Alan Safier

Alan Safier
Born	Alan Michael Safier (1949-06-03) June 3, 1949 (age 62) Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, singer, writer, producer
Years active	1972–present
Website
http://www.alansafier.com

Alan Safier (born June 3, 1949, Cleveland, Ohio) is an American stage, television, and voice-over actor, as well as a singer and recording artist, who is currently touring the United States as George Burns in the one-man show Say Goodnight Gracie^[1], by Rupert Holmes. He has also performed the play in New York off-Broadway.

Early life

Alan Michael Safier was born in Cleveland to Martha (née Wolk; 1913–2007), a homemaker, and Samuel Safier (1910–1965), a pharmacist, and grew up in suburban Shaker Heights with his two older brothers. He wrote a sports column for the school newspaper at Byron Junior High, was co-editor for the Mayfield High newspaper, and was a contributing editor for the Ohio University's The Post in Athens, Ohio.^{[citation needed]}

His first stage appearance was at the age of nine in an adaptation of Dr. Seuss's Bartholomew and the Oobleck. He continued acting in junior high, high school, teen theatre, summer stock, and community theatre productions, including a mounting of Michael Weller's Moonchildren at the renowned Cleveland multi-racial theatre Karamu House.^{[citation needed]}

Acting career

After receiving an MFA in Acting at Ohio University, Alan Safier debuted off-Broadway in another play called Say Goodnight, Gracie, this one written by Ralph Pape, directed by Austin Pendleton, and about neither George nor Gracie. In 1982 he was cast in the 30th anniversary revival of New Faces of 1952 ^[2], taking on the role originated by Ronny Graham, which included emceeing the show, doing a Truman Capote take-off (as "Mr. Kaput"), and performing in a comedy sketch written in the early 1950s by a young Mel Brooks. (Toward the end of the run, Eartha Kitt, who was in the 1952 Broadway production, joined the cast and re-created her original role.)

While living and working in New York in the 1970s/80s, he studied with acting teacher Wynn Handman and with Academy Award-winning actress Beatrice Straight. Other New York and regional credits include Steve Martin's The Underpants^[3], the off-Broadway comedy revue Scrambled Feet, Littlechap in Stop the World, I Want to Get Off, Bluntschli in Shaw's Arms & the Man, and Gratiano in The Merchant of Venice (in which he co-starred with legendary Group Theatre actor Morris Carnovsky).

Recently, he had a six-month run as Herb Schwartz in the comedy-drama, The Last Schwartz^[4] at Hollywood's Zephyr Theatre. Other California credits include the homeless Vietnam veteran Lou in Steve Tesich's The Speed of Darkness, Michael in the L.A. premiere of The Men from the Boys^[5],(Mart Crowley's sequel to The Boys in the Band), Stephen in Dealer's Choice by Patrick Marber, Frenchy in Clifford Odets's Rocket to the Moon, and Buddy Fidler in City of Angels.^[6]

In the fall of 2008, he earned the role of George Burns in the Tony-nominated Say Goodnight Gracie (the one-man show that starred Frank Gorshin on Broadway), and continues performing it in theaters and performing arts centers all across the U.S., as well as off-Broadway. In addition to Burns, Safier has played several famous and infamous persons in his stage career: Albert Einstein in the world-premiere musical The Smartest Man in the World, John Adams in 1776, and Spiro Agnew in Gore Vidal's An Evening with Richard M. Nixon. He co-starred as Charles J. Guiteau in the Los Angeles premiere of Stephen Sondheim's Assassins.^[7]

Safier recently played the title role, Sganarelle, in Sheldon Harnick's new musicalization of the classic Moliere farce, The Doctor in Spite of Himself at the Inge Festival Theatre.^[8]

Other accomplishments

Safier may be familiar to audiences for hundreds of voice-overs. He appeared on Passions^[9], Days of Our Lives, and Generations. His most recent prime-time guest-star appearance was on The Wizards of Waverly Place.

Safier teaches voice-over workshops at theatre festivals and universities across the country, and is the author of the play, My Father's Voice, as well as several published short stories.^[10] Since 2003, he has been a frequent guest artist at the annual William Inge Theatre Festival in Independence, Kansas. His CD of standards from the 1930s and 1940s, Alan Safier Sings the Songs of George & Gracie's Heyday ^[11] was released in 2011.

He is currently adapting Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol into a one-actor musical called Humbug! with words and music by Harnick and Michel Legrand,^[12] which is scheduled to begin touring in late 2012.

Personal life

Alan Safier currently lives in New York City.

References