Bruce Adler died early this morning, July 25th 2008 of cancer he had been battling for several years. He was sixty-three years old.
Often described as the 'quintissential performer', Bruce provides his audiences with an evenings entertainment that they will not soon forget. Richard Shepard of the New York Times once described Bruce in these words..."What is there that this man can't do? He kazotskys, he soft shoes, he fandangos....He makes the oldest jokes fresh and funny!...It is impossible to watch him without being seized by his infectious spirit, his complete enjoyment in what he is doing.....he brings performing brilliance to the stage!"
Mr. Adler starred for four years on Broadway, in the Tony Award winning Gershwin musical "Crazy For You", for which he received both the 1992 Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations as 'best featured actor in musical'. Prior to that, his performance in "Those Were The Days", (1991) earned him a Drama Desk Award as well as a Tony nomination in the same category. His voice has been featured in the Disney animated films "Beauty and The Beast " and "Aladdin" (he sings the opening song 'Arabian Nights'). Television appearances include NBCs "Law and Order", "Here and Now", and the PBS Great Perfomances filming of "Crazy For You".
Among his many other Broadway credits are; "Rumors", "Sunday in the Park With George", George Abbotts "Broadway", "Oh, Brother!", and the 1979 revival of "Oklahoma!". He has also starred throughout the U.S. as Tevye in "Fiddler On The Roof", Fagin in "Oliver", Nathan Detroit in "Guys and Dolls", Bill Snibson in "Me and My Girl", Hysterium in "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum", Moonface Martin in "Anything Goes", Huckabee in "The Fantasticks", Cogsworth (The Clock) in "Beauty And The Beast", the cowardly lion in "The Wizard Of Oz", Alfred P. Doolittle in "My Fair Lady", as famed lyricist Sammy Cahn in "Come Fly With Me", and as Vernon Hines in "The Pajama Game". He has toured extensively in his own one-man evening "Song And Dance Man" which celebrates all of his perfoming heroes. most recently Bruce starred in Neil Simons' "The Sunshine Boys" as well as Mr. Foreman in the new musical version of Joseph Steins' "Enter Laughing" at the York Theatre Company.
Adler is survived by his wife, Amy London, two step-children and one-year old son, Jacob Hayden Adler.
Photo Courtesy of bruceadler.com
