Fyvush Finkel

Fyvush Finkel

Born: October 9, 1922
Age: 101
Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York, United States
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Biography

Philip "Fyvush" Finkel (born October 9, 1922) is an American actor known as a star of Yiddish theater and for his role as lawyer Douglas Wambaugh on the television series Picket Fences, for which he earned an Emmy Award in 1994. He is also known for his portrayal of Harvey Lipschultz, a crotchety U.S. history teacher, on the TV series Boston Public.

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Early life

Finkel was born at home in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, New York, the third of four sons of Jewish immigrant tailor Harry Finkel (from Warsaw) and housewife Mary (from Minsk). He adopted the stage name "Fyvush", a common Yiddish given name.

Career

Finkel first appeared on the stage at age 9, and acted for almost 35 years in the thriving Yiddish theaters of the Yiddish Theater District of Manhattan's Lower East Side, as well as performing as a standup comic in the Catskill's Borscht Belt. In 2008 he recalled:

I played child parts till I was 14, 15, then my voice changed. So I decided to learn a trade and went to a vocational high school in New York. I studied to be a furrier, but I never worked at it. As soon as I graduated high school, I went to a stock company in Pittsburgh, a Jewish theater, and I played there for 38 weeks, and that's where I actually learned my trade a little bit as an adult.

He worked regularly until the ethnic venues began dying out in the early 1960s, then made his Broadway theatre debut in the original 1964 production of the musical Fiddler on the Roof, joining the cast as Mordcha, the innkeeper, in 1965. The production ran through July 2, 1972. Finkel then played Lazar Wolf, the butcher, in the limited run 1981 Broadway revival, and eventually played the lead role of Tevye the milkman for years in the national touring company.

Shortly afterward, Finkel succeeded Hy Anzell in the role of Mr. Mushnik in the Off-Broadway musical Little Shop of Horrors. Then in 1988, Finkel's work as "Sam" in the New York Shakespeare Festival revival of the Yiddish classic Cafe Crown earned him an Obie Award and a Drama Desk nomination.

Finkel made his movie debut in the English-subtitled, Yiddish sketch-comedy revue Monticello, Here We Come (1950), then after small parts in an episode of the television series Kojak in 1977 and the miniseries Evergreen in 1985, returned to film in the detective comedy Off Beat (1986). That same year saw a role opposite Robin Williams in a PBS American Playhouse adaptation of Saul Bellow's novel Seize the Day, and a role in the film adaptation of Neil Simon's Broadway comedy Brighton Beach Memoirs. An appearance as a lawyer in director Sidney Lumet's Q & A (1990) led TV producer-writer David E. Kelley to cast Finkel as public defender Douglas Wambaugh in the television series Picket Fences (CBS, 1992-1996). For the role, Finkel earned a 1994 Emmy Award, announcing at the televised ceremonies that he had waited 51 years for that moment.

Following the end of Picket Fences, Finkel had a regular role on the short-lived revival of Fantasy Island (ABC, 1998) and then reteamed with writer-producer Kelley to play history teacher Harvey Lipschultz in Boston Public (Fox, 2000-2004).

Through the 1990s and 2000s, Finkel has appeared in movies including Nixon and The Crew, guested on TV series including Chicago Hope, Law & Order, Early Edition, and Hollywood Squares, and provided voiceovers for episodes of the animated series The Simpsons ("Lisa's Sax") and Aaahh!!! Real Monsters ("Ickis! You'll Be Snorched!") and the animated direct-to-video feature The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars. In 2009, he appeared in the Coen brothers' film A Serious Man, and in 2013 had a guest appearance in Blue Bloods ("Men In Black")

Finkel has continued to appear onstage in productions as Fyvush Finkel: From Second Avenue to Broadway (1997) and Classic Stage Company's historical drama New Jerusalem (2007), by playwright David Ives.

Personal life

Finkel was married to Trudi Lieberman from March 1947 until her death in 2008. They had two sons: Ian, a musical arranger, and Elliot, a concert pianist.

Awards

  • American Comedy Award, Picket Fences 1993.
  • Emmy Award, Supporting Actor in a Dramatic Series, Picket Fences 1993-1994.
  • Obie Award: Performance, Cafe Crown 1988-1989.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1986 Off Beat Vendor
1986 Seize the Day Shomier
1986 Brighton Beach Memoirs Mr. Greenblat
1990 Q&A Preston Pearlstein
1991 Mobsters Tailor
1993 The Pickle Mr. Shacknoff
1993 For Love or Money Milton Glickman
1995 Aaron's Magic Village Narrator
1995 Nixon Murray Chotiner Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
1998 The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars Hearing Aid
2000 The Crew Sol Lowenstein
2009 A Serious Man Dybbuk Nominated—Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cast

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1977 Kojak Simon Episode: "Kojak Days: Part 1"
1992-1996 Picket Fences Douglas Wambaugh 85 episodes
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Nominated—Viewers for Quality Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Quality Drama Series
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Series, Miniseries or Television Film
Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
Nominated—Viewers for Quality Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Quality Drama Series
1995 Chicago Hope Douglas Wambaugh Episode: "Small Sacrifices"
1995 Aaahh!!! Real Monsters Jackie Jarr 2 episodes
1995 Great Performances Himself Episode: "Itzhak Perlman: In the Fiddler's House"
1996-1999 Early Edition Phil Kazakian 2 episodes
1996 Rugrats Shlomo Episode: "Chanukah"
1997 The Simpsons Himself as Krusty the Clown (voice) Episode: "Lisa's Sax"
1998-1999 Fantasy Island Fisher 13 episodes
2000-2004 Boston Public Harvey Lipschultz 63 episodes
2000-2003 Hollywood Squares Himself 10 episodes
2007 The Wedding Bells Saul Finkelstein Episode: "For Whom the Bells Toll"
2011 Harry's Law Abe Gold Episode: "The Rematch"
2013 Blue Bloods Moishe Episode: "Men in Black"
Charities

Fyvush Finkel supports the following charitable cause: Environment.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]


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