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Page 8 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE April 7, 1*78
FRED’S
DELICATESSEN & KOSHER MEATS
1403 N. Highland Ave.(across from Food Giant)
876-1029
Under Strict Orthodox Rabbinical Supervision
Prices Effective Only April 9 thru April 14
Specials This Week *
Beef Short Ribs
(excellent for BBQ)
Tender Steer LIVER
Hanging Tenders
Lean Ground Beef
California Chuck Roast
.1.19 lb.
.1.19 lb.
.1.99 lb.
.1.39 lb.
.1.79 lb.
• BARTON’S Passover Candies
• Delicatessen Platters
for all occassions
• LUNDY’S, GLATT ©& EMPIRE
Frozen Items Available
HOURS
SUNDAY 9 A.M.- 4 P.M.
MON.— THURS. 8 A.M.- 6 P.M.
FRIDAY 8 A.M.- 4 P.M.
CLOSED SATURDAY
PASSOVER BULLETIN: PASSOVER 1978
Begins April 21 and ends April 29.
Woody Allen’s friend
tames the shrew on stage
by Mm Redacted
It’s a long road from “Annie
Hall” to Shakespeare but actor
Tony Roberts has bridged the gap.
Roberts is in Atlanta to play
Petruchio in “The Taming of the
Shrew” at the Alliance Theatre. A
close friend of Woody Allen,
Roberts appeared in “Annie Hall”
and “Play It Again, Sam.”
Roberts finds a big difference in
acting on the stage versus
performing in front of movie
cameras.
“With acting on stage you have a
direct rapport with the audience. If
they’re getting bored, they start
coughing or opening up their
pocketbooks. But when making a
movie, you only tape about two
minutes at a time. Sometimes you
might redo a scene 18 million
times. And just when you come out
with your most wonderful smile,
they say ‘cut’,” Roberts said.
But on the other side of the coin,
Roberts finds that you don’t make
as much money or reach as many
people on stage as you do making a
movie.
“Both have their advantages and
disadvantages. I need both to
survive,” he said as he picked up
his egg salad sandwich during an
interview at a local coffee shop.
Does someone like Tony
Roberts ever get stage fright?
“All the time. I get rtat/ous
unless I’ve done file part over and
over. But it’s good to be nervous. A
performance is hard to give when
you’re not. Stage fright keys you
up and energizes you. It’s valuable
and is seldom crippling. Of course,
everyone has the “actor’s dream”
that the stage curtain is going up
and you can’t remember your
lines,” he said.
Roberts was brought up Jewish
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although it did not seem to play a
major role in his life. Acting did.
He never wanted to be anything
but an actor.
"That was the one thing I was
praised for while growing up. I was
not terribly athletic and was
always very overweight. At the
time my father was in television
and radio and my cousin was the
actor Everett Sloan.”
Woody Allen has been a friend
of Roberts for eight or nine years,
ever since Roberts was cast in the
Tony Roberts
lead in Allen’s “Don’t Drink the
Water.” When asked if he thought
Woody Allen portrayed a Jewish
person in a uncomplimentary way,
he defended his friend.
“1 don’t think Woody Allen
spares anyone. His point of view
about the world is a little off. But 1
do know that I have never known
anyone who was prouder or more
willing to spend money for the
Jewish people. He is such a
defender of his Jewishness. I
remember once in Times Square,
when he had to be physically
restrained because there was a
Nazi group marching. Woody
d idn’t care if he got hurt or arrested
just so he could stop those
marchers. Finally, someone had to
hold him back so he wouldn’t get
into trouble. He just has a great
sense of social justice for
everyone,” Roberts said.
Roberts enjoys working with
both Woody Allen and Diane
Keaton and finds it a “perfect
situation." He had no idea that
“Annie Hall" would ever win an
Oscar for “Best Picture" as it did
this year.
“I was just stunned. I couldn't
believe it. I tried to call Woody the
next day and either he wasn't home
or wasn’t answering his phone,”
Roberts said.
In addition to working with
Woody Allen, Roberts also acted
with A1 Pacino in “Serpico.” He
found working with Pacino just as
easy as working with Allen.
“As soon as a camera stops,
everyone becomes who they are.
Sometimes the mood is light and
sometimes the mood is serious. 1
really had a lot of fun in “Serpico.”
A1 Pacino is a generous actor,
considerate and serious about it
all. He is hugely talented,” Roberts
said.
But Roberts did not go to the
top right away. He got his
beginning while in his 20s when he
became a professional actor in a
soap opera.
“You wouldn't believe soap
operas. I thihk the experience is
very good, but the content is pure
garbage. All you do as an actor is
sit down with the other actors and
actresses and drink coffee on stage.
Soap operas cover one event a
week. Something will happen on
Thursday and possibly Friday, but
on Monday, Tuesday and
Wednesday, you sit and drink
coffee and recap what has
happened those other two days,”
he said.
When Roberts was appearing in
soap operas he found that people
he met on the streets felt a
compulsion to touch him.
“When you’re in a soap opera it’s
different from being in a movie.
You come into their living rooms
and kitchens while they’re ironing
in their bathrobes. They feel they
know you personally and so when
they see you in the grocery store or
out to dinner, they feel they are
entitled to touch you. It’s a very,
very scary thing,” Roberts recalls.
On meeting Tony Roberts, it is
obvious why he’s recognized. He
has the kind of face that’s easy to
recognize. His eyes are warm and
right now he is growing a beard for
his role in the “Taming of the
Shrew." He likes the recognition
but at the same time would like a
life of his own.
“It’s hard not to like recognition.
People treat you with great
deference. Sometimes it’s nice to
be recognized. To be ‘oohed and
ahhed’ when you dress up and go
out, and to get the best tables at
restaurants,” he said.
When Roberts is not acting, and
is home in New York, he does
auditions for voice-over
commercials. He also goes to the
gym twice a week, does laundry,
goes to the bank, to the grocery
store and spends time being a part-
time father. He is divorced and has
a seven-year-old son who lives
close to him.
Tony Roberts has not found any
problem with his being Jewish in
the films but recently he got a
“terrible letter” from someone
Jewish at Emory.
"The writer told me that I was
one of those Jewish actors who
tries to pose as a non-Jew. And
why did 1 try to conceal my religion
by changing my name to Roberts.
The truth of the matter is that my
father changed the name when He
was on network news on CBS,
because his original name was too
hard to pronounce. So 1 was born
with the name Roberts."
He enjoys being in Atlanta and
has found “The Taming of the
Shrew” going very smoothly, but
hesitates to answer the question
whether he’s the male chauvinist
that he portrays in “The Taming of
the Shrew."
“1 think the play is timely and
anyone can relate to it. If you've
been in a relationship, I’m sure you
can see yourself somewhere in the
play," Roberts said.
After Atlanta, Roberts does not
have definite plans except to go
back to New York, which is a city
he likes very much.
“After this play I plan to go back
and continue acting. Acting can be
difficult. Every level that you
succeed, a lot of other people are at
the same level. If you remain in the
same place then you are going
backwards. You're always
thinking to yourself, ‘wow, if I
could just get that part in that
movie or get that part in that play.’
Acting is hard all the way.”
