In the parlance of real estate, notice to quite is an eviction notice. It’s also the name of a dramedy starring Michael Zegen (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) and featuring Robert Klein as his father. In the film, Klein plays the father of Zegen’s Andy Singer, a ne’er-do-well actor-turned-realtor juggling his own eviction while trying to close deals and take care of estranged 10-year-old daughter Anna (played by newcomer Kasey Bella Suarez).
The plot takes place within the span of a day during which time Singer and his progeny journey throughout the Big Apple while dodging debt collectors, ripped-off clients and rival realtors while the former navigates his career and parenting choices. It’s a role dyed-in-the-wool Bronxite Klein embraced despite being slotted into a supporting role.
“I think the way it was done was very skillful because it’s a different kind of look at New York,” Klein said. “It’s not lovingly with all these iconic bridges like Woody Allen would do. It’s a very New York film and in the end, it’s a very tough part [Michael Zegen] does beautifully in the end because he’s really a rat. He’s not a good guy or a good father. And yet, he’s likable. He’s like Job. It’s a day in the life of a guy everything happens to and is of his own making. By the way, that little girl is one of the best child actors. She underplayed her role and I think she really knew how to do it.”
The idea that Zegen’s character is a struggling actor resonated strongly with Klein. Next year finds the 82-year-old actor/stand-up comedian celebrating his 60th year as an actor after being accepted into The Second City improvisational troupe (alongside the late Fred Willard] in spring 1965 following a stint matriculating at Yale Drama School despite being a pre-med undergrad.
“One of the great things Notice to Quit captures is how tough life can be and that can not only go for New York,” Klein said. “New York happens to be the background for this, but the general problem of childcare, split families, of money problems, of trying to get by—[Andy] happens to be an actor and we hardly remember that. It’s American universal with New York as the background.”
Second City was Klein’s entryway into show business and while he won a pair of Best Comedy Album Grammys for 1973’s A Child of the Fifties and 1974’s Mind Over Matter, he stayed busy acting on the silver screen and on stage. A comedy master influenced by Lenny Bruce, Jonathan Winters and a then-unknown Rodney Dangerfield, Klein made his own imprint when he headlined HBO’s inaugural On Location series on New Year’s Eve 1975. Its uncensored stand-up comedy format paved the way for future specials by the likes of Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, Jerry Seinfeld and Eddie Murphy. It’s a distinction he’s rightfully proud of.
“Next year is the 50th anniversary of the first HBO special, which I did,” he said. “I did nine of them. It’s not only the first HBO special, but the first original programming of any kind on pay TV. HBO only showed movies up to that point.”
Talk to Klein long enough and amidst the constant stream of jokes and laughs, he’ll matter-of-factly drop in asides about everything from reading for and losing out the role of a Jewish union organizer in 1979’s Norma Rae to the late Ron Liebman (“I found out later that director Marty Ritt said I was too good-looking for the role”) to opening for Barbra Streisand when she first played Las Vegas (“We were so buddy-buddy. I was madly in love with the woman I was to marry, so there was no romance. It was more about the conversations we had.”) Admittedly self-retired, nowadays Klein spends his time doting on his year-and-a-half-old granddaughter who lives 20 minutes from him, binge-watching true crime series and voraciously reading anything he can get his hands on. (“I’ve become that cliché of reading everything you ever wanted to read when you have the time.”) For 2025, Klein’s creative hopes include HBO considering a retrospective of his comedy specials possibly writing a sequel to his 2005 memoir The Amorous Busboy of Decatur Avenue: A Child of the Fifties Looks Back.
“I would like to write a new book because the last one only goes up to the age of 25,” he said. “While I’m not the kiss-and-tell type, I do have a million stories.”
Notice to Quit is streaming on Fandango, Cinèpolis and Prime Video.
