In a show of artistic lineage, actor Jennifer Grey presented her father, Broadway and film icon Joel Grey, with a lifetime achievement award at the 76th Tony Awards on Sunday.
Best known for her roles in “Dirty Dancing,” “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and “Red Dawn,” a visibly emotional Jennifer Grey, 63, greeted the audience in New York’s United Palace with a joke, saying, “Hello, friends of my father.”
“It is such an amazing honor to be able to stand here tonight … for my father, and to give him the lifetime achievement award,” she said, introducing herself as “Joel Grey’s daughter” with tears welling in her eyes. The two would later hold hands, with the film star kissing her father on the cheek while they shared the stage.
The special Tony Award recognizes and honors Joel Grey’s work in theater. Grey, 91, already has a Tony under his belt for his performance as the Master of Ceremonies in the original cast of the Broadway musical “Cabaret.” He also won an Oscar for reprising the role in Bob Fosse’s 1972 film adaptation. Grey also starred in the “Chicago” revival as the earnest-yet-gullible Amos Hart, and played the Wizard of Oz in the musical “Wicked.”
While accepting his award, Grey bellowed the multilingual opening lyric from “Cabaret” — “Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome!” — that prompted a roaring applause from an audience that immediately recognized the line from his stint as the Master of Ceremonies. When Grey hosted the national broadcast of the Tony Awards in 1967, he opened the landmark ceremony with the iconic song too.
CBS and Paramount+ elected to skip Sunday’s father-daughter moment and did not include the award’s presentation during the main ceremony and broadcast. Instead, the Grey family moment took place during the live preshow, which only streamed on Pluto TV. The snub drew criticism from viewers online, along with others who reported issues with the main broadcast itself. The ceremony’s telecast had previously been canceled due to the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike, but was revived as an unscripted show after lobbying from playwrights and show organizers.
The main broadcast did include a dance tribute to Grey and musical composer John Kander, with Oscar-winner Ariana DeBose, who hosted the show, and Julianne Hough gliding on stage to “Hot Honey Rag” from the musical “Chicago.” Kander wrote the score for “Cabaret” and “Chicago” and was also honored with a lifetime achievement award.
Grey had almost quit performing before landing his “Cabaret” role in 1966, the actor said in a 2011 interview with The Times. The role changed his life and career with Fosse’s big-screen portrayal introducing him to a wider audience. Yet Grey struggled with transferring the notable role to film.
“I struggled to keep a certain integrity that I felt was necessary,” Grey said of working with Fosse to adapt his role for the movie. “We were always challenging one another and in retrospect, I think it was great for both of us — that tension. Unpleasant as it was, it ended up creating, I don’t know, something dark.”
In the lead-up to the awards show, Grey gave a monologue about his award on CBS’ “Sunday Morning,” calling the theater a collaboration between creators, performers and the audience, and “a kind of alchemy, a once-in-a-lifetime experience that can never be revealed in exactly the same way.”
Reflecting on his career that has spanned seven decades, Grey said it’s the relationships he’s built along the way that stand out most.
Grey acknowledged that “awards are great, fond memories are wonderful,” but described “the real honor of my life” by quoting a song from the musical “Anything Goes,” in which he also starred in for its 2011 revival: “‘Friendship, friendship, just a perfect blendship.’”
