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Michael Greer is a Actor American born on 20 april 1938

Michael Greer

Michael Greer
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Birth name James Robert "Jimmie" Malley
Nationality USA
Birth 20 april 1938 (85 years)

Michael Greer (born James Robert "Jimmie" Malley, April 20, 1938 — September 14, 2002) was an American actor, comedian and cabaret performer. He is best known for his appearances in the films The Gay Deceivers and Fortune and Men's Eyes, and for being one of the first openly gay actors to appear in major Hollywood films.

Biography

Early life
Greer was born James Robert "Jimmie" Malley in Galesburg, Illinois to parents Charles and Elizabeth "Betty" (Koetter) Malley. Although his birth date has been given as April 20, 1943, his birth year was probably 1938, based on 1940 U.S. census records listing a 2-year-old "Jimmie Malley" and obituaries stating Greer's age as 64 when he died in 2002. He grew up in Galesburg, residing first with his parents and later with his aunt and uncle, and had two sisters and two half-brothers. Greer later said that his parents had divorced and each had married three times, and described his childhood as unhappy. He began performing at a young age, singing during intermissions at the local movie theater.

Greer left Galesburg in the mid-1950s. Despite being underage at 16, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and served three years in Japan and Korea. While in the service he formed a pop vocal group that performed in the style of The Four Aces. After finishing his service, he moved to Boston and then to New York City in the early 1960s, where he worked as a furniture salesman while competing in "talent night" contests against other aspiring entertainers, including Tiny Tim and Barbra Streisand. Greer later worked as a floor captain at Arthur, the NYC discothèque opened by Sybil Burton, where he met celebrities such as Margot Fonteyn, Rudolf Nureyev, and Jacqueline Kennedy. He disliked his birth name, and in the mid-1960s he legally changed his name to "Michael Greer", choosing "Michael" because he liked the name and "Greer" after the actress Jane Greer.


Career
Comedy and cabaret
In the fall of 1965, Greer relocated to Los Angeles, where he formed a comedy troupe called "Jack and the Giants" with Roy Gaynor and then-unknown Jim Bailey. While playing the Redwood Room club in L.A., the act was discovered and popularized by Judy Garland, leading to a 16-month engagement, after which the group broke up. Greer, who was by that time openly gay, continued to perform solo at San Francisco clubs such as The Fantasy and The Purple Onion. Greer's act included music, comedy and female impersonations of actresses such as Bette Davis and Tallulah Bankhead. Greer also developed a signature routine that he performed, with variations, for the rest of his career, in which he appeared as the Mona Lisa, speaking through a large picture frame held on his lap and making art-related jokes.

Due to Greer's difficulties obtaining film roles after the early 1970s, he concentrated on his cabaret act for most of his career, touring and playing clubs nationwide. He was a frequent and popular performer on the gay nightclub circuit for three decades. Greer was a featured performer on the "All-Gay Cruise", an ocean cruise for 300 gay men and lesbians documented by Cliff Jahr in a highly controversial 1975 New York Times travel feature, in which Jahr referred to Greer as "the gay world's Jonathan Winters" and likened him to "George Burns at a Friars' Roast." Greer's impersonation of Bette Davis was so perfect that, when she became unavailable, Greer was called upon to dub some of her lines in the TV miniseries The Dark Secret of Harvest Home (1978) and again in Wicked Stepmother (1989), her last film.

Two recordings of Greer's comedy routines were released: Tallulah in Heaven (1972, RipRap Records), an LP featuring his Tallulah Bankhead impersonation, and Don't Mess With Mona (2005, Gatorlegs Records), a posthumously released recording of a 1979 performance of his Mona Lisa routine.

In addition to writing his own material, Greer also wrote comedy material for several well-known performers, including Phyllis Diller, Debbie Reynolds, Rip Taylor, and Larry Storch.


Stage
In 1968, Sal Mineo saw Greer's comic nightclub act in San Francisco and cast him as "Queenie", a gay prison inmate and drag queen, in Mineo's 1969 Los Angeles production of the John Herbert play Fortune and Men's Eyes. Greer played "Queenie" in both the Los Angeles and subsequent New York stage productions, logging over 400 performances in the role. Greer became close friends with both Mineo and Don Johnson, who was cast in the lead role of "Smitty".

Greer occasionally appeared in other stage plays over the years. In 1983 he appeared in New York City in an off-off-Broadway revival of Terrence McNally's The Ritz, a farce set in a gay Manhattan bathhouse, starring Warhol superstar Holly Woodlawn. He played an old-guard activist professor in a 1998 Santa Monica production of Mark Savage's coming-out musical, The Ballad of Little Mikey.

With composer Wayne Moore, Greer collaborated on the book for a 1992 musical, Freeway Dreams, about commuters stuck in traffic in Los Angeles. Greer also directed the Los Angeles production which ran for four months, and appeared on the original cast album (released in 1997 on Moore's Ducy Lee label) as the voice of "the car radio announcer on station KDUL in the Valley."


Film
Greer made his feature film debut in 1969 in the hit comedy The Gay Deceivers as "Malcolm", the flamboyant gay landlord of two heterosexual young men who pretend to be gay in an attempt to dodge the draft. In an effort to reduce the homophobia of the original script and present a more realistic and positive portrayal of the gay characters, Greer rewrote much of the dialogue and worked with the director. Upon release, the film was protested by gays for propagating stereotypes of gay men as "swishy", effeminate draft dodgers. However, the film was progressive for its time in featuring an openly gay actor playing an openly gay character in a happy long-term gay relationship, rather than having gay characters suffer loneliness, anguish or tragedy. Greer's performance drew the most audience attention as well as good reviews, causing Greer to receive star billing and be featured in advertising for the film.

The following year Greer co-starred (with Don Johnson) as an underground rock musician in MGM's 1970 box office flop The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart, for which he also co-wrote and sang the song "Water". Greer also appeared in two softcore pornography films, the erotic sci-fi film The Curious Female, in which he played the operator of a computer dating service in the year 2177, and Diamond Stud.

In 1971, Greer reprised his stage role as "Queenie" in MGM's film version of Fortune and Men's Eyes (a film role he had previously turned down). Once again, Greer rewrote most of his lines to better fit his conception of the character. He also composed the song "It's Free," which he performed in drag in the film. Despite the filmmakers' controversial changes to the original stage play, including exploiting the camp and drag-queen elements portrayed by the Queenie character, Greer's performance received positive reviews and has been viewed as a strong statement of gay assertiveness. Greer felt that his film performance of "Queenie" was the definitive one, and was proud of it.

Greer aspired to play a diverse range of movie roles, at one point optioning and writing a screenplay about mass murderer Richard Speck in which he hoped to star. However, his ability to get parts was limited by homophobia and typecasting. Although most media in the late 1960s and early 1970s avoided directly stating that Greer was homosexual (and frequently implied that he was interested in women), he refused to marry a woman or otherwise pretend to be heterosexual for the sake of his acting career, despite his agent's advice to do so. His last major film role was "Thom," the "dark stranger" in the 1973 horror film Messiah of Evil (also known as Dead People). Thereafter, his film career was limited to occasional small roles in movies such as Summer School Teachers (1974) (in which he played a heterosexual celebrity with a food fetish) and The Rose (1979) (in which he again played a drag performer).


Television
During the late 1960s and 1970s, Greer appeared on television episodes of Mannix, Ironside, The Streets of San Francisco, Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, and Sunshine. He was a regular performer on the short-lived Bobbie Gentry Happiness Hour in 1974. In the 1980s and 1990s, he provided the voice of several television cartoon characters, most notably the corrupt "Mayor Oscar Bulloney" on the ABC cartoon series Wild West C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa (1992–1994).


Personal life
Greer was a longtime resident of Los Angeles and an active member of the Beaux Arts Society, Inc. (U.S.A.), which named him a Distinguished Artist in 1996.

A heavy smoker, Greer died of lung cancer in Riverside, California on September 14, 2002.

Usually with

Source : Wikidata

Filmography of Michael Greer (7 films)

Display filmography as list

Actor

The Lonely Guy, 1h27
Directed by Arthur Hiller
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Romantic comedy, Romance
Actors Steve Martin, Judith Ivey, Charles Grodin, Steve Lawrence, Robyn Douglass, Merv Griffin
Roles Counterman
Rating62% 3.101463.101463.101463.101463.10146
When shy Larry Hubbard (Steve Martin), a greeting card writer, finds his girlfriend Danielle (Robyn Douglass) in bed with another man, he is forced to begin a new life as a "lonely guy." Larry befriends fellow "lonely guy" Warren (Charles Grodin), who considers committing suicide.
The Rose
The Rose (1979)
, 2h5
Directed by Mark Rydell
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Musical, Romance
Themes Medical-themed films, Films about music and musicians, Films about drugs, Musical films, Children's films
Actors Bette Midler, Alan Bates, Frederic Forrest, Harry Dean Stanton, David Keith, Jack Starrett
Roles Emcee
Rating68% 3.4480553.4480553.4480553.4480553.448055
In late 1969, Mary Rose Foster (Bette Midler) is a famous rock and roll diva known as The Rose. Although a success, she is burnt out and lonely but is kept working by her gruff, greedy manager and promoter Rudge Campbell (Alan Bates). Though loud and brassy, Rose is an insecure alcoholic and former drug user who seems to crave approval in her life. As such, she is determined to return to her hometown, now as a superstar. After being humiliated by a country singing star named Billy Ray (Harry Dean Stanton) whose songs she performs in her show, Rose takes off with a limousine driver named Houston Dyer (Frederic Forrest) and begins a romance with him. Rudge thinks Houston is just another hanger on, but Rose thinks she has finally met her true love. Houston tells her that he is actually an AWOL sergeant from the Army, and she tells him of her past in Florida. They have a rocky relationship and her lifestyle of "Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll" and constant touring lead her to an inevitable breakdown. Houston and Rose break up and she returns to her hometown with an escort where she tells him about her past. Finally, Rose collapses on stage from a fatal drug overdose (on alcohol, barbiturates and heroin) in the opening minutes of her long-awaited homecoming concert in Jacksonville Florida.
Summer School Teachers, 1h25
Directed by Barbara Peeters
Genres Comedy
Actors Grainger Hines, Dick Miller, Vince Barnett, Michael Greer, Merie Earle
Roles John John Lacey
Rating44% 2.2369352.2369352.2369352.2369352.236935
Three friends from Iowa go to California for the summer, rent an apartment together and teach at the same high school. PE teacher Conklin (Candice Rialson) coaches an all-girl football team despite the opposition of the resident coach (Dick Miller), and romances one of the male teachers. Sally (Pat Anderson) teaches photography and despite being engaged to a man back home, has affairs with an eccentric rock star with a food fetish, and with a male chauvinist teacher who talks her into posing nude for some photos. Chemistry teacher Denise (Rhonda Leigh Hopkins) becomes involved with one of her students, a juvenile delinquent, who is falsely accused of participating in car stealing. Conklin uncovers that funds for sport are being misspent by the school coach (Dick Miller). Both she and Sally are suspended but all ends happily with the girl football team triumphant.
Messiah of Evil, 1h25
Directed by Gloria Katz, Willard Huyck
Origin USA
Genres Horror
Themes Medical-themed films, Vampires in film, Zombie films, Films about viral outbreaks, Disaster films
Actors Marianna Hill, Anitra Ford, Royal Dano, Michael Greer, Elisha Cook, Jr., Charles Dierkop
Roles Thom
Rating63% 3.197693.197693.197693.197693.19769
A young woman named Arletty (Marianna Hill) drives to the beach town of Point Dune, California, to visit her estranged father, an artist. She finds his house, abandoned. He left a diary in which he addresses her specifically. In it he complains about darkness consuming the town, and horrible nightmares he is having, and implores Arletty to never, ever look for him. His letter tells her to talk to the owner of the art gallery, who sells his paintings. The gallery owner says he has none of her father's paintings, does not sell them, no one ever comes in looking to buy his works, and says he doesn't know where he went. He says Point Dune is "an artist colony" and he only vaguely remembers her father (his paintings are eerie pop art portraits of groups of people in black, white, and gray, standing; the men are always dressed in black suits, white shirts, and black ties, like dead men at a funeral). It is never clear if these are townspeople, or figures from his visions, or both.
The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart
Directed by Leonard Horn
Origin USA
Genres Drama
Actors Don Johnson, Michael Greer, Dianne Hull, Holly Near, Candy Darling, Brandon Maggart
Roles Danny
Rating62% 3.141193.141193.141193.141193.14119
Stanley Sweetheart (Don Johnson) is an aspiring filmmaker and junior at Columbia University who moved to New York City from Beverly Hills. His father is deceased, he is not close to his mother, and his family is running out of money. He lives alone in a Manhattan apartment on the Upper West Side across from a noisy construction site, and seems to have no friends. Bored with his classes and seeking a sexual outlet, he fantasizes about a beautiful blonde classmate. Later, he visits a local bar where he runs into a talkative hippie acquaintance, Barbara, who has recently changed her name to Shayne. He has a one-night stand with Barbara, and in the night he sees and is attracted to her beautiful roommate, Andrea. On a later visit to the bar, he meets their friend Danny (Michael Greer), an older and more sophisticated underground musician.
The Gay Deceivers, 1h37
Directed by Bruce Kessler
Origin USA
Genres Comedy
Themes Films about sexuality, LGBT-related films, LGBT-related films, LGBT-related film
Actors Brooke Bundy, Jo Ann Harris, Lawrence P. Casey, Michael Greer, Jack Starrett, Richard Webb
Roles Malcolm
Rating58% 2.900652.900652.900652.900652.90065
The Gay Deceivers follows Danny and Elliot, two friends who try to get out of the draft by pretending to be gay. They're placed under surveillance by the Army and have to keep up the pretense. They move into a gay apartment building and try to blend in with the residents, all the while trying to maintain their romantic relationships with women and not get caught by the Army.