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| re: Alfred Drake? | |
| Posted by: portenopete 11:55 am EDT 03/16/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Alfred Drake? - Snowysdad 12:38 am EDT 03/16/21 | |
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| Thanks for this remembrance from an inside perspective. I admit to knowing little about Mr. Drake and am interested in your impressions of him and his unique gifts. Seeing him sing "Where Is The Life That Late I Led?" has definitely spoiled me for any future Fred Grahams. (Jack Cassidy might have come near; another star who blazed bright but couldn't sustain it into his later years- more tragically than Alfred Drake.) | |
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| Jack Cassidy | |
| Last Edit: PlayWiz 02:08 pm EDT 03/16/21 | |
| Posted by: PlayWiz 02:01 pm EDT 03/16/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Alfred Drake? - portenopete 11:55 am EDT 03/16/21 | |
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| Jack Cassidy had many assets -- looks, voice, etc., but he unfortunately never really became a big star -- certainly not in comparison to his one-time wife Shirley Jones or his sons David and Shaun. He had to have been aware of that. Alas, he didn't really have "later years" as he died tragically in a fire at age 49. Lots of stories about him abound though, from Shirley Jones herself and also legends about his start in the business with the likes of Cole Porter. But Cassidy really had the talent, the whole package (and how! according to Shirley's autobiography), and it's something of a mystery or of show biz's capricious nature of why he didn't become a big star. Yes, he would have been a great Fred Graham. | |
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| re: Jack Cassidy | |
| Posted by: bobby2 03:32 pm EDT 03/16/21 | |
| In reply to: Jack Cassidy - PlayWiz 02:01 pm EDT 03/16/21 | |
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| Didn't he turn down the role of Ted Baxter on Mary Tyler Moore? Big mistake. | |
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| re: Jack Cassidy | |
| Last Edit: BroadwayTonyJ 07:47 pm EDT 03/16/21 | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 07:46 pm EDT 03/16/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Jack Cassidy - bobby2 03:32 pm EDT 03/16/21 | |
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| Jack Cassidy had won an Emmy a couple years earlier for his character Oscar North on the TV sitcom He & She. That character was very similar to (and supposedly the inspiration for) Ted Baxter. I imagine Cassidy did not want to repeat himself so soon and turned down the Baxter role. Timing and luck are a large part of success in show business, I guess. | |
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| re: Jack Cassidy | |
| Posted by: FAIRBOY 11:14 am EDT 03/18/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Jack Cassidy - BroadwayTonyJ 07:46 pm EDT 03/16/21 | |
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| Cassidy did not win the Emmy but he certainly was good in that sophisticated comedy series. | |
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| re: Jack Cassidy | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 04:43 pm EDT 03/18/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Jack Cassidy - FAIRBOY 11:14 am EDT 03/18/21 | |
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| You're right. Thanks for the correction. Cassidy won the Tony for She Loves Me. However, he was only Emmy-nominated for He & She. He was also Tony-nominated for Fade Out -- Fade In. There was definitely a sameness to many of his Broadway roles. I assume he was unavoidably typecast, the roles were good, he needed the work and took them. However, TV is a totally different medium. I think it is understandable why he rejected the role of Ted Baxter after having created the role of Oscar North. |
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| re: Jack Cassidy | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 08:49 pm EDT 03/16/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Jack Cassidy - BroadwayTonyJ 07:46 pm EDT 03/16/21 | |
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| I imagine Cassidy did not want to repeat himself so soon I guess 3 years was long enough to go from Kodaly in She Loves Me to Kodaly, um, Max in Superman? :-) |
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| re: Jack Cassidy | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 11:18 pm EDT 03/16/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Jack Cassidy - Chromolume 08:49 pm EDT 03/16/21 | |
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| Kodaly and Max are both jerks, but She Loves Me and Superman are so different in so many ways that I can't imagine he considered Max as repeating himself. I mostly know Cassidy from his cast albums, although I was a fan of He & She, I did see the Hal Baxter episode on the Mary Tyler Moore Show, and I enjoyed Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol as well as The Eiger Sanction. I'm a huge fan of Cassidy's performances on all those Broadway and studio cast recordings, but I always thought they contained a tad too much ham and/or ego. Nevertheless, he was very talented and one of the very solid Broadway musical actors of the 50's and 60's. Just IMO. |
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| re: Jack Cassidy | |
| Posted by: PlayWiz 09:36 pm EDT 03/16/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Jack Cassidy - Chromolume 08:49 pm EDT 03/16/21 | |
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| Cassidy did get star billing in "Superman" -- below the title, but still "Starring Jack Cassidy", so that probably was an incentive. He did get kind of typecast in those kinds of vain jerk kinds of roles though but he sounds just wonderful on the recording. | |
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| re: Jack Cassidy | |
| Posted by: portenopete 05:52 pm EDT 03/16/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Jack Cassidy - bobby2 03:32 pm EDT 03/16/21 | |
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| I know he was considered at least. He ended up guesting as Ted's equally vainglorious brother! | |
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