- According to his wishes, he had no funeral or "any memorial service to mark (his) passing."
- He drank so much coffee that he was once hospitalized for caffeine poisoning.
- Won three Tony Award: as Best Actor (Dramatic) in1961 for "Rhinoceros," and as Best Actor (Musical) in 1963 for "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" and in 1965 for "Fiddler on the Roof." He was also nominated in 1974 as Best Actor (Dramatic) for "Ulysses in Nighttown."
- He testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee on October 14, 1955. In a playful mood, he told the Committee that he was employed by "19th Century-Fox." He told the Committee that he would gladly discuss his own conduct but was prohibited by religious convictions from naming others. His refusal to name names resulted in his "blacklisting," and he did not star in a film for another 11 years.
- Tony Award winner 1964 for "Fiddler On The Roof."
- In the 1950s, he bumped into Elia Kazan on the street in New York City, and the two reminisced. Kazan said Mostel chided him for putting Mostel through the paces in Panic in the Streets (1950) , forcing him to run more than he ever had. But as the drinks set in, legend has it, Mostel kept muttering, in reference to Kazan's HUAC testimony, "Ya shouldn't a done that. Ya shouldn't a done that."
- One of the "12" blacklisted by the house of Un-American activities commitee in the 1950s.
- Father of sons Josh Mostel (b. 1946) and Tobias Mostel (b. 1949).
- In March 1943, Mostel was drafted by the US Army. Although Mostel gave varying accounts of his Army service, records show he was honorably discharged in August 1943 because of an unspecified physical disability. He subsequently entertained servicemen through the USO until 1945.
- Mostel had a favorite painting, John White Alexander's Study in Black and Green, which he copied every day, to the delight of the gallery crowds. One afternoon, while a crowd was watching over his velvet-clad shoulder, he solemnly copied the whole painting upside down, delighting his audience.
- Nathan Lane starred on Broadway, and in the 2005 movie, as Max Bialystock in The Producers (2005) and on Broadway as Pseudolus in "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum". Zero Mostel played both characters in the earlier film versions.
- According to his brother, Bill Mostel, their mother coined the nickname "Zero", noting that if he continued to do poorly at school, he would amount to a zero.
- Mostel married Kathryn (Kate) Cecilia Harkin, an actress and dancer, on July 2, 1944, after two years of courtship. The pair met at Radio City Music Hall where she was a Rockette. The marriage caused problems in his relationship with his Orthodox Jewish parents: his new wife was not Jewish. His mother never met Kate or her grandsons. The marriage had problems at times, again mostly due to Mostel's spending most of his time in his art studio. Their relationship was described by friends of the family as complicated, with many fights but having mutual adoration. The couple stayed together until Mostel's death.
- Tony Award winner 1961 for "Rhinoceros."
- He was the first Muppet show guest star to die.
- He was originally set to star (in 1966) in a film to be entitled "Red, White And Zero", a trio of short films made with different directors to be released as a single three-section movie. Mostel's section was called "The Ride of the Valkyrie", directed by Peter Brook. The other two short subjects were "Red And Blue", a sort of romantic musical directed by Tony Richardson (with Vanessa Redgrave), and "The White Bus", directed by Lindsay Anderson (and featuring Anthony Hopkins, in what was actually his first film appearance, and Arthur Lowe). "Red, White and Zero" was listed in a 1968 United Artists publicity brochure, but seems to have been shown nowhere as a single three-part film. "Red And Blue" was press-shown in London but never released there. "The White Bus" was exhibited as a short film (42 minutes) on its own in the UK in late 1968, at roughly the same time as Lindsay Anderson's later-made "If...", but it was never widely seen. "The Ride Of The Valkyrie" was shown (just once) on British television a number of years later.
- In 1943 Life magazine described him as "just about the funniest American now living".
- He also received professional training as a painter through The Educational Alliance. He completed his high school education at Seward Park High School, where his yearbook noted: "A future Rembrandt... or perhaps a comedian?".
- He was blacklisted during the 1950s; his testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee was well publicized. Mostel later starred in the Hollywood Blacklist drama film The Front (1976) alongside Woody Allen, for which Mostel was nominated for the British Academy Film Award for Best Supporting Actor.
- In the last four months of his life, Mostel took on a nutritionally unsound diet (later described by his friends as a starvation diet) that reduced his weight from 304 pounds (138 kg) to 215 pounds (98 kg). During rehearsals for Arnold Wesker's new play The Merchant (in which Mostel played a re-imagined version of Shakespeare's Shylock) in Philadelphia, he collapsed in his dressing room and was taken to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. He was diagnosed with a respiratory disorder, and it was believed he was in no danger and would be released soon. However, on September 8, 1977, Mostel complained of dizziness and lost consciousness. The attending physicians were unable to revive him, and he was pronounced dead that evening. It is believed that he suffered an aortic aneurysm.
- In addition to English, Mostel spoke Yiddish, Italian, and German.
- Blacklisted in the 1950s.
- He is a member of the American Theater Hall of Fame, inducted posthumously in 1979.
- He had his own show in 1948 called Off The Record on WABD with comedian partner Joey Faye. Simultaneously, Mostel had a live TV show on WPIX, Channel Zero.
- The film Monsieur Lecoq was unfinished and abandoned.
- Mostel was a student of Don Richardson, and he used an acting technique based on muscle memory.
- In 1946 he made an attempt at serious operatic acting in The Beggar's Opera, but received lukewarm reviews. He also sang the title role in a short film of Puccini's comic opera Gianni Schicchi. Critics saw him as a versatile performer.
- Part of Mostel's duty with the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) was to give gallery talks at New York's museums. Leading groups of students through the many paintings, Mostel could not suppress his comedic nature, and his lectures were noted less for their artistic content than for his sense of humor. As his reputation grew, he was invited to entertain at parties and other social occasions, earning three to five dollars per performance. Labor union social clubs followed, where Mostel mixed his comic routine with social commentary. These performances played a large role in his eventual blacklisting in the next decade.
- Mostel was an Obie Award and three-time Tony Award winner.
- Mostel's rise professionally was rapid. In 1942, his salary at the Café Society went up from $40 a week to $450; he appeared on radio shows, opened in two Broadway shows (Keep Them Laughing, Top-Notchers), played at the Paramount Theatre, appeared in an MGM movie (Du Barry Was a Lady), and booked into La Martinique at $4,000 a week.
- In 1941, the Café Society, a downtown Manhattan nightclub, approached Mostel with an offer to become a professional comedian and play a regular spot. Mostel accepted, and in the next few months he became the Café Society's main attraction.
- He made cameo appearances in the 40's at the Yiddish theatre, which influenced his performance style.
- Mostel was the subject of the 2006 retrospective play Zero Hour, written and performed by actor/playwright Jim Brochu. The play recounts events from Mostel's life and career, including his HUAC testimony, his professional relationships, and his theatrical work.
- In 1939 he married Clara Sverd, and the couple moved to an apartment in Brooklyn. The marriage did not last, however, since Clara could not accept the many hours Mostel spent in his studio with his fellow artists, and he did not seem to be able to provide for her at the level to which she had been accustomed. They separated in 1941 and divorced in 1944, Clara only agreeing to the divorce in return for a percentage of Mostel's earnings for the rest of his life. The arrangement lasted until the mid-1950s.
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