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Thursday, September 21, 2017

Moe Pressman is not in the magic show

My last article, titled An Article Five Days Before the Movie Opened, has led me to understand that I have been mistaken about three characters. I will have to correct several of my previous articles.

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A pirate hat being worn by
the character Moe Pressman
played by the actor Garry Goodrow
Moe Pressman is the husband of "bungalow bunny" Vivian Pressman. There is a scene where Moe is playing cards, and he offers Johnny Castle money to give Vivian a dancing lesson. In that scene, Johnny gives Moe a pirate hat. In the final scene, Moe is wearing the same pirate hat.

Moe Pressman is sitting and facing Johnny.
Vivian Pressman is standing behind her husband Moe.
Johnny has placed the pirate hat onto the table's corner for Moe.
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The magician, played by the actor Bruce Morrow
I thought mistakenly that the above character was Moe Pressman, because the actors look similar. However, the magician is played by a radio celebrity named Bruce Morrow. His voice is heard on car radios in a couple of scenes.

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Stan the social director, played by the actor Wayne Knight
I thought mistakenly that the above character was the magician and that the character sawing Baby in half was Moe Pressman, a hotel guest invited onto the stage to participate in the trick.

However, the above character is the hotel's social director.

The magician on the left.
Stan the social director on the right.
The social director is named Stan in the movie's credits, but the name Stan does not appear in the dialogue. This character Stan the social director is played by the actor Wayne Knight.

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The Wikipedia article about Dirty Dancing includes the following passage:
Another role went to [screenwriter Eleanor] Bergstein's friend, New York radio personality "Cousin Brucie" [Bruce Morrow]. She initially wanted him to portray the social director but then later asked him to play the part of the magician.

The role of the social director went to the then unknown Wayne Knight (of later Seinfeld and 3rd Rock from the Sun fame)
My previous article included this passage:
Dirty Dancing marks Mr. Morrow's screen debut, and finding the right part took some doing. Bonnie Timmerman, the casting director, first approached him about playing the social director of Kellerman's, the Catskills resort where the film is set.

"But I didn't think I was exactly right for that," Mr. Morrow said, "because I always saw the social director as a portly kid shouting, 'Everyone ready for Simon Says?'"

So Ms. Timmerman tried Mr. Morrow -- who is lean, tall and middle-aged -- for small roles as a gynecologist, a dentist and a carpenter before settling on that of the magician.
Gynecologist?

Dentist?

Carpenter?

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It seems to me that by the end of the movie the resort's social director is not Stan, but actually Neil Kellerman. It is Neil who manages the talent show -- deciding on the pachanga dance and asking Baby to help with the props.

I wonder if the character Stan originally was supposed to play a larger role but was largely replaced by Neil. If so, then I speculate that this change happened because the script was changed by adding the firing of Johnny Castle right before the talent show.

2 comments:

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  2. I perform professionally in impersonations coast to coast as "Cousin Brucie" Morrow, as I was doing his voice way before becoming a variety entertainer full time. Being I grew up listening to him, and being a member of his young audience, I also learned a great deal about the music of the era...Adding those elements together, I've had a "Dirty Dancing DJ Party Show since the late 80's in this role!

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