A hat tip to F. Murray Abraham

For ninety-nine percent of us, F. Murray Abraham won the Oscar for Best Actor for his role of Salieri in the movie "Amadeus" and then... disappeared.

But he's been around, making movies that you've never heard of, or performing on stage (lots of Shakespeare, as well as Beckett and Gilbert and Sullivan) or teaching theater at Brooklyn College. He's been a drug dealer (in "Scarface") and portrayed a green leaf in a Fruit of the Loom commercial. Some people have called his Oscar a curse to his career, but he seems to be quite happy. He said, "Even though I won the Oscar, I can still take the subway and nobody recognizes me. Some actors might find that disconcerting, but I find it refreshing."

But I'm saluting him because I keep coming across his warm, rich, intelligent voice on public television nature documentaries. I just took a trip to a very weird stretch of the Andes last night and Abraham named all the strange animals and their bizarre and wonderfuls lives.

So, thanks, Murray.