By Rich Bockmann
Anna Berger, known for her portrayals of characters in film and television and on the stage, brings her original play, “Absolutely Anna,” to the Bay Terrace Jewish Center this Sunday.
Berger, a member of the Actors Studio, has been performing for more than 50 years in movies such as “The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3” and television shows like “The Sopranos” and “NYPD Blue.”
The walls of her apartment on the Upper West Side are covered with photos of family and friends, some of whom have names more famous than others. She explained earlier this week that “Absolutely Anna” is somewhat of a history of actors, from the personal to the public.
Berger, the daughter of Jewish immigrants, pointed to a poster for the film “Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg,” a documentary on Gertrude Berg, star of the 1950s television sitcom “The Goldbergs.”
“She was Jewish. It was unheard of at that time in America to be Jewish and be on television,” Berger said.
“The Goldbergs” was her first television performance as a child, and “Absolutely Anna” depicts the personal trajectory of the actress, from growing up in tenements on the Lower East Side to living through the McCarthy era and the Red Scare, when many of her friends and colleagues were blacklisted.
“It’s about art and the history of the theatre … and a little bit of name-dropping,” she said with a smile.
Those names include Walter Matthau and Mae West, Harry Belafonte and Marlon Brando. It was another renowned friend, Bea Arthur, who inspired Berger to write her own play about five years ago.
When her husband, Bob, decided to retire, Berger made the choice to stop spending about six months out of the year in California for work.
“Bea told me, ‘You’re going to go home and write your own show.’ So I told her, ‘I’m an actor, not a writer,’” Berger recounted.
She retreated to the Actors Studio, and after a period of writing and revising, “Absolutely Anna” emerged as an hour and a half of what the actress called her “wonderful journey.”
“‘My name is Anna Berger and I’ve been an actress for 50 years. I don’t want to date myself; it’s actually been 60 years,’” she said the one-woman show begins.
“It struck me she talks about the life of Jews on the Lower East Side at the beginning. So many of us had family that emigrated and had the Lower East Side experience,” said Lila Edelkind, the former president of the Bay Terrace Jewish Center, who approached Berger about performing her show there. “The stories are charming. I’m fascinated by the people she met both in and out of showbiz.
Anna Berger wrote and stars in “Absolutely Anna” Sunday, May 22, at 3 p.m. at the Bay Terrace Jewish Center at 13-00 209th St. in Bayside.
Reach reporter Rich Bockmann by e-mail at rbockmann@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4574.
