Early Career
Educated at the University of Michigan and New York University, Rick Lenz directed the Jackson, Michigan Civic Theater for two years before going to New York to seek work as an actor. In 1965, at the age of 25, he made his Broadway debut in Mating Dance, starring Van Johnson. That show closed on opening night, but it was also Lenz’s big break; stage producer David Merrick was in the audience and soon afterward cast him in the Broadway hit, Cactus Flower as understudy to the juvenile lead, Igor Sullivan. Lenz later took over the role and played it for a year. Film producer Mike Frankovich and Walter Matthau saw him in the part and cast him as Igor in the movie version of Cactus Flower (1969), in which he co-starred opposite Goldie Hawn as well as Matthau and Ingrid Bergman.
In the 1970s, Rick Lenz appeared in several Hollywood movies, including the Disney film, Scandalous John; Where Does It Hurt?, opposite Peter Sellers; Little Dragons, directed by Curtis Hanson; John Wayne’s last movie, The Shootist; Jonathan Demme’s Melvin and Howard and How Do I Love Thee?, based on the novel by Peter DeVries and starring Jackie Gleason and Maureen O'Hara.
Read more about this topic: Rick Lenz
Famous quotes containing the words early and/or career:
“If there is a price to pay for the privilege of spending the early years of child rearing in the driver’s seat, it is our reluctance, our inability, to tolerate being demoted to the backseat. Spurred by our success in programming our children during the preschool years, we may find it difficult to forgo in later states the level of control that once afforded us so much satisfaction.”
—Melinda M. Marshall (20th century)
“I began my editorial career with the presidency of Mr. Adams, and my principal object was to render his administration all the assistance in my power. I flattered myself with the hope of accompanying him through [his] voyage, and of partaking in a trifling degree, of the glory of the enterprise; but he suddenly tacked about, and I could follow him no longer. I therefore waited for the first opportunity to haul down my sails.”
—William Cobbett (1762–1835)