Josh Gad: A legacy cemented, a legacy tarnished
As I woke up and scrolled through my morning news alerts, I was startled by two articles. One was the very tragic and sudden loss of theater, film and comedy icon Mike Nichols, who I had the pleasure of meeting twice during Book of Mormon.
The other article related to the loss of another giant entertainment icon synonymous with television history, except in this case, there was no death involved. Rather, it was the loss of a legacy so tarnished by a barrage of sadistic accusations that everything associated with the once-great name of "Cosby" is forever tainted.
As an actor and entertainer, I always strive for the one thing that can live on long after my time here is done...legacy. Each of us wants to be remembered. To strive for those performances or roles that can be revisited over and over again as Blu-ray discs become holograms which become children downloading Frozen directly into a chip in their brains sometime around 2102. Like the greats before us -- Chaplin, Jimmy Stewart, Steve McQueen, Brando -- each of us longs to leave something behind. For most of us, that is a pipe dream, but for a certain few, like Mike Nichols and Bill Cosby, they have the luxury of leaving this life with the knowledge that they will never be forgotten.
Yet today, two legacies that have been all but assured of their place in history are now on completely different trajectories.
On the one hand, you have a man, who by all accounts, was generous, loving and beyond respectful. On the other you have a man who is not only being accused of raping multiple women, but doing it in a manner that is so dark and premeditated as to suggest a behavior usually reserved for serial sociopaths.
One's filmography is guaranteed to be preserved, remembered, and studied for years to come, whether it's the monumental game changer that was The Graduate, the powerhouse bravura performances he was able to capture in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, or the comedic bliss that is The Birdcage. The other's entire canon, past, present and future, is now at riskwith TV Land canceling reruns of The Cosby Show, Netflix canceling his concert special and NBC canceling his return to network television.
One is being remembered today by dignitaries and titans, while the other is being called out by alleged victims and a ravenous media. As the lights dim on Broadway for the great Nichols, the alarm bells will seemingly only grow louder for Cosby.
I am sad today. I will miss going to the theater and seeing what Nichols did to re-imagine masterpieces like Death of a Salesman and Uncle Vanya. I will similarly miss watching one of the greatest living comedians make his observations about life, whether it's family or pudding snacks. I will miss seeing what a man in his eighties can teach us all in films like Charlie Wilson's War, just as I will miss seeing a 77-year-old get back in front of the camera and make us all feel warm and cozy in his presence like we did in the Huxtable household.
Of this I am certain -- today we have lost two titans, one involuntary and one who's presumable choices have cost him everything. None of us can be judge, jury and executioner, but as the accusations continue to fly and each one sounds resoundingly familiar, it is safe to say that Mr. Cosby's legacy is in as much jeopardy as Mr. Nichols' is all but assured.