ENTERTAINMENT (3) xals.mt HORN PI ME PO 0 13 Comedian, Actor Is At The Top OF SOUTHFIELD 353-3232 Thank Everyone For Their Wonderful Support During Our New Ownership and Management Change 26200 W. 12 Mile Road, Just East of Northwestern Hwy. We Gratefully Wish All Our Customers and Friends The Very Best in Health and Happiness On The New Year DAILY DINNER SPECIAL GOOD ANYDAY! ANYHOUR! OPEN 24 HOURS 7 DAYS A WEEK FRESH BROILED WHITE FISH $ 649 INCLUDES: SOUP OR SALAD OR COLE SLAW, VEGETABLE & POTATO & ROLL & BUTTER. EVERYTHING ON OUR MENU, INCLUDING SPECIALS, ALSO AVAILABLE FOR CARRY-OUT Offer Expires 12-31-91 BOB MATLEY PETER'S K Restaurant And The Staff Of 25920 GREENFIELD at Lincoln Oak Park —4060 II ALAI ALI WISHES ITS FRIENDS & CUSTOMERS A HEALTHY AND HAPPY NEW YEAR Restaurant 31196 Haggertty Rd., Just S. of 14 788.0505 Wish Their Customers and Friends A Healthy and Happy New Year VAL - Taut, II 44 ouhei A Tradition Since 1934 Wish Its Customers 6-) Friends A Healthy 6-) Happy Y Virginia, Ken & Our Staff at Virginia's MID-EAST CAFE Wish All Our Friends A Healthy, Happy & Prosperous New Year 2456 Orchard Lake Rd. • Sylvan Lake • 681-7170 132 FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1991 New Year Choice Meats and Fresh Fish Daily ALL FRESH FRUIT PIES, APPLE STREUDEL, COGNAC TORTES 1128 East Nine Mile Road (A Mile East of 1.75) Hazel Park, MI 48030 (313) 541-2132 RITA CHARLESTON Special to The Jewish News A lthough he grew up with a father who was hilariously funny at home and a mother who was a real show-business fan, Robert Klein, a self-described class clown, was encouraged to seek a career deemed suitable for a middle-class Jewish boy from the Bronx. So the closet comedian entered Alfred University as a pre-med student. "My cover story was that I wanted to be a doctor, and I really believe part of me did want that until my freshman year in college," says Mr. Klein. "I like to say a few things got in my way of con- tinuing in pre-med however, namely calculus, physics, biology, zoology, chemistry, reading, spelling, comprehen- sion, behavior, inclination, aptitude and talent. Other than that, I was rarin' to go!" So while he was struggling with the curriculum, Mr. Klein joined the school's ac- ting company, and by the time he graduated in 1962, two of his drama professors convinc- ed his father he should pur- sue a career in acting. Yale drama school beckoned, and Mr. Klein was on his way. He finished a year at Yale, followed by summer stock. The following fall, in order to subsidize himself, Mr. Klein took a job as a substitute teacher. - In March 1965, he audition- ed for Second City, the Chicago Improvisational Company, became a member of the troupe and there spent the single most important year of his career. After his return to New York, Mr. Klein next was seen by producer Mike Nichols, who gave him a role in his Broadway musical, Apple Tree. "From the Shubert Theater where we were doing the play, I would take my makeup off on the street and head for the Improv (a New York City nightclub), which was the on- ly game in town at the time I began practicing comedy. And that became my instant ticket out of anonymity," Mr. Klein recalls. "There's nothing harder than starting out, even with talent, at the bottom of the rung with a small part in a Broadway show and constantly trying to get more roles. Doing stand- up comedy gave me defini- tion. I was good at it." He was also lucky, he says. . Robert Klein "One night, Rodney Danger- field saw me and became in- terested in me. By the fall of 1966, he recommended me to the men who managed Woody Allen, Dick Cavett, stars like that. So I think it all boils down to talent, tenacity, ex- cellent timing and good for- tune. I was lucky. I had it all." Mr. Klein was soon cast in two more Broadway shows: Morning, Noon and Night and New Faces of 1968. In 1970, he starred in "Comedy "There's nothing harder than starting out, even with talent, at the bottom of the rung with a small part in a Broadway show and constantly trying to get more roles:' Robert Klein Tonight," the CBS summer replacement for Glen Camp- bell's show. Mr. Klein and the show were highly acclaimed, and it was becoming clear that the comedian was here to stay. In 1973, he released his first album, "Child of the '50s," a collection of material that brought him a vast au- dience and won him a Gram- my Award nomination for the Best Comedy Album of the Year. Two more albums followed: "Mind Over Mat- ter," also nominated for a Grammy, and "New Teeth." Mr. Klein's latest album, "Let's Not Make Love," was released last October on Rhino Records.