Gilford was discovered working in a pharmacy by
Milton Berle, who became his mentor. While working in amateur theater, he competed with other talented youngsters, including a young
Jackie Gleason. He started doing imitations and
impersonations. His first appearance on film was a 1936 short entitled
Midnight Melodies in which he did his imitations of
George Jessel,
Rudy Vallee and
Harry Langdon. Gilford developed some unique impressions that became his trademarks — most notably, one of "
split pea soup coming to a furious boil" using only his face. Other unusual impressions he created were a
fluorescent light going on in a dark room,
John D. Rockefeller Sr. imitating
Jimmy Durante, and impressions of animals. In 1938, Gilford worked as the
master of ceremonies in the first downtown New York
integrated nightclub,
Café Society, which was owned and operated by
Barney Josephson. His was a unique blend of the earlier style of the
Yiddish theater,
vaudeville and
burlesque, and started the tradition of
monology such as later comedians
Lenny Bruce and
Woody Allen used. He won numerous industry awards. Gilford became known for his roles on the
Broadway stage, such as
Drink To Me Only,
Romanoff and Juliet, and
The Diary of Anne Frank. Gilford's career was derailed for a time during the 1950s and
McCarthyism. He was an activist who campaigned for
social change,
integration, and labor unions. He was quite active both socially and politically in
left-wing causes, as was his wife,
Madeline Lee. Gilford was nominated for several
Tony Awards, including for best supporting actor as Hysterium in
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1963), and for his role as Herr Schultz in
Cabaret (1966). He was nominated for an
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in (1973) for his role as Phil Green in
Save the Tiger (his co-star
Jack Lemmon won for Best Actor). Sir
Rudolf Bing engaged Gilford for the comic speaking role of the tippling jailer Frosch in the operetta
Die Fledermaus. Beloved in the part, Gilford performed it 77 times between 1950 and 1964. He appeared in a series of television commercials for
Cracker Jack in the 1960s, and enjoyed success in films, including a notable role in
Cocoon (1985). ==Personal life==