Larry Kert

Larry Kert (1930-1991) was an American actor, singer, and dancer.

Related Topics:
1930 - 1991 - American - Actor - Singer - Dancer

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He was born Frederick Lawrence Kert on December 5, 1930 in Los Angeles, California. His first professional credit was in a Broadway revue called Tickets, Please! (1950), as a member of a theatrical troupe called the Upstarts. After the seven-month run, he worked sporadically until 1957, when he was cast as Tony in the Arthur Laurents-Leonard Bernstein-Stephen Sondheim musical West Side Story, a modernized adaptation of Romeo and Juliet set in upper Manhattan. According to Laurents in his memoir Original Story By, director-choreographer Jerome Robbins frequently clashed with Kert, publicly chastising him for being a "faggot," despite the fact that Robbins himself and most of the creative team was gay.

Related Topics:
December 5 - Los Angeles, California - Broadway - Revue - Tickets, Please! - 1950 - Upstarts - 1957 - Arthur Laurents - Leonard Bernstein - Stephen Sondheim - West Side Story - Romeo and Juliet - Manhattan - Jerome Robbins

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For several years, Kert experienced a streak of seriously bad luck. A Family Affair limped along for three months in early 1962. He was a member of the cast of the infamous ill-fated musical version of Truman Capote's novella, Breakfast at Tiffany's, which closed during previews in December 1966. His next project, La Strada (1969), closed on opening night.

Related Topics:
1962 - Truman Capote - Breakfast at Tiffany's - 1966 - 1969

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His big break came at the expense of another actor. Dean Jones, better known for his roles in Disney films than he was as a musical performer, had been cast as the lead in Sondheim's Company (1971), but clearly wasn't capable of handling the demands of a eight performances a week. Soon after opening night (and mediocre reviews), he was replaced by Kert; the critics returned a second time and raved about his dynamic performance. So acclaimed was he that the Tony Awards nominating committee that year allowed him to compete as Best Actor in a Musical, an honor usually allowed only for the performer who originates the role.

Related Topics:
Dean Jones - Disney - Company - 1971 - Tony Award

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Unfortunately, the original cast album had already been recorded, and it was Jones who was heard on the release. When Sony Music released a newly-digitalized CD version in 1998, Kert's rendition of "Being Alive," the show's final number, was included as a bonus track.

Related Topics:
Sony Music - CD - 1998

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Kert never achieved the growing and ongoing success his stint in Company suggested he was destined to enjoy. In 1975, he appeared in A Musical Jubilee, a revue that lasted barely three months. Rags (1986) closed two days after it opened, and in his final show, Legs Diamond (1988), he was merely a standby for star Peter Allen, not even having the opportunity to play a secondary role, as is usually the case with standbys and understudies.

Related Topics:
1975 - A Musical Jubilee - Rags - 1986 - Legs Diamond - 1988 - Peter Allen

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Kert died on June 5, 1991 in New York City from AIDS-related complications.

Related Topics:
June 5 - New York City - AIDS

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