One of his favorite roles was that of Rabbi Kaufman in “Celebrity.” For his main scene, Mr. Allen told Dr. Edelson that he is entering green room backstage at a television station, where Klansmen and skinheads are already waiting to go on to a talk show, and to think of something to say as he enters the room. “So, jokingly I enter and deliver my ad-libbed line: 'What? … did the skinheads eat all the bagels already?' This got a big laugh.”
Filming for each movie usually involves a day or two of his time. Since most of Mr. Allen's movies are filmed in New York City, the impact on Dr. Edelson's practice is minimal.
“My patients are used to it,” he said. When they ask for an appointment “my secretary will sometimes say, 'We're going to be closed these next 2 days.' The patients then ask, 'What, is he in another Woody Allen film?'”
Dr. Edelson always receives a personal invitation from Mr. Allen to be in his movies. “It's usually in the spring. He'll say, 'I'm writing something now. I think I have a part for you that you are going to like,'” Dr. Edelson said. “That's how it happens. He knows that his movies could do very well without me, but he knows how much I love it, and besides, I know I will never wind up on the cutting-room floor as I once made Woody a promise. 'Woody,' I said, 'if you cut … I'll cut!' He is very faithful to his cast and crew and cares for me as his doctor and his actor. Besides, the residual checks for $1.50 I get every 2 months help make up for the HMO fees!”
'It's truly an avenue to express myself and be in a different role than in my normal everyday life in medicine.' DR. EDELSON
Woody Allen (left) and Dr. Kenneth L. Edelson (standing at right) on the set of “Mighty Aphrodite” (1995). Seated are costars Peter Weller and Helena Bonham Carter. Courtesy Dr. Kenneth L. Edelson