Early life

Grey was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Goldie "Grace" (née Epstein) and Mickey Katz, a Jewish actor, comedian, and musician. He started his career in the Cleveland Play House's Curtain Pullers children's theatre program in the early 1940s, appearing in productions such as Grandmother Slyboots, Jack of Tarts and a lead role in their mainstage production of On Borrowed Time. He attended Alexander Hamilton High School in Los Angeles, California.

Career

Grey originated the role of the Master of Ceremonies in the Broadway musical Cabaret in 1966 for which he won the Tony Award. Additional Broadway credits include Come Blow Your Horn (1961), Stop the World - I Want to Get Off (1962), Half a Sixpence (1965), George M! (1968), Goodtime Charley (1975), The Grand Tour (1979), Chicago (1996), Wicked (2003), and Anything Goes (2011). In November 1995, he performed as the Wizard in The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True a staged concert of the popular story at Lincoln Center to benefit the Children's Defense Fund. The performance was originally broadcast on Turner Network Television (TNT) in November 1995, and released on CD and video in 1996.

Grey won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in March 1973 for his performance as the Master of Ceremonies in the 1972 film version of Cabaret. His victory was part of a Cabaret near-sweep, which saw Liza Minnelli win Best Actress and Bob Fosse win Best Director, although it lost the Best Picture Oscar to The Godfather. For that role, Grey also won the BAFTA award for "The Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles" and Best Supporting Actor awards from the Golden Globes, Kansas City Film Critics Circle, National Board of Review of Motion Pictures, National Society of Film Critics, and a Tony Award for his original stage performance six years prior, making him one of only eight people who have won both a Tony Award and an Academy Award for the same role.

He has performed at The Muny in St. Louis, Missouri in roles such as George M. Cohan in George M! (1970 and 1992), the Emcee in Cabaret (1971), and Joey Evans in Pal Joey (1983). At the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Grey played the title role in their production of Platonov (1977).

Grey appeared as a panelist for the television game show "What's My Line?" in the 1967 season, as well as being the first mystery guest during its syndication in 1968. He was the guest star for the third episode of The Muppet Show in its first season in 1976, singing "Razzle Dazzle" from Chicago and "Willkommen" from Cabaret. He also played Master of Sinanju Chiun, Remo's elderly Korean martial arts master in the movie Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (1985), a role that garnered him a Saturn Award and a second Golden Globe nomination for "Best Supporting Actor". Chiun's character was popular for the lines "Meat of cow kills", and "You move like a pregnant yak", from the movie. In 1991, he played Adam, a devil, in the final episode of the television series Dallas (1991). That same year, Grey also appeared in the American Repertory Theatre's production of When We Dead Awaken at the Sao Paulo Biennale. In 1993 he starred in New York Stage & Film's production of John Patrick Shanley 's A Fool and Her Fortune and received an "Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series" Emmy nomination for his recurring role as Jacob Prossman on the television series Brooklyn Bridge. In 1995, he made a guest appearance on Star Trek: Voyager as an aging rebel seeking to free his (deceased) wife from prison. In 1999, he starred in Brian Friel's Give Me Your Answer, Do! mounted by Roundabout Theatre Company.

In 2000, Grey played Oldrich Novy in the film Dancer in the Dark and had recurring television roles on Buffy the Vampire Slayer (as the evil reptilian demon Doc, 2001), Oz (as Lemuel Idzik, 2003) and Alias (as "Another Mr. Sloane", 2005). He was a wealthy, paroled ex-convict on Law & Order: Criminal Intent (episode "Cuba Libre", 2003). Joel Grey also originated the role of the Wizard of Oz in the hit Broadway musical Wicked. He also appeared on the shows House and Brothers & Sisters (2007), on the latter of which he played the role of Dr. Bar-Shalom, Sarah and Joe's marriage counselor. He appeared as Izzie's high school teacher who needs treatment for dementia in Grey's Anatomy (2009).

Grey returned to Broadway in spring 2011 as Moonface Martin in the Roundabout Theatre Company revival of Anything Goes at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre. He also played Ned in the 1985 Off-Broadway production of Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart, and went on to co-direct the Tony Award-winning revival in 2011. For his continued support of Broadway, Grey was named a Givenik Ambassador. He was presented with a lifetime achievement award on June 10, 2013 by The National Yiddish Theatre - Folksbiene.

Personal life

In 1958, Grey married Jo Wilder; they divorced in 1982. Together, they had two children: actor Jennifer and chef James. He is also a photographer; his first book of photographs, Pictures I Had to Take, was published in 2003; its follow-up, Looking Hard at Unexpected Things, was published in 2006. His third book, 1.3 - Images from My Phone, a book of photographs taken with his camera phone, was published in 2009. An exhibition of his work was held in April 2011 at the Museum of the City of New York, titled "Joel Grey/A New York Life." His fourth book, The Billboard Papers: Photographs by Joel Grey, came out in 2013 and depicts the many-layered billboards of New York City.

In January 2015, Grey opened up about his sexuality in an interview with People, stating: "I don't like labels, but if you have to put a label on it, I'm a gay man." Grey writes about his family, his acting career, and the challenges of being gay in his 2016 memoir, Master of Ceremonies.

Work

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1952	About Face	Bender
1957	Calypso Heat Wave	Alex Nash
1961	Come September	Beagle
1972	Cabaret	Master of Ceremonies	Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor BAFTA Award for Best Newcomer Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor
1972	Man on a String	Big Joe Brown	Television film
1974	Man on a Swing	Franklin Wills
1976	The Seven-Per-Cent Solution	Lowenstein
1976	Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson	Nate Salsbury
1985	Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins	Chiun "Master of Sinanju"	Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture Nominated - Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor
1991	Kafka	Burgel
1992	Tom and Jerry: The Movie	Narrator
1993	The Music of Chance	Willy Stone
1994	The Dangerous	Flea
1995	Venus Rising	Jimmie
1996	The Empty Mirror	Joseph Goebbels
1996	My Friend Joe	Simon
1999	A Christmas Carol	Ghost of Christmas Past
2000	The Fantasticks	Amos Babcock Bellamy
2001	Dancer in the Dark	Oldrich Novy
2001	Reaching Normal	Dr. Mensley
2008	Choke	Phil

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1956	Producers' Showcase
1957	Telephone Time
1957	December Bride
1957	The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom
1958	The Court of Last Resort
1958	Little Women
1959	Maverick	Billy the Kid
1960	Bronco
1960	The Ann Sothern Show
1960-1961	Lawman
1961	Yes, Yes Nanette
1961	77 Sunset Strip
1966	My Lucky Penny		Pilot
1971	Ironside
1972	Night Gallery
1974	Twas the Night Before Christmas	Narrator Mr. Trundel
1974	The Carol Burnett Show	Gary	Segment: "Carol and Sis"
1976	The Muppet Show	Himself	Guest
1981	Paddington	Himself	Host
1982	Alice	Himself
1982	The Yeomen of the Guard	Jack Point
1987	Queenie
1991	Dallas	Adam
1992	Brooklyn Bridge	Jacob Prossman	Nominated - Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series
1994	Matlock	Tommy DeLuca	Episode: "The Murder Game"
1995	The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True	Narrator of Kansas / Professor Marvel / Gatekeeper of Emerald City / Coachman of "Horse of a Different Color" / Doorman to the Wizard's Palace / The Wizard	Television stage performance benefiting the Children's Defense Fund
1996	Star Trek: Voyager	Caylem
1999	The Outer Limits: Essence of Life	Dr. Neil Seward
2000	The Outer Limits: Simon Says	Gideon Banks
2000	Buffy the Vampire Slayer	Doc	3 episodes
2001	Touched by an Angel	Ronald	2 episodes
2003	Oz	Lemuel Idzik
2003	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Milton Winters
2005	Alias	Another Mr. Sloane
2005	Crossing Jordan	Carl Meisner, Amnesia Victim	Episode: "Forget Me Not"
2006	House	Dr. Ezra Powell	Episode: "Informed Consent"
2007	Brothers & Sisters	Dr. Jude Bar-Shalom
2009	Private Practice	Dr. Alexander Ball	Episode: "Nothing to Fear"
2009	Grey's Anatomy	Dr. Singer
2013	Warehouse 13	Monty the Magnificent
2014	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Hank Kasserman	Episode: "Keep Calm and Carry On"

Stage

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1951	Borscht Capades		Credited as Joel Kaye
1961	Come Blow Your Horn	Buddy Baker
1962	Stop the World - I Want to Get Off	Littlechap
1965	Half a Sixpence	Arthur Kipps
1966	Cabaret	Master of Ceremonies	Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical
1969	George M!	George M. Cohan	Nominated - Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
1975	Goodtime Charley	Charley	Nominated - Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical Nominated - Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
1979	The Grand Tour	S. L. Jacobowsky	Nominated - Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical Nominated - Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
1987	Cabaret	Master of Ceremonies	Nominated - Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical
1991	When We Dead Awaken		American Repertory Theatre's production at the Sao Paulo Biennale, directed by Robert Wilson
1996	Chicago	Amos Hart	Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical
2003	Wicked	The Wizard of Oz
2011	Anything Goes	Moonface Martin

[ Source: Wikipedia ]