Five Reasons to See Jeffrey Tambor
April 21, 2017
We can think of lots of reasons why you should join SAL for A Conversation with Jeffrey Tambor on May 23, but here are our top five:
1. He’s no name-dropper, but this showbiz jack-of-all-trades has perfected his craft with a little help from some of the best of the best including Al Pacino, George C. Scott, Garry Shandling, and Jill Soloway.
2. “Hey now!” Don’t miss out on the once-in-a-lifetime chance to (possibly—no promises!) hear Hank Kingsley’s instantly recognizable catchphrase in person! This character was a key part of The Larry Sanders Show, which was the first cable series to receive an Emmy nomination for Best Comedy Series, as well as bringing Tambor his first Emmy nomination and 3 more between 1993 and 1998.
3. He’s a chameleon! Well, not really, but he has played a wide variety of roles on stage and screen. He made his Broadway debut in the comedy Sly Fox. In 2005, Tambor starred in the Broadway revival of David Mamet’s classic Glengarry Glen Ross. Tambor’s many guest appearances and TV credits began in earnest in the 1981 American drama series Hill Street Blues. You may also know him from his role as the imprisoned patriarch George Bluth Sr. on FOX’s hit series Arrested Development. He has been in front of the camera and behind the microphone for countless other movies and animated features including There’s Something About Mary, The Hangover, The Invention of Lying, The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, and Tangled.
4. He’s a west-coaster! And his conversation partner for the evening, Melanie McFarland, is one too. Tambor grew up in San Francisco and McFarland is based in Seattle. McFarland served as IMDb’s first TV Editor and spent five years as the TV critic for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Her work has also appeared in the Seattle Times where she was a pop culture writer and columnist.
5. He’s transparent. Like his new book, Are You Anybody?: A Memoir, Tambor is vulnerable, honest, inspiring and real. His latest role is that of transgender matriarch Maura Pfefferman on Amazon’s wildly acclaimed series Transparent. In a recent interview on NPR’s “All Things Considered” Tambor said of playing the role, “Everything is new to me and I had a big learning curve. But it’s a wonderful learning curve and it’s changed my life. I think it’s made me a better daddy, I think it’s made me a better citizen, it think it’s made me more aware. I get to use more of Jeffrey than I’ve ever had to use and gotten to use in my acting. People say, “Do you get to use more femininity?” I think I have femininity, I have masculinity, but I get to use all of Jeffrey and that’s very powerful. And this is what I always thought when I went down in my little basement in San Francisco, where I grew up, and day dreamed about being an actor: It felt like this. This is what it felt like.”
This is a conversation you won’t want to miss! Click here for more information and tickets. All orders (except Student) include a copy of Tambor’s new book Are You Anybody?: A Memoir.