Jay W. Jensen
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| Jay W. Jensen | |
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| Born | Jay W. Jensen August 4, 1931 |
| Died | February 17, 2007 (aged 75) Coral Gables, Florida |
| Occupation | Acting teacher, director, actor |
Jay W. Jensen was a Miami Beach, Florida drama teacher[1] known as "The Teacher to the Stars". Jensen is credited with inspiring the acting talents of such well known actors as Andy García[2] and Mickey Rourke.[3][4]
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early years
Jensen was born in Irvington, New Jersey. He was the only child of John W. and Thelma "Billie" Jensen. His father was a musician in a night-club band,and his mother was a night-club manager. As a child, Jay developed a love of film and drama. During his school years, Jensen studied ballroom dancing and acting. In 1950, his family moved to St. Petersburg, Florida where he earned an Associate of Arts degree from St. Petersburg Community College.[5]
Jensen moved to Miami where he graduated from the University of Miami with a BA in Education.[1] In 1953,He left Florida to live and study in Havana, Cuba. While in Cuba, Jensen studied at the University of Havana. Upon his return to Miami in 1954, he began teaching at Little River Junior High School.
After teaching for three years, Jay decided to accomplish his dream of being a motion picture actor and "go to Hollywood and get discovered." Along with his widowed mother, Thelma, and his cat Dracula, Jensen flew to Los Angeles, California.[6]
[edit] Hollywood
In California, Jensen traveled to Los Angeles for an interview with movie producer Joe Pasternak. Pasternak told Jensen he was leaving the motion picture business, and Jay's dreams of a movie career were dashed. However, while in Hollywood, Jensen became friends with actress Carroll Baker. Jensen became Baker's dance partner, and appeared as an extra in three of her movies: The Big Country, But Not for Me, and The Miracle.[7] Baker and Jensen performed a dance routine for the troops at the MacDill Airforce Base in Tampa, Florida.[8]
Jensen's circle of friends included actors Jim Backus and Hurd Hatfield. After a failed interview with DesiLu Productions, Jay Jensen decided to return to Florida. It was also during the 1950s that Jensen became a close friend of famed writer Tennessee Williams.
[edit] South Florida
In 1959, Jensen was rehired by Miami-Dade County Public Schools, and began a 32 year career as a drama teacher at Miami Beach Senior High School. However, he didn't give up on his motion picture career. He co-starred in the South Florida produced independent film, Rehearsal For Sin. He also had a few uncredited roles in such movies as Racing Fever and Werewolves on Wheels.
Jensen went on to earn a Master of Education Degree in Administration, Curriculum and Drama Education from the University of Miami. At Miami Beach High, he directed 300 hundred plays and musicals. His high school productions of the plays David & Lisa, The Great White Hope, Gypsy, Hair, The Impossible Years, To Kill A Mockingbird, and Viet Rock, where both ground breaking and controversial for the times.
In 1971, Jensen directed the play, The Serpent. One of the student-actors in the show was future movie star, Mickey Rourke.[3] Among his numerous other students were movie actors/actresses Andy García,[9] Neal Gold,[10] Annabelle Gurwitch; movie directors Brett Ratner[9] and Sara Sackner, rapper Luther Campbell, sportscaster Roy Firestone, executive producer Heather Winters, music composer Desmond Child, casting director Debra Zane,artist Romero Britto, and kickboxer Sherman Bergman.[11] Jensen also worked with supermodel Niki Taylor and coached Jennifer Fox in Gypsy.
In the early 1990s, Jensen retired as a full-time teacher. He continued to work as a part-time instructor for Adult and Community Education for Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Jensen's co-faculty members at Fienberg-Fisher Adult and Community Education Center included fellow actors Sherman Bergman (his former student), Steven Brack, Lois Brooks, William Conroy, and Carl Starling.
On November 6, 1999, Jensen was inducted into the Miami Beach Senior High School Hall of Fame by the Miami Beach Senior High School Alumni Association.[6]
[edit] Mexican cinema
Jensen was also involved in Mexican cinema and considered Mexico City his second home. He spoke Spanish and worked as an actor and casting director. Jensen acted in five Mexican produced films from 1965 to 1970; working with such directors as Luis Alcoriza and Albert Zugsmith.
Jensen acted [7] in El gangster,[12] Los cuatro Juanes,Paraiso,[13] El pistolero fantasma,[14] and La captura de Gabino Barrera.
In 2001, Jensen was the casting director for the Mexican production of, "I Never Saw Another Butterfly."
Jensen also served as drama consultant in Mexico City with the Peterson Schools.
[edit] Tennessee Williams
Jay W. Jensen became friends with writer/playwright Tennessee Williams in the 1950s. They met at the old Robert Clay Hotel in South Beach.[8] The two men remained friends until Williams death.
Jensen spent his spare time lecturing at colleges, book fairs, and festivals dealing with his relationship with Williams. Jensen entitled his lecture, " The Other Side of Tennessee Williams. "[15]
In 1998, in New Orleans from March 11-March 15 at the Tennessee Williams Literary Fest, Jensen was a featured speaker.
At the Tennessee Williams Festival on October 9–11, 2003, Jensen, along with the Reverend Walter Dakin, Scholars Robert Canon, Erma Duricko, Kenneth Holditch, and Colby Kullman were guest speakers on Williams life.[16]
[edit] Personal life
Jensen was an only child. His father, John W. Jensen died in the 1950s. His mother, Thelma aka Billie, died in January 1999 at the age of 93.
Jensen never married, but in the 1970s, he was engaged to transsexual dancer Jennifer Fox.[8] The two appeared on The Joey Carr Show, a local South Florida television show to announce their engagement. Years later,Fox was interviewed in Class Act, a documentary on Jensen's life.
[edit] Final years
Jensen received numerous awards during his life. He served as a regional director for the National Thespian Society, he hosted conferences before the Florida State Thespian Festival, and was also a Carbonell voter in South Florida.
Jensen donated over 4 million dollars to such institutions as the University of Miami's Theater Arts Department, the School of Education,[17] the Lowe Art Museum, the Ring Theater, and the Peterson Schools in Mexico.
He gave $100,000 to the Actor's Playhouse in Miami to their Theater's Capital Campaign. The Mainstage Auditorium Stage was dedicated in honor of Mr. Jensen and his parents, John W. and Thelma S. Jensen.[15]
In 1997, he and his mother Thelma bequeathed 1 million dollars to the Lowe Art Museum in Miami, Florida for a pre-Columbian wing named in honor of his 92 year old mother.[1] Jensen also donated another million dollars to the Jerry Herman Ring Theater. In the lobby of The theater in bold letters it reads: The Jay W. Jensen, John W. and Thelma S. Jensen Visiting Artists Endowment.
In the July 29, 2002 issue of Time Magazine, Jensen was profiled along with other retirees regarding a meltdown in the stock market and eroding pension benefits. "I'm incensed," said Jensen of the scandals rocking the stock market. "Everytime I look I'm getting poorer." However, Jensen told the magazine that regardless of his losses, he still had a positive outlook on life, " My theory is, you die if you don't keep moving."
[edit] Death
In July 2006, Jensen discovered he had prostate cancer. Though seriously ill, Jensen continued to work. He appeared numerous times on PBS Television asking for public donations and talking about his entertainment career. However, his illness quickly progressed; after a valiant battle, he died on Saturday, February 17, 2007 in Coral Gables, Florida.[6][8][9]
[edit] External links
Jay W. Jensen at the Internet Movie Database
[edit] References
- Time Magazine,July 29, 2002: WILL YOU EVER BE ABLE TO RETIRE? by Daniel Kadlec, pages 24–27.
- ^ a b c http://www6.miami.edu/campaign/donors/donors_dp_jensen.html
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000412/bio
- ^ a b http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000620/bio
- ^ http://www.boxrec.com/media/index.php?title=Human:29155
- ^ http://www.new-theatre.org/jensen.php
- ^ a b c http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_multi=MH%7C&p_product=MH&p_theme=realcities2&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&s_site=miami&s_trackval=MH&s_search_type=keyword&s_dispstring=jay%20w.%20jensen%20AND%20date(all)&p_field_advanced-0=&p_text_advanced-0=(jay%20w.%20jensen)&xcal_numdocs=20&p_perpage=10&p_sort=_rank_:D&xcal_ranksort=4&xcal_useweights=yes&s_trackval=
- ^ a b c http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1913148/
- ^ a b c d http://www.education.miami.edu/News/pdfs/jayjensen.pdf
- ^ a b c http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E05EEDA173AF930A15751C0A9619C8B63
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0325053/bio
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1870022/bio
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0180727/fullcredits#cast
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064788/fullcredits#cast
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0368139/fullcredits#cast
- ^ a b http://www.actorsplayhouse.org/news_jensen.htm
- ^ http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/south/register/winter04/nineteen.htm
- ^ http://www6.miami.edu/miami-magazine/fall98/philanthropy.html
