Bill Oberst Jr. in performance as Lewis Grizzard. Click to read a typical review...
Lewis Grizzard (www.lewisgrizzard.com) was the nations' most successful newspaper columnist, a best-selling author and a Southern cultural icon. When his widow Dedra and his manager Steve Enoch chose me to portray Grizzard onstage in 1999, I was, of course, thrilled. The man was an actor's dream: alternately caustic and sentimental, but always funny.
There was one problem with the project: Grizzard had only been dead for 5 years. The same people who had seen him on his popular concert tours would be coming to see me. And they expected to see their old friend again. Let's face it, when you're playing Mark Twain, a guy can cheat a little. With Grizzard, everything had to be right. I had to nail him.
Bill as Lewis on top of the world
Lewis on top of the world
Lewis' much-publicized illness (a congenital heart valve defect) presented yet another challenge. The show is divided into two acts. In the first, Lewis is young and healthy. In the second, he is near death after three heart surgeries and dramatic weight loss. The quick make-up change precluded prosthetics, so I settled on a receding-hairline wig, a redo of the face make-up and some bodily contortions to get the look below...
Bill as Lewis near the end
Grizzard 4 days before his death
Almost ten years (and many hundreds of what Lewis insisted on calling "standing ovulations") later, the show is still touring strong. And his fans still come up to me and saying, "I'll always miss Lewis. That was just the way I remember him." And that's just the way I want it.
Visit www.lewisgrizzard.com for Grizzard books, tapes and merchandise. For booking inquiries on the stage show, "Lewis Grizzard: In His Own Words," write Lewis' widow Dedra Grizzard at dedragrizzard@aol.com
