children's theatre program in the early 1940s, appearing in productions such as Grandmother Slyboots, Jack of Tarts and a lead role in their mainstage production of On Borrowed Time. By 1952, at age 20, he was appearing as a featured performer at the Copacabana nightclub in New York. He changed his last name from Katz to Grey early in his career due to the stigma associated with having a surname with an obvious ethnicity attached. Grey made his Broadway acting debut in Borscht Capades where he was credited as "Joel Kaye". He returned to Broadway in The Littlest Revue in 1956 and acted as a replacement in Neil Simon's Come Blow Your Horn in 1961 and the musicals Stop the World – I Want to Get Off in 1962, and Half a Sixpence in 1965.

He started his professional television career on The Colgate Comedy Hour from 1951 to 1954. He then took on roles in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Grey appeared in several TV westerns including Maverick (1959), Bronco (1960) and Lawman (3 times in 1960 and 1961).

Grey gained his breakthrough performance originating the role of the Master of ceremonies in the Broadway musical Cabaret by John Kander and Fred Ebb in 1966. He received raves for his role as the malevolent and sinister emcee of the Kit Kat Club. He won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical at the 21st Tony Awards.

Grey appeared as a panelist for the television game show What's My Line? in the 1967 season, as well as being the first Mystery Guest during its syndication in 1968. His followup role on Broadway was as George M. Cohan in the 1968 musical George M!. Grey was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical at the 23rd Tony Awards and received the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Performance.