Today would have been Michael Jeter's 59th birthday. Sadly, he died from AIDS in 2003. I never knew the man, but I hope he was as crazy and sweet as some of his roles. He was a very entertaining performer, and I just wanted to remember him.
Here he is in a segment of a wonderful movie called "The Fisher King":
I'm not sure who had the notion to make a musical out of "Grand Hotel", and at first thought one wants to scream "Noooooo". But it worked and it was a damn good show. Set in Germany in the days before facism took over, Mr. Jeter is Otto Kringelein, a Jewish bookeeper who is deathly ill. He wants a taste of a better life and spends a day at Grand Hotel. Here, with Bruce Barrett as the Baron (a theif)they perform in a number directed within a inch of its life by Tommy Tune:
Happy Birthday Mr. Jeter.
I have to go off to work just now, but I will come back later this evening and try to find a better copy of the Fisher King quote.
1 comment:
Ian and I saw that show, courtesy of my job at the time. Just fabulous. One of the best nights I ever spent in a theatre. And all because of Michael Jeter. He was a nice man, too. I'm glad you're memorializing him. We lost him much too early.
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