From Zero to hero: Struggling comedian Sam Mostel had some false starts early in his career, but after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, he was hired by Café Society, the popular New York nightclub; the owner of the club thought his patrons could “use some laughs” during wartime. (The club’s press agent dubbed him “Zero,” saying, “Here’s a guy who started from nothing.”) The manic Mostel would soon become a top comic actor, with appearances on radio and in film and theater, all leading to such major roles as Tevye in the original Broadway production of Fiddler on the Roof, Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (both onstage and in the movie), and Max Bialystock in the original film version of The Producers. Mostel’s birthday falls on February 28.
