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Bill Weeden

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Bill Weeden
File:Bill Weeden.jpg
Born (1940-08-08) August 8, 1940 (age 83)
Melbourne, Florida, U.S.
Alma materYale University
Years active1965–present
SpouseDolores McDougal (m. 1995)

Bill Weeden (born August 8, 1940) is an American film[1] and stage actor,[2] comedy writer, and songwriter.[3]

Early life

Weeden was born on August 8, 1940 in Melbourne, Florida. He graduated from Yale University in 1962.[4]

Film and television career

Weeden is known for his work in genre film, starring in a number of Troma productions and other indie films, including playing the lead villain, Reginald Stuart, in Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D. (1990),[5]. He was called the "Troma Olivier" by the New York Post for the performance.[6]

Weeden starred in Rachel Mason's rock-opera The Lives of Hamilton Fish (2013) as the serial killer Hamilton Fish, whose life is contrasted with the lawmaker with the same name.[7]

Weeden is the only actor in the "slow cinema" film Byron Jones.[8]

In 2020, Weeden starred as the protagonist, Dr. ZOOmis, alongside Kansas Bowling in the parody film Psycho Ape!.[9][10]

In 2021, Weeden received a Best Actor award[11] for his leading performance as a conflicted war veteran in the suspense-drama short film RedSin.[12][13]

Stage career

Weeden is the composer of the Broadway show Hurry, Harry (opened 1972)[14] and composed additional material for the Broadway show I'm Solomon (opened 1968).[15]

Weeden played Hucklebee in the final cast of The Fantasticks,[16] which closed in 2002.[17][18] He was also featured in Try to Remember: The Fantasticks, a documentary examining the history of the show.[19]

He created two original musical revues with performing and writing partners David Finkle and Sally Fay (as Weeden, Finkle & Fay) for the New York production company Playwrights Horizons[20][21] and a children's musical, Babar's Birthday, for Theatreworks/USA.[22] The trio also toured as major market performers for a show organized by Fortune Magazine specifically to entertain and court potential advertisers,[23] even receiving front page coverage for the act in the Wall Street Journal.[24] The trio also wrote the musical Move It and It’s Yours, which has been performed numerous times in regional theater.[25]

The musical revue Into the Weeds: Selections from the Bill Weeden Songbook features Weeden's songs, including his various collaborations.[26][27]

Weeden has also performed in a number of off-Broadway and touring shows, including an East Village outdoor production of As You Like It, George Bataille's Bathrobe,[28] The Magnificent Ambersons,[29] an Atlantic City production of Little Shop of Horrors,[29] The Rocky Horror Show,[30] The Wizard of Oz,[31] and Damn Yankees.[32]

Weeden (with Finkle and Fay) contributed several songs to The No-Frills Revue,[33] the 1987 off-Broadway musical conceived by Martin Charnin.[citation needed]

Comedy

Weeden has written comedy material, often with writing partner David Finkle, for Carol Channing,[34][35] Stiller & Meara,[36], Dick Shawn,[37][38] Madeline Kahn,[39][40] and others.

Weeden, Finkle & Fay's "Part of the Problem (The Inflation Song)" was released on 7" on MCA Records in 1980.[41][42]

Weeden has often collaborated with Upright Citizens Brigade,[43][44] including the comedy video "Author Wrote a F***ing Book," a parody of James Patterson's commercials, written by Achilles Stamatelaky and directed by Ryan Hunter.[45]

Weeden played the father of correspondent/comedian Jordan Klepper on a 2015 episode of "The Daily Show."[46]

Other work

He has narrated a number of audio books, often paired with his wife, Dolores McDougal.[47]

The song "One Big Team" was written and performed by Weeden for the 1988 New York Yankees' Old Timer's Day,[26] and in 2006 by Tony-winning Broadway star James Naughton on the YES Network's Yankees Magazine.[48]

Weeden joins other horror filmmakers and performers, such as Larry Fessenden and Amy Seimetz, voicing the horror "radio" series Tales from Beyond the Pale.[49]

Select filmography

References

  1. ^ "Bill Weeden". TVGuide.com.
  2. ^ "Bill Weeden theatre profile". www.abouttheartists.com.
  3. ^ "Bill Weeden Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More". AllMusic.
  4. ^ "Yale '62 - Not Home for the Holidays - Bill Weeden". yale62.org.
  5. ^ Holden, Stephen (22 May 1996). "FILM REVIEW;A Superhero Lethal With Chopsticks". The New York Times.
  6. ^ Adams, Thelma. New York Post https://ibb.co/st45pdq. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. ^ Gorce, Tammy La (17 January 2015). "Both Were Born Hamilton Fish, but Their Paths Differed". The New York Times.
  8. ^ "Tao film selection and other news". 17 September 2017.
  9. ^ Lanier, Hunter (17 October 2020). "Psycho Ape! | Film Threat".
  10. ^ "Watching Movies - Psycho Ape - Without Your Head". withoutyourhead.com.
  11. ^ Ortiz, Christopher. "THE WINNERS OF THE OCTOBER (2021) SESSION". Europe Film Festival U.K. Europe Film Festival U.K. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  12. ^ Ortiz, Christopher. "RedSin (2021) Suspense-Drama Short Film". YouTube. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  13. ^ Ortiz, Christopher. "RedSin: Suspense-Drama on Hero-Making". www.indieshortsmag.com. Indie Shorts Mag. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  14. ^ "Bill Weeden". Playbill.
  15. ^ "I'm Solomon Broadway @ Mark Hellinger Theatre - Tickets and Discounts". Playbill.
  16. ^ "thefantasticks – The Fantasticks Official Website".
  17. ^ "Fantastick Voyage to End | TheaterMania". www.theatermania.com.
  18. ^ "The Fantasticks Bids Farewell, Jan. 13, After 42 Years on Sullivan Street". Playbill. January 13, 2002.
  19. ^ "Try to Remember: The Fantasticks". IMDb. 14 May 2003.
  20. ^ Wilson, John S. (15 January 1979). "Song: A Satirical Threesome". The New York Times.
  21. ^ Holden, Stephen (1 May 1983). "REVUE: TRIO IN 'TRUST US' AT WEST BANK". The New York Times.
  22. ^ "Piano Man – Central Jersey Archives". 7 November 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-11-07.
  23. ^ Elliott, Stuart (8 March 2010). "Good Housekeeping Puts on a Show to Celebrate Women". The New York Times.
  24. ^ Kwitny, Jonathan (September 22, 1986). "Satirizing Companies Can Be Rewarding When They Foot Bill". Wall Street Journal.
  25. ^ Cooperman, Deb. "Review: 'Move It and It's Yours'". Community News.
  26. ^ a b BWW News Desk. "Into the Weeds Spotlights Songs of Bill Weeden in August". BroadwayWorld.com.
  27. ^ "Felicia Finley and Stephanie D'Abruzzo Will Go Into the Weeds | TheaterMania". www.theatermania.com.
  28. ^ Saltz, Rachel (12 August 2009). "Language, the Terrestrial and Extraterrestrial View". The New York Times.
  29. ^ a b Varley, Eddie. "BWW INTERVIEWS: GEORGE BATAILLE'S BATHROBE Star Bill Weeden". BroadwayWorld.com.
  30. ^ "Credits for The Rocky Horror Show (Non-Equity Tour, 1993)". Ovrtur.
  31. ^ "The Wizard of Oz (Non-Equity Tour, 1994)". Ovrtur.
  32. ^ "Bill Weeden". Playwrights Horizons.
  33. ^ Holden, Stephen (18 October 1987). "Stage: For Comedy 'The No-Frills Revue'". The New York Times.
  34. ^ "The Essential Jewishness Of Carol Channing — And Lorelei Lee". The Forward. January 16, 2019.
  35. ^ "Carol Channing: Larger Than Life (2012) - Soundtrack.Net". www.soundtrack.net.
  36. ^ Shepard, Richard F. (15 March 1982). "Going Out Guide". The New York Times.
  37. ^ Dietz, Dan (10 April 2014). The Complete Book of 1960s Broadway Musicals. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-4422-3072-9.
  38. ^ "Theater: 'Musical Fable'; I'm Solomon' Arrives at the Mark Hellinger". timesmachine.nytimes.com.
  39. ^ . OCLC 756202781 https://www.worldcat.org/title/upstairs-at-the-downstairs-presents-mxide-duobels-mixed-doubles-a-new-musical-revue/oclc/756202781. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  40. ^ Dietz, Dan (10 March 2010). Off Broadway Musicals, 1910-2007: Casts, Credits, Songs, Critical Reception and Performance Data of More Than 1,800 Shows. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-5731-1.
  41. ^ "Weeden, Finkle & Fay – Part Of The Problem (The Inflation Song) (Vinyl)". Discogs.
  42. ^ "Weeden, Finkle And Fay - Part Of The Problem (The Inflation Song)" – via www.45cat.com.
  43. ^ "100% All-Natural, Organic, Pure, Simple Juice Commercial | by Pocketwatch". YouTube.
  44. ^ "UCB Comedy Round Up ft. Brandon Gulya & Bill Weeden". YouTube.
  45. ^ "Author Wrote a Fucking Book: A COMMERCIAL PARODY by UCB's SCRAPS". YouTube.
  46. ^ "Melissa McCarthy". June 3, 2015 – via IMDb.
  47. ^ "Audiobooks narrated by Bill Weeden | Audible.com". www.audible.com.
  48. ^ "Naughton Recording of Yankees Song Featured on YES".
  49. ^ Tales from Beyond the Pale, Season One, Volume 5.

External links


Category:1940 births Category:Living people Category:Broadway composers and lyricists Category:American songwriters

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