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Joel Grey, a Broadway Eminence, Comes of Age at 83 Joel Grey in his Manhattan apartment.Credit...Brad Torchia for The New York TimesThe view of the Hudson River from Joel Grey’s apartment on West Street is enchanting, even on a murky day, with a drizzle of rain fogging the long wall of high windows. But during a recent interview Mr. Grey rarely looked in that direction. He was focused instead on his new memoir, “Master of Ceremonies,” published by Flatiron Books this month.
At 83, he felt that at last the time had come to explore in depth the distinctive, surprising, occasionally traumatic arc of his life and career.
“I think it was a kind of coming-of-age — a late coming-of-age,” he said with a laugh. “Finally feeling on top of it; ready to accept all the good stuff; I wake up joyous looking out at the water, feeling so lucky.”
Despite his successes on stage and screen — that rare Tony and Oscar for the same role, the M.C. in “Cabaret” — Mr. Grey has not always felt that luck was on his side. As his book reveals, the journey from child actor to teenage nightclub phenomenon (who knew?) to established Broadway name contained its share of bumps, and his personal life was no less rife with conflict and complication.
Sitting on a couch facing those windows, looking neat and dapper even in slouchy sweatshirt and sweatpants, Mr. Grey began by noting that the process of writing the book was not always a comfortable one. “It was so intense,” he said. “I found myself remembering things I didn’t know I remembered, and finally responding to things today, in writing, that I could not bear when they were happening. I’d shut off and go on to the next thing.”
Image Joel Grey in his dressing room at the Imperial Theater in 1987, preparing for a performance in “Cabaret.”Credit...Sara Krulwich/The New York TimesThank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
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