WAXING NOSTALGIC WITH PETER RIEGERT: CROSSING DELANCEY AND MORE

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After fifty years in the business and still going strong, veteran actor Peter Riegert has a few stories to tell.

Peter Riegert is best known for his roles as Donald “Boone” Schoenstein in Animal House (1978), oil company executive “Mac” MacIntyre in Local Hero (1983), pickle store owner Sam Posner in Crossing Delancey (1988), Lt. Mitch Kellaway in The Mask (1994), and glove manufacturer Lou Levov in American Pastoral (2016)

Over the years he’s made a name for himself playing dozens of characters on the big and small screens, but one of the films that still remains close to his heart is, the beloved romantic comedy, Crossing Delancey.

In the film, Amy Irving plays thirty-something and single in New York, Isabelle “Izzy” who is attracted to a married, sophisticated author (Jeroen Krabbe) but her Lower East Side grandmother enlists the help of a matchmaker who introduces her to a charming but unworldly pickle vendor named Sam played by Riegert. Who will she choose?

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“Crossing Delancey” struck a chord to with movie goers in the 80’s and to this day not only still resonates but remains one of most loved films of all time.

Today Riegert is busier than ever, still making guest appearances on series, (we will see him on Season 3 of Succession) and during the pandemic created a podcast called, “Vocal Heroes” where he interviews interesting people to find out their origin stories. For the very first podcast, Riegert sits down with his old friend and Animal House co-star Karen Allen to discuss life and how she literally fell into show business.

To commemorate the recent passing of groundbreaking director Joan Micklin Silver (Hester Street), TJFF ( The Toronto Jewish Film Festival) is hosting a special screening of the romantic comedy, Crossing Delancey accompanied by a special zoom Q & A that will include, stars Amy Irving, Peter Rieger and Deborah Offner, Playwright and screenwriter Susan Sandler, and Filmmaker and Film Historian Daniel Kremer (author of the upcoming book, Joan Micklin Silver: From Hester Street to Hollywood) that will take place on Tuesday June 8th at 7pm.

You can get ticket information here:
https://tjff.com/films/crossing-delancey/

I had a great conversation with Peter Riegert about Crossing Delancey, Animal House, Local Hero and much more. Check out the interview right here.