Liza Minnelli
Every singing actress from Julie Andrew to Barbra Streisand and non-singing actresses from Ursula Andress to Glenda Jackson were at one time or another given consideration for the role of Sally Bowles. Ultimately, a bit of Hollywood irony came into play. Judy Garland was an essential component in the full-fledged transition of the Hollywood musical out of the confines of the stage and out into the real world with real people breaking into song. Garland’s daughter, Liza Minnelli, was cast in this equally groundbreaking Hollywood musical which pushed all but one of the singing musical numbers back into the reality of entertainers singing on a stage.
Michael York
The success of Cabaret turned Michael York from a working actor into perhaps the hottest British actor of his generation. York would capitalize on success of the musical to star in a series of high-profile films throughout the rest of the 1970’s before a troubled career through 80’s and early 90’s. A high-profile role in the Austin Powers series allowed York to transition into late-career comeback as a solid character actor. Had casting gone another way, the same career trajectory might well have described Jeremy Irons, Timothy Dalton, or Tim Curry, all given consideration for the role of Brian.
Joel Grey
Grey won a Tony Award for playing the Master of Ceremonies in the Broadway stage version in 1967. Grey had become so closely identified with the idiosyncratic role that not only was it difficult to imagine anyone else playing him in the film, the very premise was fundamentally unsound. Director Bob Fosse had access to Grey and Grey wanted to do the film, so why even consider an alternative? The result, of course, was that Grey would collect an Oscar for the role to put on the shelf alongside that Tony.
Helmut Griem
Griem first came to the attention of international moviegoers in another film with fascist corruption at its core, The Damned. His most famous role for American is easily Max in Cabaret, but his career stretched into the 21st century bouncing back and forth between various countries and easily transitioning between film and TV productions.
Marisa Berenson
Berenson made the transition from model to actress with stunning results in Cabaret. She was honored by the National Board of Review with its award for Best Supporting Actress. In addition, she was nominated in that category at both the BAFTA and Golden Globes ceremonies. With the possible exception of her role as the wife of the titular character in Barry Lyndon, Cabaret remains her most identifiable and highly regarded performance.
Fritz Wepper
The oddly similar sounding actor who assayed the role of Fritz Wendel never achieved any kind of movie stardom associated with his performance in Cabaret, but in Germany he is probably more instantly recognizable than anybody else associated with the film including Liza Minelli. This familiarity is due to nearly 350 episodes spanning two different and wildly popular TV series in which he played the Det. Harry Klein.
