Underappreciated Actors: Al Waxman
Filed Under (Movies) by admin on 01-05-2009
Tagged Under : Al Waxman, Cagney and Lacey, King of Kensington, Underappreciated Actors
This underrated actor made a strong impression on the big screen, but an enormous contribution on the small screen.
In the late 1970s, in an era where Canadian programming was considered notoriously stale by some, Al Waxman brought an unprecedented charisma to national audiences as the star of King of Kensington. While the show never enjoyed great international success, it provided an opportunity for Waxman to display his considerable talent for acting while also presenting a launching pad for up-and-coming Canadian actors such as Harvey Atkin, Jeff Wincott and Michael Wincott.
To this day, a bronze statue of Waxman stands in Kensington, memorializing his contributions to the niche but loyal audience for the show.
Waxman would later reunite with Atkin as one of the leads in the Emmy-winning and enormously successful police drama Cagney and Lacey. Waxman was able to provide an authentic fusion of authority and vulnerability in a role that he was able to nuance over several seasons.
Waxman would also appear in numerous films, including Millennium, The Hitman and Gotti. He would also portray the warden of the prison that housed Denzel Washington in The Hurricane. Among the guards he oversaw in his prison was the “ultimate prison guard” and fellow underappreciated actor Clancy Brown.
An interesting and inspiring man, Waxman took an enormous gamble as a young man when he left law school in Toronto to pursue his dream of acting. Decades later, he has left behind a strong body of work and an undeniable testament to his talent. While Al Waxman passed away in 2001, he left behind many strong performances.
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