Joseph Bernard, 82, actor and acting teacher; friend of Brando, Poitier, Fonda, Garfield, Lewis...
Hoodoo
Las Vegas Review-Journal
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Apr-06-Thu-2006/news/6730008.html
Actor, teacher Joseph Bernard dies at age 82
Theatrical mentor came to LV in 1979
Being the class clown paid off for Joseph Bernard.
While growing up in New York, he realized he could turn cutting up in
school into a career. Working as an actor was all he wanted to do with
his life, and he never held a job that wasn't associated with acting,
including teaching, writing and directing.
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Bernard died Monday at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. He was
82.
At the time of his death he was helping his friend Jerry Lewis prepare
for a guest spot on "Law & Order: SVU." Bernard served in a similar
role in the mid-1990s when Lewis appeared in the Broadway production
of "Damn Yankees."
Bernard moved to Las Vegas in 1979 after spending 11 years as
executive director and teacher at the Lee Strasberg Theater Institute
in Hollywood. He came here to open the Joseph Bernard Acting Studio on
the theory that there would be plenty of dancers and singers who would
be interested in acting. But, as he later said, most of his students
were dealers, cocktail waitresses and bellhops.
During his career he taught thousands of acting students, including
his granddaughter, Molly Kate Bernard, 17. "We were best friends," she
said.
She studied acting with her grandfather starting at age 6. "He was my
influence in everything; he was my world."
His teaching technique was to be "truthful but kind," she said. She
plans to follow in his footsteps as an actor.
Born Dec. 12, 1923 in Brooklyn, N.Y., Joseph Bernard received a
scholarship in 1941 to study at the New School in New York City with
legendary acting coach Stella Adler. One of Bernard's classmates was
Marlon Brando.
His training was interrupted when he was drafted into the U.S. Army.
He landed on the shores of Normandy, France, eight days after D-Day.
After the war, he returned to the New School and worked in the play
"Winter Soldiers," followed by a role in "Skipper Next to God,"
directed by Strasberg. The play starred John Garfield.
"When he was a young actor in New York and met my mom, he was good
friends with Marlon Brando, Sidney Poitier, Henry Fonda and Garfield,"
said Bernard's daughter, Bella Julie Bernard.
Garfield, who became Joseph Bernard's best friend, died in 1952
shortly before he was to be Bernard's best man at his marriage to wife
Bina.
The Bernards were married 49 years. Bina died in 2001.
Bernard appeared in an estimated 25 Broadway productions.
His first job as a theater director was "Command Decision," a 1949
production starring Henry Fonda.
Bernard won a featured role in the 1961 film "Judgment at Nuremberg,"
playing Richard Widmark's assistant, and he also was in "Ice Station
Zebra."
Bernard acted in such television shows as the original "Star Trek,"
"The Twilight Zone," "Mission: Impossible," "I Spy," "It Takes a
Thief," "The Untouchables" and "The Flying Nun," which he also
directed.
Locally, Bernard appeared in stage productions of "I'm Not Rappaport,"
"The Sunshine Boys" and "The Price."
In 1983, he wrote and directed "Take Off Your Clothes, I'll Make You a
Star," which was produced at the Union Plaza. He also was involved in
a second production of the show last year.
In addition to his daughter, and granddaughter, both of Las Vegas,
Bernard is survived by his son, Sam, of Santa Monica, Calif. Plans for
a memorial service in Las Vegas have not been finalized.
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bway...@gmail.com
productions," but the IBDB only lists seven.
http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?ID=93081
I'm also not sure about the Brando reference - was Brando at the New
School in 1941? (Then again, they may have studied together when
Bernard got back from the war. The obit is unclear.)
-Tim