I was really into the acting scene now, auditioning around town for non-union plays that paid no money but provided me with the experience that I needed. To pay the rent I drove a cab which was good for acting as I could work whenever I wanted .I could go months without driving until I needed money, go down to the cab company in Long Island City, hand in my hack license, wait a couple of hours in the shape up and get a cab for the night. With no radio I was on my own and if I was doing a play, I would take the cab to the theater at 7:30, park outside, go in, do the show and then drive till 5am.
I started hanging out in the greatest actor's bar of all time "Jimmy Ray's" in the heart of the theater district on 46th and 8th ave.It was in a bad neighborhood with hookers patrolling up and down the street and pimp bars a few doors down.The owner was a retired cop which kept the gangsters and muggers out, for the most part. A fellow actor that I was doing a show with brought me there one night and I hung in there for the next 7 years. Up at the bar, I could hear different conversations about acting and careers, either talking about their own acting or criticizing or praising another actor. Here was a gathering place place of all kinds of show business people, from recognizable names to never was and has been actors,dancers from the chorus of Broadway shows, comediennes,writers, directors and the usual bar flies that inhabit any bar. I started to go in there a little at a time and leave. I wouldn't speak to anyone unless they spoke to me first. To be elbow to elbow with experienced working actors, listening to their stories of playing on Broadway or how much they hated Los Angeles.
Best of all were the out of work actors that went into Jimmy's daily , it was a great education. There was Owen who knew every piece of show business trivia, he could tell you who was the second ad on any major film and the names of the whole cast.Despite this talent, Owen lived in the state of financial disaster his whole life. Constantly being evicted, you could smell him when he entered the bar.Because Owen was known and respected within the theater community, aspiring actresses would have to endure hugs from him as Owen loved the ladies. It was hard not to gag when their bodies touched but it was part of the dues they had to pay.
Plenty of other assorted characters such as Tony, who did a movie with top billing over Sylvester Stallone, then beat a guy to death in a fight and did 10 years in prison. He used to sell nickle bags of pot on 9th Avenue and was the only non Peurtor Rican dealing in their hood.
Occasionally a big star, who hung in Jimmy's before the big time, would come in and sit at a booth with a couple of tag alongs. One by one the bar fly actors would go over to the star's booth and pay their respects, like he was the pope. I never did that and I can say now , I never kissed an ass in all my years as an actor. Maybe if I did I would have got more work but it is not a talent that comes easy for me. And it is a talent, I have seen actors work a room or party like it was second nature and make many contacts but I always felt awkward in those situations.
Some of these guys were in their 40's or 50's and living pretty bleak personnel lives. I was determined not to end up like them, throwing my whole life away, the chance to have a family,destined to work crappy part time jobs,to eventually die alone in a tiny studio apartment. That wasn't going to happen to me. I had to believe that,I had to believe I wouldn't end up like that because the audience likes me. I had to believe that. What other option's did I have? That fear made me work harder, if a writer called me at the last minute because he was doing a reading of his play and someone couldn't make it and he needed someone to play a role, I would drop everything I was doing and take the train to the city to do the reading. I left no stone unturned. If only I kept that fear when the door opened for me, I might have gone all the way but when I started to get some success I felt it was destiny and let my guard down, not in the work but in my relationships with other people in the business.
I started hanging out in the greatest actor's bar of all time "Jimmy Ray's" in the heart of the theater district on 46th and 8th ave.It was in a bad neighborhood with hookers patrolling up and down the street and pimp bars a few doors down.The owner was a retired cop which kept the gangsters and muggers out, for the most part. A fellow actor that I was doing a show with brought me there one night and I hung in there for the next 7 years. Up at the bar, I could hear different conversations about acting and careers, either talking about their own acting or criticizing or praising another actor. Here was a gathering place place of all kinds of show business people, from recognizable names to never was and has been actors,dancers from the chorus of Broadway shows, comediennes,writers, directors and the usual bar flies that inhabit any bar. I started to go in there a little at a time and leave. I wouldn't speak to anyone unless they spoke to me first. To be elbow to elbow with experienced working actors, listening to their stories of playing on Broadway or how much they hated Los Angeles.
Best of all were the out of work actors that went into Jimmy's daily , it was a great education. There was Owen who knew every piece of show business trivia, he could tell you who was the second ad on any major film and the names of the whole cast.Despite this talent, Owen lived in the state of financial disaster his whole life. Constantly being evicted, you could smell him when he entered the bar.Because Owen was known and respected within the theater community, aspiring actresses would have to endure hugs from him as Owen loved the ladies. It was hard not to gag when their bodies touched but it was part of the dues they had to pay.
Plenty of other assorted characters such as Tony, who did a movie with top billing over Sylvester Stallone, then beat a guy to death in a fight and did 10 years in prison. He used to sell nickle bags of pot on 9th Avenue and was the only non Peurtor Rican dealing in their hood.
Occasionally a big star, who hung in Jimmy's before the big time, would come in and sit at a booth with a couple of tag alongs. One by one the bar fly actors would go over to the star's booth and pay their respects, like he was the pope. I never did that and I can say now , I never kissed an ass in all my years as an actor. Maybe if I did I would have got more work but it is not a talent that comes easy for me. And it is a talent, I have seen actors work a room or party like it was second nature and make many contacts but I always felt awkward in those situations.
Some of these guys were in their 40's or 50's and living pretty bleak personnel lives. I was determined not to end up like them, throwing my whole life away, the chance to have a family,destined to work crappy part time jobs,to eventually die alone in a tiny studio apartment. That wasn't going to happen to me. I had to believe that,I had to believe I wouldn't end up like that because the audience likes me. I had to believe that. What other option's did I have? That fear made me work harder, if a writer called me at the last minute because he was doing a reading of his play and someone couldn't make it and he needed someone to play a role, I would drop everything I was doing and take the train to the city to do the reading. I left no stone unturned. If only I kept that fear when the door opened for me, I might have gone all the way but when I started to get some success I felt it was destiny and let my guard down, not in the work but in my relationships with other people in the business.
I WAS A WAITER AT JIMMIE'S IN THE 60'S , WHILE TAKING MY DANCE CLASSES DURING THE DAY.! wONDERFUL MEMORIES
ReplyDeleteMICHAEL McKENNA
Were you there in ‘68 and ‘69? That’s when I frequently hung out there after rehearsals.
DeleteMy brother Kevin Rodgers worked at Jimmy Ray's in the early 80s. He lives in Manhattan with his friend Ed. He works at Jimmy Ray's for quite a while. He told me some amazing stories about Faye Dunaway and how she would get drunk and dance but Jimmy Ray's didn't have a dance floor. He became really good friends with Geraldine Page and even read the eulogy at her funeral and sat with Sandy Duncan. I'm not exactly sure when my brother left Manhattan but I know he took a leave of absence from Jimmy Ray's to travel to Peru backpack the Inca Trail he was in Peru for 3 months. I believe she's really after he got back is when Jimmy raise burned down. After that my brother moved to Santa Fe New Mexico and wound up working in a restaurant there and becoming pretty good friends with Robert Redford
DeleteI had many a wonderful night there. Lots of great theater people to meet & drink with. John Ford Noonan, Al Pacino...I even met Toshiro Mifune & had a beer with him. Golden Age of NYC bars.
ReplyDeleteBack in the 60,'s and 70's my dad Michael Gazzo was a regular, does anyone have any stories to share?
ReplyDeleteYou bring back so many of my memories. I, too, spent a lot of regular time at Jimmy Ray’s. After rehearsal stops there with Al Pacino, Allen Garfield. I remember ordering only a beer and then eating most of the sugar cubes in the bowl on the table - my dinner, when things were tight. I lived at 49th and 9th...remember which pay phones were strictly used my drug dealers, and which were “civilian.”
ReplyDeleteThat's why the grilled cheese was more expensive than the cheeseburger. Jimmy didn't want you living off of chips and ketchup. (long time waiter)
DeleteIn answer to your question, in '68 & '69 I was in Philadelphia at The Theater of the Living Arts on South Street as a company member. We had NY actors come down and do shows (Like Judd Hersh and Danny DeVito). I didn't get to NYC and Jimmy's until about '74. What show were you rehearsing in '68?
ReplyDeleteDe Niro used to hang out there as well in the late 60s-early 70s
ReplyDeleteMy Uncle Hugh Gormley was the bartender there. Great memories.
ReplyDeleteI sang songs with the cast from Les Miz there after rehearsals and shows. I was 18 and green in NYC. My fave dive! And I was sad because right after I moved back to LA it burned down. I always wanted to return.
ReplyDeletel saw Jimmy few years ago down in Florida and talked regularly .He had a great memory of movie s and Broadway plays .Great stories of his bar
ReplyDeleteJimmy was my Grandfather, He sadly passed a few months ago
ReplyDeleteI loved Jimmy's! I talked to the then little-known Sigourney Weaver at the jukebox one night; she was surprised that I knew who she was. She was having dinner there with Rene Auberjonois.
ReplyDelete