Joel Grey

Grey in a publicity photo in 1955

Grey started his career, at age 10,[6] 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.[7][8] By 1952, at age 20, he was appearing as a featured performer at the Copacabana nightclub in New York. He changed his last name from Katz to Grey early in his career due to the stigma associated with having a surname with an obvious ethnicity attached.[9] Grey made his Broadway acting debut in Borscht Capades where he was credit as "Joel Kaye". He returned to Broadway in The Littlest Revue in 1956 and acted as a replacement in Neil Simon's Come Blow Your Horn in 1961 and the musicals Stop the World – I Want to Get Off in 1962, and Half a Sixpence in 1965.

He started his professional television career on The Colgate Comedy Hour from 1951 to 1954. He then took on roles in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Grey appeared in several TV westerns including Maverick (1959), Bronco (1960) and Lawman (3 times in 1960 and 1961).

Grey with Ann Sothern and Don Porter on The Ann Sothern Show, 1960

Grey gained his breakthrough performance originating the role of the Master of Ceremonies in the Broadway musical Cabaret by John Kander and Fred Ebb in 1966. He received raves for his role as the malevolent and sinister emcee of the Kit Kat Club. He won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical.

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. His followup role on Broadway was as George M. Cohan in the 1968 musical George M!. Grey was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical and received the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Performance.

Grey reprised his role as the Master of Ceremonies in the 1972 Bob Fosse directed film version of Cabaret. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in March 1973 for his performance.[10] 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.[11] For that role, Grey also won a 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,[10] and a Tony Award for his original stage performance six years prior, making him one of only ten people who have won both a Tony Award and an Academy Award for the same role.[12]

He was the guest star for the fifth episode of The Muppet Show in its first season in 1976, singing "Razzle Dazzle" from Chicago and "Willkommen" from Cabaret. He has performed at The Muny in St. Louis, Missouri, in roles such as George M. Cohan in George M! (1970 and 1992),[13] the Emcee in Cabaret (1971), and Joey Evans in Pal Joey (1983).[2] At the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Grey played the title role in their production of Platonov (1977). He returned to Broadway in the play Goodtime Charley (1975), and the musical The Grand Tour (1979).

Grey at the 45th Emmy Awards, 1993

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. He then acted in Steven Soderbergh's mystery thriller Kafka (1991), starring Jeremy Irons, Theresa Russell and Ian Holm. In 1991, he played Adam, a devil, in the final episode of the television series Dallas (1991).[14] That same year, Grey also appeared in the American Repertory Theatre's production of When We Dead Awaken at the Sao Paulo Biennale.

He narrated the animated film Tom and Jerry: The Movie (1992), and made a cameo appearance as himself in the Robert Altman film The Player (1992). The following year he starred in the Philip Haas drama film The Music of Chance (1993) alongside James Spader, Mandy Patinkin, M. Emmet Walsh, and Charles Durning. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. Later that year he starred in New York Stage & Film's production of John Patrick Shanley's A Fool and Her Fortune and received an Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series 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.[15][16] 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.[17]

He returned to Broadway as Amos Hart in the revival of the Bob Fosse musical Chicago (1996). Set in Chicago in the jazz age, the musical is based on a 1926 play of the same title by reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins, about actual criminals and crimes on which she reported. The story is a satire on corruption in the administration of criminal justice and the concept of the "celebrity criminal". The revival was well received and Grey earned the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical. In 1999, he starred in Brian Friel's Give Me Your Answer, Do! mounted by Roundabout Theatre Company.

Grey at the 2014 Peabody Awards

In 2000, Grey played Oldrich Novy in the Lars von Trier film Dancer in the Dark and acted in the musical film The Fantasticks and in the dark comedy Choke (2008). During this time he also appeared extensively on television. He had a recurring role as the evil reptilian demon Doc in The WB horror series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (2001), Lemuel Idzik in the HBO prison drama Oz (2003) and as Another Mr. Sloane in ABC series Alias (2005). He played a wealthy, paroled ex-convict on Law & Order: Criminal Intent (episode "Cuba Libre", 2003). 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).[16][18][19][20]

Grey originated the role of the Wizard of Oz in the Stephen Schwartz Broadway musical Wicked. Grey took over the role from Robert Morse who previously played the Wizard in the San Francisco tryout run at the Curran Theatre. It is based on the 1995 Gregory Maguire novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, in turn based on L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and its 1939 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film adaptation. Grey acted alongside Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth. The play received mixed reviews from critics but was an immediate financial hit. Grey was nominated for the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical.

Grey returned to Broadway in spring 2011 as Moonface Martin in the Roundabout Theatre Company revival of Anything Goes at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre.[21][22] Having previously portrayed Ned in the 1985 Off-Broadway production of Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart, he went on to co-direct the Tony Award-winning revival in 2011.[23] The following year he made a guest appearance in the Showtime series Nurse Jackie opposite Edie Falco. He also acted in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2014), and Park Bench with Steve Buscemi (2014).

He returned to Broadway in the 2016 revival of the Anton Chekov play The Cherry Orchard starring opposite Diane Lane, and Chuck Cooper. In 2018, Grey directed a Yiddish-language production of Fiddler on the Roof, which originated at the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, then transferred to Stage 42 Off-Broadway. The production became a surprise hit, running for over a year and winning the 2019 Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards for Best Musical Revival.[24] He had a cameo role in the Lin-Manuel Miranda directed musical Tick, Tick... Boom! (2021). In 2022 he acted as Morgan Bote, a recurring character in the FX drama series The Old Man starring Jeff Bridges and John Lithgow.