Biography

Al Waxman

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Al Waxman was born on March 2, 1935 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was an actor and director, known for Cagney & Lacey (1981), Heavy Metal (1981) and The Hurricane (1999). He was married to Sara. He died on January 18, 2001 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Adjunct Professor of Theatre and Film at York University, 1986-96. Member of the Order of Canada 1997. From 2000, on the board of directors of the Toronto Arts Council.
Acted in live radio drama for CBC from the age of 17. Studied acting and dance at the Playhouse Theatre in New York. In 1961, got his first break in films while in London (The War Lover (1962), with Steve McQueen).
Was filming scenes for his new TV series, Twice in a Lifetime (1999), at the time of his death.
Son of Tauba Brandla (Glas) and Aron Waksman/Waxman, who were Polish Jewish emigrants, from Swietokrzyskie.
He was awarded the C.M. (Member of the Order of Canada)on November 14, 1996 for his services to the performing arts in Canada.

[on John Hirsch after a dispute on the King of Kensington (1975) set]: He had the same explosiveness as I did. He and I were one. He was eccentric, but he was practical too. He didn't make [the production staff] apologize. He just came to me and said, 'I'm apologizing. You're right. Everybody knows what you're doing for the guest stars. Please keep it up'.
As an actor you have a sort of filing cabinet in your mind. if you're sitting in the subway, you're always studying people and you file them back there in your mind. They'll show up some day in one of the characters you portray.
I've had this same nightmare often over the years, and it is that I go onstage and forget my script. I'm standing there empty. It's disastrous, and then I wake up. In reality it's a nightmare that has never happened, but I've had embarrassing moments in auditions where your confidence just drops out of you. As I've gotten older, with more reputation and therefore more at stake, I've gotten worse at audition.
I must have seen The Jolson Story (1946) twenty-seven times. I was just smitten by Al Jolson. He had such an unbelievable impact on the audience, and I wanted to do that, too.

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