Albert Waxman

Albert Samuel Waxman, CM OOnt (March 2, 1935 – January 18, 2001) was a Canadian actor and director of over 1000 productions on radio, television, film, and stage. He is best known for his starring roles in the television series King of Kensington (CBC) and Cagney & Lacey (CBS).

Contents
[hide] *1 Biography
 * 1.1 Early life
 * 1.2 Career
 * 1.3 Death
 * 1.4 Fan club
 * 2 Filmography
 * 2.1 Movies
 * 2.2 Television series
 * 2.3 Television Appearances
 * 2.4 Television specials
 * 3 Footnotes
 * 4 External links

Early life[edit]
Waxman was born in Toronto to Jewish immigrants from Poland.

His parents operated and owned Melinda Lunch, a small restaurant. His father, Aaron Waxman, died when Al was nine.[1]

Career[edit]
Waxman's career began at the age of twelve on CBC radio but it was not until 1975, when he began playing the role of Larry King on CBC's King of Kensington (1975–1980), that he became a Canadian icon.

In the 1980 award winning film Atlantic City starring Burt Lancaster, Waxman appeared as a rich cocaine buyer with a seemingly endless amount of cash.

During the 1980s Waxman starred as the gruff but endearing Lt. Bert Samuels in the highly successful CBS television drama Cagney & Lacey (1982–1988).

During the 1990s Waxman appeared in a variety of films and television shows but began spending more time acting and directing in the theatre. In 1991 Al hosted Missing Treasures, a TV show which profiled missing children in Canada.[2] He was also a founding member of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television.

In 1997 he was awarded the best actor Gemini Award for his performance in the television film Net Worth.

Waxman also appeared at the Stratford Festival, beginning with his critically acclaimed performance as Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman in 1997. He also directed a memorable Anne Frank at the Stratford Festival in 2000. He was to return to Stratford for his highly anticipated portrayal of Shylock in The Merchant of Venice in 2001. In the wake of Waxman's death one month before rehearsals were to begin Paul Soles accepted the part of Shylock and the play was performed in honour of Waxman.[3]

His last television role was as celestial Judge Othneil in Twice in a Lifetime (1999–2001). The last episode on which he worked right up until the afternoon before his elective heart bypass surgery was about a man, popular in his community, who needed routine bypass surgery but died during the operation. Although some sections of the episode were rewritten, at the end of this final episode Waxman's character is asked rhetorically 'why do the good die young' to which he has no answer. He's then told 'you were quite a warrior'. His response – not merely the end of the episode, but one of Waxman's last lines ever recorded, and spoken with a smile of resignation from the heavens – was: 'I had my day'.

Throughout his career he responded to the need for his services in community work and was involved with charitable causes from coast to coast. He was spokesperson for organizations such as United Appeal, United Jewish Appeal, Israel Bonds, Variety Club, the Muscular Dystrophy Telethons, and Big Brothers (for which he also became an honorary member). From June 1979 to June 1981 he was the National Campaign Chairman for the Canadian Cancer Society, and from 1988–1989 he was an official spokesperson for the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Ontario. Together with his wife, Sara Waxman, he also created the Sara and Al Waxman Neo-Natal Unit at the Shaare Zedek Medical Centre in Jerusalem.

Al Waxman was accorded many tributes for his volunteer and philanthropic work. In 1978 he was honoured with the Queen's Silver Jubilee Medal. In 1989 he was the recipient of the B'nai Brith of Canada Humanitarian Award. In 1996 Waxman was inducted into the Order of Ontario and in 1997 into the Order of Canada. In 1998 he was given the Earle Grey Award for lifetime achievement in Canadian television. A statue erected for his popularity as a Canadian star actor, director, and humanitarian stands in Kensington Market. The inscription in front of it reads 'There's lots to do down the road, there's always more. Trust your gut instincts. In small matters trust your mind, but in the important decisions of life – trust your heart.'

Death[edit]
He died in Toronto during heart surgery on January 18, 2001, at the age of 65. The Toronto neighbourhood that his starring role in King of Kensington made famous, Kensington Market, erected a memorial to Waxman following his death.

Fan club[edit]
Musician Jaymz Bee of the Bee People, (prior to his work with The Look People, The Royal Jelly Orchestra and various projects) was a founder of the Al Waxman Fan Club. The Fan Club began in 1984 following the heyday of the King of Kensington television show. Bee, his associates Clay Tyson (son of Ian and Sylvia), Bazl Salazar, Bruce J. Scott and artist Max MacDonald would host parties and write songs in honour of Waxman. They even created a dance called "The Waxman Wiggle". Some other Bee People songtitles included: "Have Al Instead", "Al or Nothing", "UniversAl" and "Puff, The Waxman Poodle". While the Fan Club initially appeared to be a publicity stunt, this led to a long and successful association between Jaymz Bee and Al Waxman. Waxman attended some of the Fan Club events as organised by Bee, most of which raised money for charities such as The Canadian Cancer Foundation and Big Brother. Bee attended Waxman's funeral, and joined with his Fan Club to hold a wake in Toronto on 25 January 2001. They had a New Orleans-style funeral march with a jazz band and paraded from The Cameron House to Kensington Market where they recorded his hit TV theme song with Vezi Tayyeb at Kensington Sound. The AWFC boasted over 1,000 card carrying members and while the bulk of members were from Toronto, some were as far away as Japan and Africa. President Bee received a terse reply from Buckingham Palace however, notifying him that The Queen does not "join a fan club". Al Waxman realized over the years that this organization, while appearing tongue in cheek, was a group of bonafide fans who enjoyed celebrating "the King of Canada". Members of the now dormant AWFC can still be seen wandering through Kensington Market to shake the hand of the Al Waxman statue that resides there. On May 9, 2014, Waxman fans painted the statue to look like the joker from Batman, drawing misunderstanding outrage from Toronto mainstream media.[4]

Movies[edit]

 * 1959: Sun In My Eyes
 * 1962: The War Lover
 * 1963: The Victors
 * 1964: Man in the Middle
 * 1968: Isabel
 * 1970: The Last Act of Martin Weston
 * 1974: Vengeance Is Mine
 * 1975: The Clown Murders
 * 1975: My Pleasure is my Business
 * 1979: Wild Horse Hank
 * 1980: Atlantic City
 * 1980: Double Negative
 * 1981: Heavy Metal (voice only)
 * 1981: Tulips
 * 1982: Class of 1984
 * 1983: Spasms
 * 1987: Meatballs III
 * 1988: Switching Channels
 * 1989: Collision Course
 * 1989: Malarek
 * 1989: Millennium
 * 1990: Mob Story
 * 1991: Cerro Torre: Scream of Stone
 * 1991: The Hitman
 * 1991: White Light
 * 1992: Black Death
 * 1992: Live Wire
 * 1992: The Diamond Fleece
 * 1994: Death Junction
 * 1994: Operation Golden Phoenix
 * 1995: Net Worth
 * 1995: Iron Eagle IV
 * 1996: Bogus
 * 1997: The Assignment
 * 1997: Critical Care
 * 1998: At the End of the Day: The Sue Rodriguez Story
 * 1998: Summer's End
 * 1999: The Hurricane

Television series[edit]

 * 1975–1980: King of Kensington
 * 1981: Circus International
 * 1982–1988: Cagney & Lacey
 * 1990–1991: Missing Treasures
 * 1997: Simply Wine and Cheese
 * 1999–2001: Twice in a Lifetime

Television Appearances[edit]

 * 1965: For the People
 * 1969: Adventures in Rainbow Country
 * 1979, 1983–1984: The Littlest Hobo
 * 1985: Night Heat
 * 1986: Philip Marlowe, Private Eye
 * 1988: My Secret Identity
 * 1988: Street Legal
 * 1988–1989: Alfred Hitchcock Presents
 * 1989: Hard Time on Planet Earth
 * 1989: Murder, She Wrote
 * 1993: Sweating Bullets
 * 1994: They Eat Horses, Don't They?
 * 1996: Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
 * 1998: Due South
 * 1998: Twitch City
 * 1998–2000: Power Play

Television specials[edit]

 * 1961: The Hired Gun
 * 1963: Man in the Middle
 * 1967: Do Not Fold, Staple, Or Spindle, Or Mutilate
 * 1967: Counter Etiquette. Part 1
 * 1970: The Last Act of Martin Weston
 * 1971: When Michael Calls
 * 1972: The Sloane Affair
 * 1974: A Star is Lost!
 * 1979: Please Don't Eat the Planet (voice only)
 * 1979: Intergalactic Thanksgiving (voice only)
 * 1981: Cagney & Lacey (pilot TV movie)
 * 1988: The Return of Ben Casey
 * 1990: Maggie's Secret
 * 1990: Back to the Beanstalk
 * 1991: I Still Dream of Jeannie
 * 1992: Quiet Killer
 * 1992: The Diamond Fleece
 * 1992: Teamster Boss: The Jackie Presser Story
 * 1992: The Trial of Red Riding Hood
 * 1994: Cagney & Lacey: The Return
 * 1994: Web of Deceit
 * 1994: I Know My Son Is Alive
 * 1994: Death Junction
 * 1995: The Shamrock Conspiracy
 * 1996: Gotti
 * 1996: Holiday Affair
 * 1997: Rescuers: Stories of Courage
 * 1998: Naked City: A Killer at Christmas
 * 1999: In the Company of Spies
 * 1999: A Saintly Switch
 * 1999: Unforgettable: 100 Years Remembered
 * 2000: The Ride
 * 2000: The Thin Blue Lie
 * 2000: Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows (released posthumously)
 * 2000: What Makes a Family (released posthumously)
 * 2000: Messiah From Montreal (released posthumously)

Footnotes[edit]

 * 1) Jump up ^ "AL WAXMAN". Northern Stars. 2006. Archived from the original on 2006-12-11. Retrieved 2007-01-12.
 * 2) Jump up ^ 'Missing Treasures (TV Series 1991–1992)'
 * 3) Jump up ^ 'The importance of being Shylock', Canadian Jewish News, 2 August 2001
 * 4) Jump up ^ Toronto Star May 10, 2014, King of Kensington Al Waxman’s statue gets unwanted makeover: The King of Kensington sculpture in Toronto’s Bellevue Square park has been vandalized — and given a new wardrobe for the summer. http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2014/05/10/king_of_kensington_al_waxmans_statue_gets_unwanted_makeover.html

External links[edit]

 * Northern Stars: Al Waxman
 * Jam: Al Waxman
 * Canadian Jewish News obituary (25 January 2001)
 * Toronto Star obituary (18 January 2001)
 * NOW magazine obituary by Jaymz Bee
 * Al Waxman at the Internet Movie Database