By Lee Pfeiffer
The Players, the legendary private club for the arts located at Gramercy Park in Manhattan, recently held their 2011 Hall of Fame ceremony. The annual event inducts members into the Hall who have made outstanding contributions to the arts. The roster of this year's ceremony was particularly impressive, including many familiar names who were inducted posthumously along with current club members. Among them: Humphrey Bogart, Dick Cavett, Mary Tyler Moore, Sir John Gielgud, Jerry Stiller, Lauren Bacall, Hume Cronyn, Betty Comden and Adolph Green, Carol Burnett, Walt Disney, Jimmy Fallon, Arthur Miller, Gregory Peck, Tony Randall, Eli Wallach and Anne Jackson, Morgan Freeman, Katharine Hepburn, John Carradine, Harry Belafonte, Charles Laughton, Sir John Gielgud and others. Also inducted were two prominent names from American politics: President Dwight D. Eisenhower and former New York City Mayor David Dinkins.
The evening began with a cocktail hour in the club's famed Great Hall, where honorees mixed and mingled with other club members. A gourmet dinner followed, with club Executive Director John Martello screening a wonderful film clip compilation of the honorees' achievements. In addition to the actors and writers inducted, there were also other inductees who had distinguished themselves by their support of the club and the arts. Each inductee was honored with the unveiling of their portrait, painted by one of twenty-six esteemed artists. Among them was the famed Everett Raymond Kinstler, whose portraits of legendary members adorn the club's walls. Appropriately, Kinstler himself was inducted on the evening. Fittingly, he provided a self-portrait for the occasion.
In the course of the evening, the acceptance speeches ranged from sentimental to highly humorous, with actress Martha Plimpton blending both in accepting on behalf of her grandfather, the legendary late actor John Carradine. Plimpton recalled visiting the club as a little girl, despite the restriction in place at the time against women being allowed inside except for special occasions. She recalled Carradine filling out a membership application in her name and telling her she would be the first woman member admitted in to the club. Plimpton was only ten years old at the time and it would take some years before Helen Hayes broke the glass ceiling and women were admitted as full members in 1989. Given the contributions women have made to the club over the decades, it seems unfathomable that the Players existed for 100 years before granting equal rights to perspective female members. But better late than never.
Other highlights of the evening included wonderful musical numbers by the cast of the hit Broadway revival of Anything Goes. Anne Meara presented her husband Jerry Stiller with his portrait, and keeping in line with their long-term schtick as a comedy act, berated Stiller mercilessly. There was similar bantering between husband and wife honorees Anne Jackson and Eli Wallach. Now in his nineties, Wallach's timing is still impeccable -- he brought the house down by telling a dirty joke. Equally amusing was Mayor Dinkins, who received his honor last. By that point, a number of elderly attendees had left the festivities, causing the Mayor to joke, "I'd like to thank the three people who stayed to see my appearance!"
In all, a memorable evening - just one of many at The Players.
Click here to visit the Players web site
(All photos copyright Cinema Retro)