Gerrit Graham

 Gerrit Graham has talked about the infamous "musical chairs" casting, for "Phantom of the Paradise" (1974) where William Finley almost wound up with no role to play. The studio considered casting Paul Williams as Winslow Leach, Graham as Swan and Peter Boyle as Beef. Williams turned down the role not only because he did not feel physically well or menacing for the role, but he did not want to use the role as a slam against the recording industry. Boyle was unavailable, Graham took the role of Beef and Finley ultimately took the role of Winslow Leach. In fact, director Brian De Palma actually wrote the role with Finley in mind. Finley said in a recent interview that Jon Voight was at one time considered for the role of Swan.

Graham's singing voice in the film was dubbed by Ray Kennedy.

Graham attended but did not graduate from Columbia University. At Columbia, he was the head of Columbia Players, the college theater company. His future co-worker, Brian De Palma, was also a former manager of the student group during his undergraduate years.

In addition to his career as an actor, Graham also wrote for some of the Walt Disney Company's animation projects, including "The Little Mermaid" (1989) and "The Prince and the Pauper" (1990), as well as the lyrics of the Grateful Dead song "Victim or the Crime" based on a tune by Bob Weir.

Happy Birthday, Gerrit Graham!