Apr 10, 2007 2:58 pm US/Eastern
Film Honors The Life And Laughs Of Philly Comedian
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ―
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Judy Toll died in 2002 after over 20 years in showbusiness.
Philadelphia Film Society
She was an actress, a writer, a producer and a comedian in Hollywood for over two decades. Chances are Judy Toll has made you laugh, but you'd never know it.
First-time director/producer/writer Gary Toll documents the life of his sister in
Judy Toll: The Funniest Woman You've Never Heard Of, premiering at the 16th annual Philadelphia Film Festival.
Born in Philadelphia in 1958, Judy Toll had a natural gift for comedy. She began her career on stage with her brother Gary, who said he was too distracted by college to continue a pursuit for laughs.
But Judy persisted, eventually gaining a following in Philly. In 1981, she left the City of Brotherly Love for the lights of Los Angeles.
"Judy struggled for a lot years in Hollywood," Gary said.
Eventually she joined the improv comedy troupe the Groundlings, where she honed her stage show with fellow comedians like Jon Lovitz, Paul Reubens and Kathy Griffin.
"She could come up with unbelievable characters and they were hilarious," Gary said. "Judy lived her life like an adventure. She would do things so she could write about them on stage and perform it."
It was in the Groundlings where Judy met her future writing partner, Wendy Goldman. In the late 1980s, the two penned a stage show called
Casual Sex which went on to be made into a future film.
Judy believed her big break was right around the corner, only to find she would not be cast in the movie Gary said.
"That was really disappointing for Judy when she didn't get that role," he said.
It was in 1996 when a spot was discovered on Judy's back.
"She went and got checked and it was melanoma and it was pretty deep," Gary said. "I believe they said it was stage 3 at that time, but they felt that it hadn't spread."
Three years after the initial treatment, Gary said lumps were found in Judy's lymph nodes and it quickly spread throughout her body.
Not to be held back by physical or social hurdles, Judy went on to write, produce and act in numerous television shows including
Boy Meets World, Curb Your Enthusiasm and
Sex In The City.
Judy succumbed to cancer in May 2002. Shortly after her death, Gary set out to document her life.
With no feature film experience, Gary packed up his family and headed to Los Angeles where he enrolled in a year long program at an area film school.
After three years of filming, gathering over 60 hours of footage from Judy's performances and talking to the comedians who shared the stage and her life, Gary finished the film honoring his hilarious sister.
"I think that documentaries sometimes tend to just feed information and I wanted to tell a story," he said. "I almost had to make this movie no matter what, whether it's successful or not."
Judy Toll: The Funniest Women You've Never Heard Of premieres at the International House in West Philadelphia Friday, April 13 at 7:00 p.m. It will be shown again at the National Constitution Center on Saturday, April 14 at 2:15 p.m.
For more information visit
www.phillyfests.com.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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