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Gregory Rozakis | |
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| Born | January 30, 1943 Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Died | August 24, 1989 (aged 46) Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Education | Erasmus Hall High School New York University |
| Occupations | Actor, playwright |
| Years active | 1961–1988 |
Gregory Rozakis (January 30, 1943 – August 24, 1989) was an American character actor and playwright, perhaps best remembered as Kim Stanley's son in William Inge's play, Natural Affection, the Christ-like Armenian immigrant in Elia Kazan's America America, and as Charlie Chaplin in Francis Ford Coppola's The Cotton Club.
Born January 30, 1943 in Park Slope, Brooklyn, Rozakis was the eldest of two children born to waiter and later restaurant manager Stavros Rozakis and Stella Tsambarlis. He attended Erasmus Hall High School, New York University, and studied with Lee Strasberg.
In November 1962, Rozakis's teleplay, Chalk Marks on a Brick Wall (adapted from his like-named stage play, in which he had appeared, Off-Broadway, the previous year), served as his small screen writing/acting debut on the CBS series Lamp Unto My Feet.
In 1963, he made his Broadway debut in William Inge's Natural Affection, alongside Kim Stanley, Harry Guardino, and Tom Bosley. Although the play received mixed reviews and closed after just 30 performances, the critics were considerably more impressed, none more so than Martin Gottfried, who said the play was "blessed with a quartet of magnificent performances", then briefly summarized the contributions of Rozakis's three co-stars before addressing what he judged the production's most memorable asset.
But it is Gregory Rozakis, making his Broadway debut, whom you will never forget. His aching misery as that boy is staggering and at the play's end he becomes a monumentally tragic figure, almost soaring off the stage and into mid-air in a violence of revenge.
In an interview published later that year in the magazine, Teen Hit Parader, Rozakis confessed that, as much as he enjoyed his current success, in the long run, he viewed acting as merely the means to an end.
In fact, I'd like to achieve the security of a successful actor, then devote myself exclusively to writing. But right now, I'm more valuable to myself as an actor than as a playwright. I'm selling my youth on the stage and screen. This country has a fetish for youth – People can't seem to get enough of it. It's almost pathetic. I'm not so good-looking, but I am young — and I'm not such a bad actor.
In 1970, Rozakis's modern adaptation of Euripides' Orestes, starring Rozakis and, with music by Mark Shangold and lyrics by Andrew Amic-Angelo, debuted in 1970, and was revived in February 1973
In his penultimate feature film, The Cotton Club, Rozakis finally had the opportunity to realize one of his longstanding ambitions, that of portraying one of his earliest role models as a multi-hyphenate, Charlie Chaplin, one of those, who, as he put it (also citing Orson Welles), "did everything".
Rozakis's final film, John Patrick Shanley's Five Corners, featured Rozakis as one of a pair of neighborhood cops not quite up to the task of rescuing Jodie Foster's character from the neighborhood bad egg, Heinz (John Turturro). His portrayal—along Turturro's and that of Rose Gregorio as Heinz's mother—was dubbed one of the film's "especially great performances" by Cleveland Plain Dealer entertainment editor, Joanna Connors.
A few months after Five Corners' release, Rozakis's name appeared in the New York Daily News, as a private citizen and Brooklyn resident, offering his emphatic thumbs up—and unabashed "love letter"–to recently crowned Oscar-winner, Moonstruck's Cher Bono.
[As] an actor with many years' experience, I've always maintained that an Academy Award should be given those actors and actresses not only who give a superbrilliant performance in film, but whose characterization and performance somehow make us feel like a zillion dollars and grateful we were born. As brilliant as Meryl Streep, Glenn Close, Holly Hunter, and poor, dear Sally Kirkland were in their respective movies, it was only Cher who made me feel like a zillion and happy that I was born. Cher, this is my love letter to you! -Greg Rozakis, Brooklyn
On August 24, 1989, Rozakis died of complications from HIV at Brooklyn's New York Methodist Hospital, survived by his mother Stella, and by a sister, Marcella. His remains are interred at Green-wood Cemetery.
He was 46 years old and lived in Manhattan. When he was 18 years old, Mr. Rozakis's play 'Chalk Marks on a Brick Wall' was produced Off Broadway, and he acted in it. The play was presented on television by CBS. Another of his plays, 'The Class,' was also produced Off Broadway. At 19, Mr. Rozakis was selected by the director Elia Kazan for the role of the Christ symbol in the film America, America. He appeared in several other films, including The Cotton Club, in which he portrayed Charlie Chaplin. He made his Broadway acting debut as Kim Stanley's son in William Inge's Natural Affection. He was a guest star in many television series, including, Starsky and Hutch, Baretta, Lou Grant and Kojak.
Playwright and actor GREGORY ROZAKIS, 46, died of complications from AIDS Aug. 24 at Methodist Hospital in Brooklyn. [...] Broadway acting debut in William Inge's 'Natural Affection,' produced and acted in the Off-Broadway play 'Chuck [sic] Marks on a Brick Wall' when he was 18. His play 'The Class' was also produced Off-Broadway and he acted in films including 'America, America' and 'The Cotton Club.' He is survived by his mother Stella and a sister, Marcella.
The play is blessed with a quartet of magnificent performances [...] But it is Gregory Rozakis, making his Broadway debut, whom you will never forget. His aching misery as that boy is staggering and at the play's end he becomes a monumentally tragic figure, almost soaring off the stage and into mid-air in a violence of revenge.
The episodic tale of gangsters in 1920's Harlem is better viewed as a series of vignettes on dancing, backstage life, and gangsterism, rather than a coherent story. [...] The scenes of Charles 'Honi' Coles, a veteran, highly inventive tap dancer strutting his stuff, and Gregory Rozakis, in a brilliant cameo of Charlie Chaplin, represent what is best about 'The Cotton Club' – short takes that stand well on their own, but do not necessarily a movie make.
Ralph Votapek, the 22-year-old winner of the $10,000 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition held two months ago will appear on television on Dec. 9. [...] Senator Hubert Humphrey, Democrat of Minnesota, and Hugh Scott, Republican of Pennsylvania, will meet in a one-hour debate over the National Broadcasting Company television and radio networks. [...] 'Chalk Marks on a Brick Wall,' described as 'a modern morality play,' will be shown on the Columbia Broadcasting System television network's 'Lamp Unto My Feet' on Sunday, Nov. 4, from 10 to 10:30 A.M. The author, Gregory Rozakis, 19, wrote the play two years ago. He is also an actor and will appear in 'America, America,' a film being made by Elia Kazan in Greece and Turkey.
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