Known for:	The Producers, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, The Front
Birth name:	Samuel Joel Mostel
Birthday:	28 February 1915, Brooklyn, New York, USA

One of the "12" blacklisted by the house of Un-American activities commitee in the 1950s. Father of sons Josh Mostel (b. 1946) and Tobias Mostel (b. 1949). Tony Award winner 1961 for "Rhinoceros." Tony Award winner 1964 for "Fiddler On The Roof." Blacklisted in the 1950s. Nathan Lane starred on Broadway, and in the 2005 movie, as Max Bialystock in The Producers and on Broadway as Pseudolus in "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum". Zero Mostel played both characters in the earlier film versions. He drank so much coffee that he was once hospitalized for caffeine poisoning. According to his wishes, he had no funeral or "any memorial service to mark (his) passing." Won three Tony Award: as Best Actor (Dramatic) in1961 for "Rhinoceros," and as Best Actor (Musical) in 1963 for "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" and in 1965 for "Fiddler on the Roof." He was also nominated in 1974 as Best Actor (Dramatic) for "Ulysses in Nighttown." He testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee on October 14, 1955. In a playful mood, he told the Committee that he was employed by "19th Century-Fox." He told the Committee that he would gladly discuss his own conduct but was prohibited by religious convictions from naming others. His refusal to name names resulted in his "blacklisting," and he did not star in a film for another 11 years. In the 1950s, he bumped into Elia Kazan on the street in New York City, and the two reminisced. Kazan said Mostel chided him for putting Mostel through the paces in Panic in the Streets , forcing him to run more than he ever had. But as the drinks set in, legend has it, Mostel kept muttering, in reference to Kazan's HUAC testimony, "Ya shouldn't a done that. Ya shouldn't a done that."

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