Robert Klein has been making us laugh for a half-century, stretching back to his groundbreaking 1975 live HBO special.
The actor, singer and writer, who’s lived in Briarcliff Manor for 35 years, went on to appear in eight more HBO specials and has appeared regularly on Broadway, in films and on television.
Klein launched his career in 1965, when he was hired by Second City, the famed Chicago comedy group.
“It was the greatest thing that ever happened to me, even better than the Yale School of Drama,” he told me recently. “To get paid $150 a week to learn the skill of improvisation.”
In what he said could be his last screen role, Klein is appearing in the comedy Notice to Quit, an independent film that hit theaters nationwide on Sept. 27.
The plot revolves around a struggling New York City real estate agent (played by The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’s Michael Zegen) who’s being evicted from his apartment when his estranged 10-year-old daughter unexpectedly shows up. Klein plays Zegen’s father, the girl’s grandfather.
Two recent films with or about the popular entertainer are available through streaming services.
The 2016 documentary Robert Klein Still Can’t Stop His Leg is on AppleTV+ and Amazon.
A 2021 comedy-drama shot in New York City, Before I Go, featuring Klein as the father of the film’s star, Annabella Sciorra, is streaming on several platforms.
Here’s a Q&A with Klein, which has been edited for clarity and brevity:
River Journal: Tell me about Notice to Quit and your role as Harold, the grandfather.
Robert Klein: As usual I’m playing an old man, just because I’m 82. He’s not particularly sentimental about taking care of his granddaughter for a little while. It’s sort of an eccentric fellow, the one I play, and I bring in a strange roommate. There’s only a few scenes but they’re memorable.
It took me seven or eight days of shooting. We shot a lot of it in Washington Heights. It was one of those things. I don’t even have an agent anymore. Since I did Will and Grace [in 2019], I really haven’t done anything. I’m sort of retiring from performing. It’s tiring making movies. They’d put out a chair for me. I was the oldest person on the set by about 90 years.
It’s low-budget, but it was well done. And I was surprised it’s going to be in theaters because that’s not the way indies go these days.
RJ: The documentary about you directed by your friend Marshall Fine, some of which was filmed in Briarcliff, has gotten new life through streaming. What’s with the title?
Klein: All nine of my HBO specials end with “I can’t stop my leg.” For an intelligent comedian, it’s a silly joke. It’s funny and people love it, whether it’s a blues song or an operatic song or whatever else I do with it. Eight or nine top comedians, Jon Stewart, Seinfeld and Leno, Bill Maher, all say how I influenced them, how I inspired them to become comedians.
2025 will be the 50th anniversary of the first HBO special, and I’m hoping to commemorate it, a kind of goodbye.
RJ: Speaking of Jerry Seinfeld, your 2014 appearance in his show, Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, was filmed in one of your favorite local haunts.
Klein: The segment with me was shot in my beloved Landmark Diner that blew up. It’s now a 7-Eleven and a Taco Bell.
RJ: No one could call you a prude — you used profanity way back in that first HBO special. But have things gone too far? What has changed in comedy since then?
Klein: I think that comedy is still alive and well, but I’m not crazy about every bodily function. There’s no elegance, no eloquence, no proper use of the language, using the right words. There is an art to it and a lot of it is not so hot. It started with comedians with cufflinks and tuxedos making joke after joke. It’s being carried on but I’m not sure it’s reaching great heights.
RJ: You mentioned that Notice to Quit will be your last film.
Klein: I’ve been working for 60 years, I’m in physically great shape. I’ve been working with a trainer for 35 years, three times a week. I have a little gym downstairs. I think that is what has kept me walking and thinking. I also read four and a half hours a day. I think it’s time to hang it up. I’m physical in my work, I didn’t just stand at the mic like a monologist, and it’s getting very hard to do.
RJ: What still captivates you about living in Briarcliff Manor?
Klein: A number of weeks ago I was looking west across the Hudson River. There was a sailing vessel, and it was dusk, and I took a picture with my camera and that could have been 1782. This area to me is culturally rich and historical and beautiful. I’m a New York City boy but I love the peace and quiet here.
