Joe Silver is an American theater and film actor. The peak of his fame came in the sixties of the last century.
Biography and personal life
Joe Silver was a Chicago native but raised in Green Bay, Wisconsin. He studied here: at the Eastern High School in Green Bay. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin.
Joe Silver had a wife - actress Chevy Colton, who during the marriage gave birth to his son Christopher and daughter Jennifer. They, in turn, gave Joe three grandchildren.
The actor died on February 27, 1989 at the age of 66 in Manhattan from liver cancer.
Theatrical creativity
Joe made his first theater debut in 1942. The first production in which he participated was the revived play "Tobacco Road" at the theater on Broadway.
Tobacco Road is a play by Jack Kirkland based on the 1932 novel of the same name by Erskine Caldwell. It was first staged on stage in 1933. The play became the record holder for the duration of plays for that time: in total, the production withstood 3182 performances, and according to this indicator, the play surpassed the previous achievement set by the play "Irish Rose".
As of 2018, Tobacco Road is still ranked 19th in the Top 20 Longest Longest Plays in the World, as well as the second longest running Broadway play, not counting musicals.
One of the most famous productions in which Joe Silver participated was the musical "The Gypsy: A Musical Fable" (1959). This musical based on the book "Gypsy" by Arthur Lorenz was staged to music by Jules Stein and poetry by Stephen Sondheim. The plot is based on the memories of the gypsy Rose Lee, who raised one and two daughters and at the same time dreamed of a career in show business. Many critics have hailed Gypsy as the greatest achievement of musical form in theater. Many of the songs in the play subsequently became popular: "Everything goes with roses", "Together, wherever we go", "Small world", "You need a trick", "Let me entertain you", "Turn of the rose" and others.
The production of "Gypsy" is considered one of the main achievements in the field of musical theatrical form of the middle of the 20th century. It is often called a music book, the greatest American musical, according to many critics and writers such as Ben Brentley, Frank Rich, Clive Barn.
During his theatrical career, Joe Silver has been nominated for a Tony Award 9 times for performing in 9 different roles. The Tony Prize or Antoinette Perry Prize is awarded for excellence in Broadway theater. The awards are presented by the American Theater Wing and the Broadway League for Broadway productions and performances.
Creativity on television
In 1947, Joe Silver made his first television appearance as a participant in the What's It Worth? Since then, during his television career, he has participated in over 1000 television projects.
In 1949, Joe became a regular cast member for the children's educational television show Mister I Magination. In 1950 he starred in the short variety show Joey Fay. In the same year, Silver took part in the show "Red Buttons", became the second presenter in the program "Captain Jet" and the host of the children's show "Space Fun". All these programs were released until the end of the 50s.
In 1975-76, Silver played one of the main roles in the new production of the variety show Joey Fay.
Film career
During his cinematic career, Joe has starred in many films. Among them are the following:
- "Diary of a Bachelor" (1964) - the role of Charlie Barrett.
- "Moving" (1970) - the role of Oscar. American comedy directed by Stuart Rosenberg. The film gained fame for its box office failure: it took $ 4,900,000 to rent the film, and it grossed only $ 5 million at the box office.
- "Klute" (1971) - the role of Joe Spengler. American crime thriller in the genre of neo-noir. The plot tells about an expensive prostitute who helps a detective to find a missing person. The film received widespread critical acclaim, and Jane Fonda, who starred in the title role, won the Academy Award for Best Actress. The film was also nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and received wide commercial success - at a production cost of $ 2.5 million, it brought the creators at the box office $ 12 million.
- "Rhino" (1974) - the role of Norman. American comedy based on the play "Rhino" by Eugene Ionesco. The play became famous for the fact that in the period from 1973 to 1975 it was filmed 13 times.
- The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitia (1974) - the role of Farber. Canadian Comedy / Drama Film that won the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival, the Canadian Film Awards for Canadian Film of the Year, the Writers Guild of America for Best Comedy, Academy Award for Best Screenplay and Golden Globe and Best Foreign Film.
- Wreckage (1975) - the role of Rollo Linsky. The film is also known as Shiver and is a Canadian sci-fi horror film.
- Raging (1977) is a Canadian-American horror film starring Joe Silver, Frank Moore, Howard Ryshpan and Marilyn Chambers.
- "Light My Life" (1977) - the role of C. Robinson. The film is also known as You Brighten My Life. It is an American romantic drama starring Didi Conn, Mike Zaslow and Joe Silver. The plot tells about a young girl who dreams of becoming a singer. The song "Light My Life" was included in the Top 100 Best Songs from Movies by the American Film Institute.
- "The Crash" (1978) - the role of Erivn Jessup. The film is also known as The Crash. A documentary based on the true story of the first crash of the Locheed L-1011 TriStar wide-body aircraft, Eastern AirLines Flight 401, which crashed in Florida near Miami in 1972. The film reproduces the true events of the crash, and the sequence of events reproduced on the screen became the most authentic and expensive for television of that time.
- Boardwalk (1979) - Leo Rosen. This is an American drama about the Rosen family and their fight against a gang terrorizing their Coney Island area. The film is known for showing the famous but now defunct Dubrovskaya canteen in New York.
- Death Trap (1982) - the role of Seymour Starger. American black comedy.
- "Almost You" (1985) - the role of Uncle Sue. American romantic comedy that won a special prize at the 1985 Sundance Film Festival.
- Concert (1985) - the role of Abe Mitgang.
- "Magic Wands" (1987) - the role of the usurer.
- "Mister Nice" (1987) - the role of Leser Tisch. French mafia comedy. The main character, a mafia hitman, gets married, and his fiancee does not know the true profession of her fiancé. At this time, his future father-in-law receives an order for him.
- Changing Channels (1988) - Mordishi's final role in the film. The film is an American comedy known as Page Front and His Girlfriend on Friday. The film received mixed reviews from critics and flopped at the commercial box office.
In addition to the above works, Joe Silver voiced the ox in the 1970 Christmas special, The Night the Animals Talked, the Greed character in the 1977 musical adventure Raggedy Ann & Andy, and The creep in the anthology horror film "Creep show 2" (1987). He has acted as speaking and singing voices in Greed and A Musical Adventure (both 1977).
Joe Silver's most recent performances were in the musical Led Diamond, in which he appeared dying of liver cancer.
