Colby Harter

Mr. Southworth
Acting I, p.5
April 6th, 2015
F. Murray Abraham: Amadeus
As Antonio Salieri, the jealous nemesis of an immature but brilliant Mozart, F. Murray
Abraham shines in what would be his only role to earn him an Academy Award. Being a highly
active film and stage actor, F. Murray Abrahams participation in the performing arts has
demonstrated a wide variety of versatility and dedication, yet to surprisingly few results other
than the obvious honor of winning an Academy Award. Having received training from a highly
renowned theater teacher in New York City, his acting methods and techniques on screen blend
elements of both stage and film acting to create a picture which poses an intriguing distinction in
his interpretation of roles namely as Antonio Salieri in the film Amadeus.
F. Murray Abraham was born on October 24, 1939 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He
attended the University of Texas at Austin for a degree in performing arts, and upon completion
moved to New York City in pursuit of a career, under the guidance of Uta Hagen a renowned
actress and teacher known particularly for her contribution to the idea of acting truthfully. He
began his career on the stage, taking on the opportunity to become one of the first men to play El
Gallo in the Fantasticks during its original run Off-Broadway in 1967. However after 11
frustrating years of being handed minor roles and/or commercial work, he gave them up,
temporarily resorting to staying at home and managing the house while his wife got a job as an

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assistant until re-establishing his career first with a role in Scarface in 1983, then as his
acclaimed role in Amadeus the following year. Though in the later years of his career he was
greeted with general economic success and opportunities beyond the theater thanks to his
achievement in Amadeus, he never again landed such a significant role in his film career, and
continued on with minor roles in low budget films and commercials (one of his latest roles,
however, briefly brought him back into the contemporary spotlight as Mr. Moustafa in 2014 from
Wes Andersons The Grand Budapest Hotel). F. Murray Abraham became the perfect example
of what many called Oscar jinx, or professional decline following the achievement of an
Academy Award (or any major award in acting). He himself denies that any assumptions of
career failure are true, and finds the lack of attention following such a triumph refreshing. As
for his career on the stage, he found much more success in casting, and landed significant roles
in many shows which catered more towards his general affinity for classical theater. Having
played as (and won awards for) many leading roles in Shakespearian revivals such as Macbeth
as the title character in 1986-7, King Lear, again, as the title character, in 1996, and The
Merchant of Venice as Shylock in 2011, his skill in classical theater is clear, and hinted at
through his big performance as Salieri in Amadeus.
Despite the somewhat controversial remainder of his career, the Academy Award given to
F. Murray Abraham for his leading role in Amadeus was by no means mistaken. To begin, in the
film he portrays both a younger and older Antonio Salieri, emphasizing the distinct differences
between the two. The younger Salieri is a formal gentleman with connections to royalty as the
official Court composer, whose internal flame of jealousy to the prodigious Mozart threatens his
conscious sanity and peace of mind. The older Salieri is a mentally-deteriorating lunatic whose
determination to believe he was the one who killed Mozart led to his indefinite confinement in an

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insane asylum. F. Murray Abraham makes an obvious distinction between the two characters,
but reminds the audience that they are still the same man, simply in different stages of life. As
the younger Salieri, his actions and gestures are far more subtle, often involving prolonged
periods of silent, frustrated contemplation or, when called for by the situation, a clearly deceiving
tongue and a somewhat blank (but very direct) stare to highlight the characters determination
and occasional abandonment of empathy. As the younger character, F. Murray Abrahams acting
is distinctly honest and real, as the medium of film allows an actor to be more subtle and less
show-y to portray different characters more efficiently. Then as the older Salieri, his actions and
gestures are highly exaggerated, and prolonged periods of silence instead involve distorted facial
expressions and a general indication that whatever emotion hes feeling (generally involving
stubbornness, longing or pain) is felt to such an extreme that he sees no point or reason to hide it.
This immense difference in a way allows the audience to see the entirety of younger Salieris
mind through the openness and exaggerated flare of older Salieris recollection, making the
connection between the two all the more difficult to avoid. Older Salieri truly is younger Salieri,
stripped of all formality and reduced to raw emotion. The way in which F. Murray Abraham
portrays older Salieri also notably involves techniques more suited for typical stage acting that
is, exaggerated movements and expressions. Utilizing such techniques in film can and in this
case effectively did make the audience feel slightly uncomfortable watching the character from
such a close and clear standpoint.
Though F. Murray Abrahams ultimate achievement is disputable, as the rest of his
careers success is up for debate, the role of Salieri was truly brilliant, and his fame if perhaps
(as is perceived by much of the public) only for 15 seconds was well deserved.