He wants to Josh around
Combine one part silver fox, one part distinguished actor and one part devoted husband of Barbra Streisand.
Toss in the natural-born gravitas of a president or network news anchor, and what do you get?
James Brolin, all 6 feet 4 inches of him.
Considering his classy image, Brolin’s fans – many of them fawning females – might be in for a bit of a shock after catching his new comedy, “The Goods.”
The 69-year-old actor plays the owner of a used-car dealership that has fallen on hard times.
His character, Ben Selleck, has little choice but to recruit a team of rogue car salesmen (led by Jeremy Piven) whose job is selling cars and saving lots.
Like Brolin, Ben has a calm and collected facade. But unexpected laughs arise when he develops an affinity for one of Piven’s colleagues. One scene is so raunchy, it can’t be repeated here.
“I’m always stuck in the more straight roles, you know,” Brolin says.
“Of course, every time you do it, it sets in concrete for the next role: ‘Oh, I saw him in that, he’s really good at that.’ …
“But that’s what I did the last 10 times. What about doing some bizarre, offbeat stuff?”
Brolin, whose long list of credits includes “Catch Me If You Can,” “Traffic” and Ronald Reagan in the TV movie “The Reagans,” wanted to add another comedic role to his resume.
“It was constant comedy in my family, and yet in my work following that, there was no comedy at all,” he says.
“And now to be in this, around a bunch of groomed comedians, was really great in opening me up in public … and starting to be a little off the wall. I want to do more. I only hope this opens the doors to that before I conclude my career.”
He says Streisand didn’t know much about his role but when he brought her to a screening, she “was laughing the loudest of anybody in the room.”
Do they share the same sense of humor?
“Not at all. … She laughs much more than I do,” he says. “I find her laughing overtly much more than I do. I have a lot of giggles going on inside and people don’t know about it.”
The birthday bunch
Actor Fess Parker is 85. Actor Robert Culp is 79. Sportscaster Frank Gifford is 79. Singer Eydie Gorme is 78. Actress Julie Newmar is 76. Country singer Billy Joe Shaver is 70. Actor Bob Balaban is 64. Actress Lesley Ann Warren is 63. TV personality Kathie Lee Gifford is 56. Director James Cameron is 55. Actress Angela Bassett is 51. Singer Madonna is 51. Actress Laura Innes (“ER”) is 50. Actor Timothy Hutton is 49. Actor Steve Carell is 46. Country singer Emily Robison (The Dixie Chicks) is 37. Singer Vanessa Carlton is 29. Actor Cam Gigandet (“Twilight”) is 27.