Joel Grey makes song-and-dance polish feel faintly threatening. His Emcee in Cabaret remains the clearest reason to seek him out; the smaller screen parts that followed offer less room for that unsettling skill.
Fi1m perspective
Behind the white face of the Emcee in Cabaret (1972), Joel Grey makes accomplished entertainment feel unsafe. The song-and-dance skill matters: the menace comes from someone who knows how to keep a crowd entertained. Having originated the role on Broadway in 1966, he brought it to Bob Fosse’s film after years of nightclub work and musical theatre. It remains the performance against which his screen career is measured, though the films that followed have largely offered supporting parts rather than another role of similar size.
Steven Soderbergh’s Kafka (1991) casts him as Burgel, a supporting part in a film whose performers are more persuasive than its mystery. The choice makes sense for an actor so associated with unease. We found the film finely lit but disappointingly close to pulp, borrowing the clerk, the Castle and the shadows without earning the dread. Grey’s presence is a reason to be curious about it, but the cast cannot make the story convincing.
Dancer in the Dark (2000) gives Grey a cameo as Oldrich Novy in a much more affecting film. His musical-theatre history matters here, in a story about someone for whom songs offer a life beyond suffering. We were moved by the life Selma finds in the songs, even as Lars von Trier’s script made us resist some of the tears it demanded. Björk carries the film, and Grey’s contribution is necessarily small; anyone approaching it principally for him should know that the musical offers little relief from its heroine’s distress.
His screen credits can make the later career look narrower than it was: stage work continued, including Amos Hart in the 1996 revival of Chicago. That distinction matters when assessing an actor whose most substantial opportunities have not all been in films. We would still start with Cabaret. Check the size of the role before choosing another film on his name alone.
Biography
Joel Grey (born Joel David Katz) is an American actor, singer and dancer. He is best known for originating the role of the Master of Ceremonies in the stage musical Cabaret and reprising it in Bob Fosse's 1972 film adaptation.
Grey made his screen debut in the 1950s and later appeared in films including Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (1985) and Kafka (1991), in which he played Burgel. He originated the role of the Wizard in the musical Wicked and has also worked in television, photography and theatre direction. He has won an Academy Award, a Tony Award and a Golden Globe Award.
