Director Ran Avni mounted the first US revival of Arthur Miller’s Holocaust drama through the Jewish Repertory Theater in 1981. As part of our preparation, Ran wanted us to see the film Europa, Europa to get a better understanding of our characters, who are rounded up at a police station in Vichy, France in 1942 on the suspicion that they are Jewish.
Growing up in a household with parents who came from Poland, I understood all too well what he wanted us to do. Both sets of my grandparents perished in the Holocaust.
While my role of the waiter was not a major one, he is the catalyst in the play. When he cast me, Ran told me “It’s not a major role, but everything hinges on what you say.” The waiter is the first to realize that all the characters will be going to the concentration camps.
Me with Fred Sanders in Incident at Vichy, 1981.
The reviews were ecstatic, and Arthur Miller attended a performance, which he loved. Box office was high above expectations, and we were extended several weeks.
In 2004, I reprised the role of the waiter in four staged readings at the John Houseman Theater with casts that included Austin Pendleton, Richard Dreyfuss, Fritz Weaver, F. Murray Abraham, and Peter Weller. Arthur Miller came again, too.
Me and Nick Daddazio in the dressing room with Arthur Miller, 1981.
Bernard Rachelle began his professional career at George Hamids's Steel Pier in Atlantic City with his idol Johnny Ray, whom he impersonated. That summer he appeared on Ted Mack's amateur hour and made a subsequent appearance two years later.
In 1959 Bernard introduced rock and roll to Israel and appeared opposite Topol in the comedy feature film "I Like Mike".
Soap fans will recall his role as photographer/pornographer Stu Samuels opposite Sylvia Miles and Kim Delaney on "All My Children".
He is most proud of his work on Arthur Miller's "Incident at Vichy". The first New York City revival that Mr. Miller attended was in 1981. Years later Mr. Miller graced 4 staged readings with "Bernie", along with varying casts featuring Richard Dreyfuss, Fritz Weaver, Peter Weller, Austin Pendelton, F. Murray Abraham and Barry Primus.
While his film career spans 3 decades including "Fort Apache, The Bronx", "Rollover", "Blowout", "The Purple Rose of Cairo" and "The Yards", in 2006 Bernard co-starred as Chaim opposite Denzel Washington and Clive Owen in Spike Lee's "Inside Man".
Recently, Bernard played the lead, Edgar, in the short film "The Cemetery Club", winner of the Palm Beach International Film Festival, and Schleimann in the Vlad Nikolic cult film "Zenith". In 2013 he appeared as Judge Glaser in the feature film "Rob the Mob." "Courier X," released in 2016, saw him play a diamond examiner.
On the small screen, Bernard currently appears in an Emblem Health Insurance commercial.
Bernard has written and will soon perform his one man show "Abe & Lillian's Bungalow Colony", a take-off on the Catskills Mountains, set in 1977.
Bernard is a proud member of ARTC - American Renaissance Theatre.
