Latest news with #SeanHayes
Telegraph
12-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
The troubled genius who flirted with Garbo and popped pills with Garland
'There is a fine line between genius and insanity, I have erased that line,' said Oscar Levant. Feted through the 1940s as both the highest paid concert pianist in America and one of the wittiest voices on the nation's radio, Levant charmed everyone from George Gershwin (with whom he often shared a piano stool) through Harpo Marx and Dorothy Parker (with whom he traded wisecracks) to Judy Garland (who regularly raided his bathroom for the prescription pills to which they were both addicted). Doug Wright's Tony Award-winning play, Good Night, Oscar, reminded audiences in New York earlier this year that Levant was also the first American celebrity to speak frankly on 1950s chat shows about his severe struggles with 'a regularly laundry list of mental health issues'. Pivoting on a virtuosic performance from actor and pianist Sean Hayes (best known for the sitcom Will & Grace), the play is based on a real event in 1958 when TV producers checked Levant out of a psychiatric unit for four hours to make an appearance on The Johnny Carson Show. The play's spine-tingling climax sees Hayes (in character as Levant) seated at the piano to perform Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue in its entirety, revealing the brilliance and melancholy lurking beneath his erratic and self-deprecating humour. 'I think one can draw a direct line from Levant's television appearances in the 1950s to the modern craze for reality TV,' says Wright over the phone between rehearsals for the London run. 'Because although a lot of what Oscar said shocked a culturally conservative audience, he also proved that a real person could be as compelling as any fictional character. Some would argue he exploited his problems for entertainment value. Others claim he was de-stigmatising them and bringing them to a greater public awareness. But I don't think those aims were mutually exclusive and Oscar preferred being on television to living his real life.' Born in Pittsburgh in 1906, Oscar Levant was the youngest of four sons of aspirational Russian Jewish immigrants. 'I paid thousands of dollars to psychiatrists to forget my childhood,' he would later say. His autocratic father, Max, was a watchmaker who disdained emotion and expected his sons to take up middle-class professions. His more rebellious and charismatic uncles and older brothers – the eldest of whom defied their father to become a professional violinist – took him to brothels. Meanwhile his mother Annie – a devotee of romantic music and elegant performers – insisted that her boys all learn instruments. She took them to see her brother conducting the then-20-year-old George Gershwin in 1918 and little Oscar – tutored in strict, classical style – was bowled over by the young composer's 'fresh, free, inventive' style. He was also pierced for the first time by an agonising jealousy that he would nurture for the rest of his life. Oscar's electric talent at the keyboard had been evident from the first but he loathed practising. He had to be dragged from games in the streets and literally tied to the piano stool and forced to play. Because his physical appearance – with his knock knees, big ears and general clumsiness – did not conform to her ideal of an elegant pianist, Annie would often turn her biting wit on her youngest. After the sudden death of his father when Oscar was 15, Annie sent him to New York to study a strict classical method. By the time he turned 18, he'd made a name for himself in the Big Apple's louche, arty salons as both a pianist (increasingly influenced by jazzier composers such as Irving Berlin) and a wit. He dropped bon mots with the quick-tongued intelligentsia who gathered around the Algonquin Round Table including Robert Benchley, George S Kaufman and Dorothy Parker (of whom he said 'at her cruellest her voice was most caressive – she was one of my favourite people'). But he fretted that he was sabotaging his career by playing court jester: 'I don't want to be known as a wag… I want to be known as a serious musician. But there I go. Jokes. Silly stories. It's a disease. Beethoven was deaf, Mozart had rickets and I make wisecracks.' He would also find himself distracted by the glamour of Hollywood, where he worked as a jobbing composer and dated a series of starlets. In 1930, he began a passionate affair with Virginia Cherrill while she was also being courted by Cary Grant (whose film I'm No Angel was breaking box office records at that time). Grant (who would later marry Cherrill) was so furious with Levant that he repeatedly rammed his car into the pianist's while it was parked outside the house where the lovers slept. 'I thought it was a peculiar way of any one showing his strength, even though I sympathised with his mood,' said Levant. His way with women (who found him a tender lover, although requiring extensive mothering) saw him able to charm even the most elite of beauties. Once, when spotting the famously aloof Greta Garbo dining alone in a restaurant, he summoned a waiter: 'Please tell Miss Garbo to quit staring at me…' She was so amused she invited him to join her. Levant's obsession with Gershwin's music quickly developed into a 'neurotic love affair' and the two became close friends. He was the first pianist after the composer to record Rhapsody in Blue with many preferring the giddy panache of his version, so the rivalry was fierce. Doug Wright categorises their relationship as 'fraternal. Profoundly loving, intimately connected and a little sadistic, Gershwin always had the upper hand and Levant submitted to that like a lapdog.' Only one of Levant's songs – 'Blame it On My Youth' had become a standard and at parties where Gershwin was playing piano, he liked to invite his young lapdog of a friend over to 'play a medley of your hit'. In revenge, Levant would quip: 'If you had to do it all over again, George, would you still fall in love with yourself?' Both men accepted that while Gershwin had 'genius', Levant had only 'talent'. Levant tried to cash in his superior classical education by studying with Schoenberg, under whose tutelage he wrote a piano concerto. But he continued to self-sabotage and 'inserted a boogie-woogie strain in the middle of it. It spoiled the whole thing.' Levant enjoyed a more casual friendship with Harpo Marx, inviting himself to the comic's Hollywood home in 1936 for just over a year during which he ran up huge phone bills and monopolised Marx's guests. 'He was a leech and a lunatic – in short a litchi nut,' recalled Marx. 'But I loved the guy… for all his sarcasm and sullen cracks [he] didn't mean to hurt anyone except himself.' In the mid-1930s, Levant met the actress June Gale, who would become his second wife (his first, another actress, Barbara Woodell, had lasted less than a year), but their on-off courtship was threatened when the young Judy Garland – then filming The Wizard of Oz – developed a crush on him. Their affair was not consummated and they remained friends – confiding in each other about stage fright and swapping prescription pills. Levant would later joke that, 'If we had ever married, she would have given birth to a sleeping pill instead of a child – we could have named it Barb-iturate.' Levant finally married Gale in 1939 and their marriage (during which they raised three daughters) would become the bedrock of his life as his phobias multiplied and depression deepened. In Wright's play the audience sees the couple's snarky repartee as Levant jokes that 'marriage is like retail – you break it, you bought it' while June rallies back 'Marriage is about commitment – it's just a question of who commits whom first.' Wright says he felt qualified to dramatise their relationship because 'my own beloved father was bipolar and a large part of my mother's life was taken up in navigating that, trying to create a normal environment around a very abnormal temperament. After my father died, my mother said: 'I never told you children this, but for 55 years I kept a secret suitcase packed in the boot of the car. I was always ready to leave.' Levant was at his most successful across the 1940s, working as a touring pianist and making regular appearances on popular radio panel show, Information Please (on which witty and well-read panellists attempted to answer questions submitted by listeners). But his mental health was in free-fall. A desperate June turned to Dr Greenson – the psychiatrist who also treated Marilyn Monroe – but the medic appears to have increased his reliance on prescription drugs. 'He was getting everything,' June later recalled. 'Demerol, paraldehyde and handfuls of pills, when he couldn't even find his mouth.' His daughter Lorna later recalled him as 'a kind of spooky figure in pyjamas'. Levant would spend the rest of his life in and out of psychiatric institutions – 'a sad sack in a dressing gown who could barely get out of bed,' says Wright. Although he could still turn on his charm when pressed: he began appearing on chat shows in 1950 after moving to California. He appealed to a new generation of Hollywood stars and in their 1996 biography A Talent for Genius Sam Kashner and Nancy Shoenberger describe a night on which Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Collins and James Dean dropped in to visit with Dean staying much later to discuss music. In her autobiography Collins later wrote that: 'James Dean and Oscar Levant got along famously. Each relished the other's unusualness.' Levant remained friends with Taylor throughout her first four marriages, joking she was 'always a bride, never a bridesmaid'. Chat shows like the one dramatised in Good Night, Oscar often saw Levant, in his own words, 'saying something outrageous enough to get me thrown off air'. He also hosted his own show, Oscar Levant's Words about Music, which was cancelled in 1956 after he led off on Marilyn Monroe's conversion to Judaism joking that: 'Now Marilyn Monroe is kosher, Arthur Miller can eat her.' A second show, The Oscar Levant Show saw him sparring with writers such as Christopher Isherwood and Aldous Huxley, with whom he discussed hallucinogenic drugs and the best musical accompaniment for suicide. The last decade of Levant's life saw him slow down, swapping pharmaceutical addictions for sudden obsessions with various sweet foods, from chocolate to tapioca. He last appeared in public at an event honouring Charlie Chaplin in 1970 and died at home in Los Angeles in 1972, aged 65. 'Writing about such a witty man was a challenge,' admits Wright. 'He gave me some terrific lines to use and I had to write my own to match. It brought out all my writerly insecurities. There are nights when I've stood in the back of the theatre keeping score: two for Oscar, one for Doug.'
Daily Telegraph
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Telegraph
Rare glimpse inside Jennifer Aniston's home life
Jennifer Aniston has given fans a rare glimpse inside her life at home. Taking to Instagram, the 'Friends' star posted a series of photos taken in her two California properties. The 56-year-old actress shared several shots of herself spending time with her celebrity pals, while wishing her 44.5 million followers a 'happy Monday', Realtor reports. Among the A-listers featured in the images were Aniston's close friend — and former co-star — Courteney Cox, as well as 'Will & Grace' actor Sean Hayes. The Golden Globe winner also posted a snap of her dog, Lord Chesterfield. In the photo, the star lounged on an outdoor couch with her pup, whom she rescued in October 2020. Aniston is currently the proud owner of two California dwellings: a midcentury modern property in Bel-Air, which she purchased for $US20.1 million ($A30.5 million) in 2012. MORE: Fresh blow for Perry amid split 'Let go': Common item Mariah refuses to own 'Never coming back': Depp reveals sad demise The other is a Mediterranean-style farmhouse in Montecito, which she bought from fellow A-lister Oprah Winfrey for $US10.5 million ($A15.9 million) in 2021. Images obtained by Realtor in March revealed that 'The Switch' actress was carrying out extensive renovations on her farmhouse property. Photos showed that the dwelling had undergone a stunning overhaul, which included the addition of a new pool area. Those images revealed that construction was very near completion, suggesting that Aniston might have since moved into the dwelling. Although, she has not yet revealed whether she plans to use the Montecito abode as a full-time residence or a weekend getaway. It appears that at least one of the photos featured in Aniston's Instagram post might have been taken at her newly renovated dwelling. The image shows the actress' pet dog Clyde lounging in the entryway to a property, which features the same heavy-set wooden door as Aniston's Montecito property. The pup can be seen lying next to a hedgehog toy behind a welcome mat that reads: 'The babe cave.' Aniston also reminded fans of her close bond with Cox in the images, with one snap showing the longtime friends hugging while donning matching loungewear and standing together in what appears to be a kitchen. Other photos saw Aniston posing along with producer Kristin Hahn in front of her cozy fireplace, and hanging out with her friend Andrea Bendewald in a beautifully decorated living room. Meanwhile, Aniston's candid selfie with close friend Hayes appears to have been taken during an evening on the town — and saw a third person carefully blurred out by the actress to protect the anonymous pal's privacy. Lastly, Aniston showed a picture of the gorgeous sunset over the water. The candid into her personal life comes nearly two months after an elderly man was arrested after intentionally crashing through the gates of Aniston's Bel-Air property while she was home. Police were called to the star's Los Angeles home around 12pm on May 5 for a possible burglary, according to local news channel KTLA. The 'Horrible Bosses' actress was at home at the time of the shocking incident, and the intruder has been identified only as a white male in his 70s, TMZ reports. The Los Angeles Police Department revealed that a security guard on-site held down the elderly man until they arrived. TMZ reported that Aniston's security team rushed over to the driver and restrained him at gunpoint immediately following the incident. Upon arrival, police officers took the man, who has a minor criminal history, into custody without any issues. According to ABC News, the incident was not an accident. However, it doesn't appear that Aniston was targeted. The LAPD's Threat Management Unit has taken over the case to err on the side of caution. According to KTLA, the retractable arm on Aniston's gate was broken off as a result of the crash. Following the incident, the LAPD revealed that 'there was a victim who was home at the time, who was not injured.' Aniston has been very discreet about her personal residence, a 10,186-square-foot, midcentury modern mansion on a 3.27-acre lot in L.A.'s Bel-Air neighbourhood. The prestigious estate, built in 1968 and designed by architect A. Quincy Jones, is hidden behind tall hedges and high gates, ensuring maximum privacy for Aniston, who used the home as the location for her 2015 wedding to Justin Theroux. The couple divorced in 2018. records indicate she paid $US20,970,000 ($A31,875,000) for the marvellous manse and estimates it's now worth anywhere from about $US18 million ($A27.3 million) to $27 million ($A41 million). Parts of this story first appeared in Realtor and was republished with permission. MORE: 'Lonely': Who gets what in Holly, ex split 'Big allure': Secret MJ homes reveal sad life Wild reason Charles can't kick Andrew out
News.com.au
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Rare glimpse inside Jennifer Aniston's home life
Jennifer Aniston has given fans a rare glimpse inside her life at home. Taking to Instagram, the 'Friends' star posted a series of photos taken in her two California properties. The 56-year-old actress shared several shots of herself spending time with her celebrity pals, while wishing her 44.5 million followers a 'happy Monday', Realtor reports. Among the A-listers featured in the images were Aniston's close friend — and former co-star — Courteney Cox, as well as 'Will & Grace' actor Sean Hayes. The Golden Globe winner also posted a snap of her dog, Lord Chesterfield. In the photo, the star lounged on an outdoor couch with her pup, whom she rescued in October 2020. Aniston is currently the proud owner of two California dwellings: a midcentury modern property in Bel-Air, which she purchased for $US20.1 million ($A30.5 million) in 2012. The other is a Mediterranean-style farmhouse in Montecito, which she bought from fellow A-lister Oprah Winfrey for $US10.5 million ($A15.9 million) in 2021. Images obtained by Realtor in March revealed that 'The Switch' actress was carrying out extensive renovations on her farmhouse property. Photos showed that the dwelling had undergone a stunning overhaul, which included the addition of a new pool area. Those images revealed that construction was very near completion, suggesting that Aniston might have since moved into the dwelling. Although, she has not yet revealed whether she plans to use the Montecito abode as a full-time residence or a weekend getaway. It appears that at least one of the photos featured in Aniston's Instagram post might have been taken at her newly renovated dwelling. The image shows the actress' pet dog Clyde lounging in the entryway to a property, which features the same heavy-set wooden door as Aniston's Montecito property. The pup can be seen lying next to a hedgehog toy behind a welcome mat that reads: 'The babe cave.' Aniston also reminded fans of her close bond with Cox in the images, with one snap showing the longtime friends hugging while donning matching loungewear and standing together in what appears to be a kitchen. Other photos saw Aniston posing along with producer Kristin Hahn in front of her cozy fireplace, and hanging out with her friend Andrea Bendewald in a beautifully decorated living room. Meanwhile, Aniston's candid selfie with close friend Hayes appears to have been taken during an evening on the town — and saw a third person carefully blurred out by the actress to protect the anonymous pal's privacy. Lastly, Aniston showed a picture of the gorgeous sunset over the water. The candid into her personal life comes nearly two months after an elderly man was arrested after intentionally crashing through the gates of Aniston's Bel-Air property while she was home. Police were called to the star's Los Angeles home around 12pm on May 5 for a possible burglary, according to local news channel KTLA. The 'Horrible Bosses' actress was at home at the time of the shocking incident, and the intruder has been identified only as a white male in his 70s, TMZ reports. The Los Angeles Police Department revealed that a security guard on-site held down the elderly man until they arrived. TMZ reported that Aniston's security team rushed over to the driver and restrained him at gunpoint immediately following the incident. Upon arrival, police officers took the man, who has a minor criminal history, into custody without any issues. According to ABC News, the incident was not an accident. However, it doesn't appear that Aniston was targeted. The LAPD's Threat Management Unit has taken over the case to err on the side of caution. According to KTLA, the retractable arm on Aniston's gate was broken off as a result of the crash. Following the incident, the LAPD revealed that 'there was a victim who was home at the time, who was not injured.' Aniston has been very discreet about her personal residence, a 10,186-square-foot, midcentury modern mansion on a 3.27-acre lot in L.A.'s Bel-Air neighbourhood. The prestigious estate, built in 1968 and designed by architect A. Quincy Jones, is hidden behind tall hedges and high gates, ensuring maximum privacy for Aniston, who used the home as the location for her 2015 wedding to Justin Theroux. The couple divorced in 2018. records indicate she paid $US20,970,000 ($A31,875,000) for the marvellous manse and estimates it's now worth anywhere from about $US18 million ($A27.3 million) to $27 million ($A41 million).
Daily Mail
30-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Friends legend Jennifer Aniston kisses rival 90s sitcom star in picture
Jennifer Aniston shared several photos to her Instagram account on Monday, June 30. She captioned it, 'Happy Monday' and shared a selection of recent photos with her dog and with her friends. Perhaps most notable was the pic of kissing Sean Hayes, who played Jack McFarland on Will and Grace. Sean's sitcom competed with Friends, where Jennifer played Rachel Green. But in the pic, the two actors looked very chummy as Aniston planted a kiss on Sean's cheek. Hayes had a big smile on his face, on which he wore eye glasses, as Jennifer made a silly face while smooching him. The Morning Show star, 56, also gave fans a touch of Friends nostalgia with a makeup-free photo with Courteney Cox, 61. In the snap, the longtime friends stood in a bathroom with Jennifer hugging Courteney from behind. Both of the actresses wore black with Jen in a spaghetti strap tank and Courteney in a black t-shirt. The Horrible Bosses star also shared several snaps of her dogs, Lord Chesterfield, a Labrador, and Clyde, a miniature schnauzer. She also shared a photo of herself hugging a friend as well as one of her and another woman sitting in front of a fireplace with what appears to be a group of people in front of them. And finally, her last shot was of a sunset over the Pacific Ocean. Jennifer is best known for her role on Friends, which ran from 1994-2000 and now she's in another successful series, The Morning Show. But she still has bucket list jobs she'd like to perform such as appearing on Broadway. 'I definitely want to do a Broadway play,' she told People. 'That's on my bucket list.' The problem is, the actress, who has off-Broadway experience from her early career, needs time to focus on 'finding the right piece, the right material.' 'But I absolutely have to do a play on Broadway,' she stressed. In a separate interview with People, she dished on which role she'd like to revisit and it is NOT Rachel Green. 'Oh my God, this literally came up the other day: Horrible Bosses,' Aniston said, referring to the 2011 comedy film and its 2014 sequel, in which employees plan how to murder their abusive bosses. 'Jason Bateman and I were talking about that, and Charlie Day has been talking about it a lot too,' she continued. So that's something that we think would be super fun. 'The characters are hilarious, and we need comedy. I personally think comedy is a necessity. 'That's one that we would have a really fun time, I think, going back to, seeing where those crazy cats are today,' she added. Last month, a man named Jimmy Wayne Carwyle allegedly trespassed onto Aniston's Bel-Air property by ramming through the front gates - with the actress being home at the time of the incident. He was arrested by LAPD officers after being apprehended by Aniston's own security team - but a subsequent ruling declared that Carwyle is mentally unfit to stand trial. 'He is not competent to stand trial so although I know it's not the outcome my client would have preferred at this time I would submit on those two reports,' public defender Robert Krauss informed the court during a hearing last month following a second analysis that concluded Carwyle was mentally unfit to continue with the case.
Hindustan Times
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Sean Hayes, Will Arnett and Jason Bateman net worths: ‘SmartLess' podcast hosts are starting a phone company
SmartLess, the interview podcast hosted by celebrity trio Sean Hayes, Will Arnett, and Jason Bateman, has just received its first spinoff launch- a mobile service carrier. The service will use the T-Mobile network fiber and is built on the idea that customers will no longer have to pay for data they don't use. Plans range from $15 to $30 a month and are available to users across the United States and Puerto Rico, free of the need to switch contact numbers. 'We're a new kind of mobile company. We'll help you cut your bill, cut screen time, and cut the B.S. You won't hear that from Verizon or AT&T,' the company's official website reads. Also Read: What is USCIS's new policy for green card applicants starting from 11 June? Here's a rundown In light of this business venture, here's a look at the personal fortunes of the three creators of this service: Sean Hayes is an American actor and comedian who, as of February 18, 2025, has amassed a fortune of $30 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. This funding comes from his performance as Jack McFarland on the NBC sitcom Will & Grace, alongside other popular movies. Hayes was awarded a Tony in 2023 for his performance in 'Good Night, Oscar' and runs a production company called Hazy Mills Productions. Owing to his work as an actor, voice-over artist, producer, and mainly as a podcaster for SmartLess, Will Arnett has $50 million to his name as of March 11, according to Celebrity Net Worth. In acting credentials, Arnett is known for his role as Gob Bluth on 'Arrested Development', along with movies like 'Blades of Glory' and 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He is also behind the voice of Batman in the LEGO world. Also Read: Ananda Lewis dies at 52: What was former MTV VJ's net worth? Jason Bateman owes his $50 million fortune (as reported by Celebrity Net Worth) to his previous lucrative acting, directing, and producing roles. He first shot to fame as Michael Bluth opposite Arnett in 'Arrested Development' and has since gone on to feature in multiple other roles. Known for his sharp wit and incredible comedic timing, Bateman further expanded on his skills by directing a few episodes of the hit Netflix series 'Ozark'.
