Looking back now, I can see that my dad was a real fighter. A lot of people thought, 'Why don't you keep the Jewish stuff quiet?' They were anti-Semitic Jews. People who were afraid. People who came here and made it and anglicized themselves and didn't want to associate with their past.

Joel Grey

Categorized in : You Past People Looking Back

TDF is more essential today than it was when it was first founded... by Joel Grey

TDF is more essential today than it was when it was first founded in 1968.

essentials today firsts

When you are in a good theatre show, it is a wonderful and very fulfilling experience, entertaining a large audience and their showing their appreciation for your efforts.

effort theatre appreciation

I love being in a show. I love the community aspect of it. I like... by Joel Grey

I love being in a show. I love the community aspect of it. I like the discipline of it, too.

discipline community love-is

I came to realize, along with being attracted to girls, I had similar feelings for boys. All the people close to me have known for years who I am. Yet it took time to embrace that other part of who I always was.

who-i-am girl boys

It can take me forever to choose the right coffee cup in the morn... by Joel Grey

It can take me forever to choose the right coffee cup in the morning. And it does make a difference!

choose me coffee morning

I love 'Cabaret' and 'George M!' They're both incredible as far a... by Joel Grey

I love 'Cabaret' and 'George M!' They're both incredible as far as I'm concerned.

far both concerned love

I was small growing up, and to make matters worse, I wore glasses, and my mother dressed me in attention-getting outfits. I was a target of bullies.

me growing-up glasses mother

I loved being in the theater. It was a place of enormous excitement and happiness and safety and respect and dignity. It was a place where, if you did your job, you weren't a kid - you were a full person worthy of respect from all the adults in the company.

job you respect happiness

After my bar mitzvah, I started to assimilate, to really not pay attention to my roots. The anti-Semitic experiences of my youth had been very painful. You try to put all that in the past and become a person of the world. I think that's the right thing to do. But it's not right to leave out who you really are. That's a tragedy.

you youth past world

When I was eight, I went to the theatre, and I remember looking at the stage afterward and pointing and saying, 'I want to do that.' I don't think that's ever changed.

saying looking think remember

There's a civility that has always been a part of me. by Joel Grey

There's a civility that has always been a part of me.

been me always civility

My mother loved fashion. She was a beauty and had enough sewing skills that she could re-create the looks in magazines. She also was enormously charismatic.

loved fashion mother beauty

I am concerned about the musical theater, selfishly, because I lo... by Joel Grey

I am concerned about the musical theater, selfishly, because I love it.

i-am about because love

I don't like to bad-mouth other shows, but I was very disturbed after seeing 'Starlight Express.' It had very little to do with musical comedy as I know it. It had to do with sound and spectacle and records and technology and amplification.

know comedy technology sound

I'm always interested in the challenge of doing something new. by Joel Grey

I'm always interested in the challenge of doing something new.

challenge new doing always

You can be taking two steps forward as an actor, but if a movie doesn't make money, you might as well be taking two steps backwards. It's all about economics.

forward you economics money

I was totally delighted, interested in, and amused by my stint on... by Joel Grey

I was totally delighted, interested in, and amused by my stint on 'Voyager.'

totally interested delighted amused

Theater is the most important thing in life for me. by Joel Grey

Theater is the most important thing in life for me.

the-most-important me important life

I really didn't feel that my motion picture career was going the... by Joel Grey

I really didn't feel that my motion picture career was going the way I wanted it to go.

picture feel go way

Satisfying as that 'Cabaret' role was, it is not the only thing I do. But Hollywood is somewhat limited in its perspective about what it is you do or don't do.

only you hollywood perspective