Chapter Eight - "Would You Like More Kugel, Dear?"

It was unusual to get a feature extra role just from your photograph but that happened to me several times over my film career. That was partly because of my looks but also because by this time, I had a number of really nice people from my agent to the casting agents and even a few assistant directors advocating for me.
I showed up at a movie studio on Dufferin Street near the entrance to the CNE at the appointed hour. It was a wardrobe call, so that meant I was getting paid. As I made my way through the building, I kept meeting old colleagues who had already heard about the various roles when they had checked into wardrobe. There was a board with head shots of all the principle actors, Brian Dennehy, Eli Wallach, Maria Conchita Alonzo, Al Waxman and Kate Reid and they told me, ‘my picture’.
My extra friends thought that I had really hit the ‘big time’ with that kind of focus and attention and they congratulated me. Several also mentioned how much that I looked like Brian Dennehy. I still had no idea what my role was at this point, so I thanked them and walked on very puzzled by the comments.
I finally got to wardrobe, got fitted and put on my movie clothes. The wardrobe mistress advised that I was going to play Brian Dennehy’s brother in a film called ‘Teamster Boss, The Jackie Presser Story’. She also mentioned how much I looked like Brian Dennehy, who had the title role and that was obviously why I was cast.
I was asked to wait in a special area where I would soon meet with a photographer who was going to take some family portraits of my movie wife and me for background scenery. So I proceeded to the waiting room. Just as I entered Brian Dennehy came in from another door and the two of us met in the middle of the room. We had worked together before so I said hello and shook his hand and then suddenly all the mysterious comments about us looking alike made sense.
Dennehy had a wig on that absolutely matched my receding hairline and his prosthetic nose, designed to make him look like the real Jackie Presser, was an absolute match for mine.
“Brian,” I said pointing to his remodeled face, “they made you look like me!”
“Oh Christ. I hope not!” he answered, as we both had a great laugh.
A few days later I went to a beautiful home in the west end where they were shooting our scene and we assembled in the dining room. It was a dinner scene where the family had gathered for a holiday meal and my siblings were Dennehy and Al Waxman of King of Kensington fame, Our Mother and Father were Kate Reid and Eli Wallach.
Dennehy’s wife was Maria Conchita Alonzo and Waxman’s wife was the Toronto actress Libby Lenny. My wife was a really lovely young actress but her name is lost to me.
To be on this set, in such an intimate setting with these incredible actors, was one of the highlights of my film career. While waiting for the set to be prepared we chatted about some great scenes that I had seen these amazing stars in recently.
I had just watched Eli Wallach in Godfather 3, where he played the duplicitous Don Altobello and hearing him talk about his opera scene with Talia Shear was very memorable. When Connie Corleone convinces the old Don that the cannoli she has given him as a gift is safe by taking a small bite, it is pure movie magic. For an acting lesson and to understand how skilful editing can make a shot, watch the scene as Connie peers from her box seat waiting to see if Altobello eats his poisoned pastry.
In the ‘sammy break’ later, Eli Wallach graciously indulged my questions about working on ‘spaghetti westerns’with Clint Eastwood for Sergio Leone.
Maria Conchita Alonzo was fabulously beautiful and vivacious and talked about how her family escaped from Cuba. I had just seen here in a film Vampire’s Kiss with Nicholas Cage where he plays a deranged business man who believes he is a vampire. She is brilliant in this film and plays a subtle counterpoint to Cage’s over the top performance.
One thing that you would never see on film was that she has a weird involuntary ‘tic’ thing that she does with her mouth, opening it in a strange way and making a funny face.

In one of our scenes, Kate Reid, one of Canada’s most renowned character actresses, was to deliver a line to Maria. She smiles warmly at Maria and was to ask, “Would you like more Kugel, dear?” This would normally have been a cinch for Kate but she was quite ill. None of us realized that she would die a few months later and she was having trouble focusing.
The director would shout ‘action’ and Kate would say,
“Would you like some more Kreigle, dear?”
The director would shout “cut” and then gently remind Kate that it was “Kugel”.
“Oh, yes. Kugel. Of course. Kugel.” Kate would say.
We would try again.
“Would you like some more ‘kaygle’, dear?”
“Cut…….Kate, shall we call the script person?” The director asked.
“Oh. No. No. What is it again?” Kate asked.
Al Waxman piped up, “Kate, it is like a cake pudding. My mother used to make it all the time. It is called Kugel.”
After several more attempts all with absurd variations on the word ‘Kugel”, the director asked for the script girl and he said that “Not to worry, we would change the line.”
“Oh. No. Not at all. “ said Kate. “I will get it!”
But she was not very convincing and what at first seemed rather funny was suddenly making us all feel a little embarrassed and sad about the inability of this wonderful actress to deliver a simple line.
Kate persisted and we did the take two or three more times, with all of us feeling the exasperation of what seemed almost hopeless. Many of us were now mouthing the word “Kugel” at the crucial moment.
And then suddenly Kate got it.
It was a ‘cut’ and ‘a wrap’ and one of the Assistant Directors helped Kate back to her trailer and we all took a well deserved break.