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Austin Pendleton

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Austin Pendleton
Pendleton in 2006
Born
Austin Campbell Pendleton[1]

(1940-03-27) March 27, 1940 (age 84)
Warren, Ohio, U.S.
Alma materYale University, 1961
Occupations
Years active1962–present
Spouse
Katina Commings
​
(m. 1970)​
Children1

Austin Campbell Pendleton (born March 27, 1940) [2] is an American actor, playwright, theatre director, and instructor.

Pendleton is known as a prolific character actor on the stage and screen, whose six-decade career has included roles in films including Catch-22 (1970); What's Up, Doc? (1972); The Front Page (1974); The Muppet Movie (1979), Short Circuit (1986); Mr. & Mrs. Bridge (1990); My Cousin Vinny (1992); Guarding Tess (1994); Amistad (1997); A Beautiful Mind (2001), which earned him a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture nomination; and Finding Nemo (2003).

Pendleton received a Tony Award nomination for Best Direction of a Play for the Broadway revival of The Little Foxes in 1981 starring Elizabeth Taylor. He received Obie and Drama Desk Awards for Outstanding Performance in The Last Sweet Days of Issac in 1970, and an additional Special Drama Desk Award for being a "Renaissance Man of the American Theatre" in 2007. He received an additional Obie Award for directing the Off-Broadway revival of Three Sisters in 2011.

Pendleton's recent Broadway credits include acting in Choir Boy in 2016 and The Minutes in 2022, and directing Between Riverside and Crazy, also in 2022.

Early life and education

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Pendleton was born in Warren, Ohio, the son of Thorn Pendleton, who ran a tool company, and Frances (née Manchester) Pendleton, a professional actress. He graduated from the University School, a private all-boys school in Shaker Heights, Ohio, in 1957. Roger Ailes, who became the CEO of Fox News, was a childhood acquaintance of Pendleton in Warren, Ohio. Ailes took acting classes taught by Pendleton's mother.[3][4]

Pendleton became interested in the theater through his mother, whose performances he watched when he was young. In junior high school, he put on his own performances in the basement of the family home. He participated in theater while attending Yale University, from which he graduated in 1961.[5][6] He was a member of the Yale Dramatic Association, and in 1958 collaborated with lyricist Peter Bergman on two musical plays that starred Philip Proctor: Tom Jones and Booth Is Back In Town. Proctor and Bergman later formed half of The Firesign Theatre comedy group.[7][8]

Career

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After Yale, Pendleton moved to New York City and studied at HB Studio. He broke into the theater performing in the 1962 off-Broadway production of Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mama's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad, directed by Jerome Robbins.[5]

Robbins directed Fiddler on the Roof when it came to Broadway in 1964, and brought Pendleton into the opening-night cast, performing the role of Motel the tailor.[5] Pendleton went on to appear in The Last Sweet Days of Isaac (for which he won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Performance and an Obie Award), The Diary of Anne Frank, Goodtime Charley, and Up from Paradise, and many other plays. In August 2006, he played the Chaplain in the New York Shakespeare Festival/Public Theater production of Bertolt Brecht's Mother Courage and Her Children directed by George C. Wolfe at the Delacorte Theater. In 2007, he appeared as Friar Lawrence in The Public Theater's production of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet at the Delacorte.[9]

Pendleton wrote the plays Uncle Bob, Booth, and Orson's Shadow, all of which were staged off-Broadway. Uncle Bob had its off-Broadway premiere in 2001 at The SoHo Playhouse, starring George Morfogen—for whom the role of Bob was written—and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, making his New York theatre debut. The critically acclaimed production was directed by Courtney Moorehead and produced by Steven Sendor.[10] As a director, Pendleton has worked extensively on and off Broadway.[11][12] His direction of Elizabeth Taylor and Maureen Stapleton in Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes garnered him a Tony Award nomination in 1981. Additional directing credits include The Runner Stumbles by Milan Stitt (1977),[13] Spoils of War by Michael Weller (1988),[13] and The Size of the World by Charles Evered (1996).[14]

Pendleton is also a member of The Mirror Theater Ltd's Mirror Repertory Company, directing the company's 1984 production of Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts, starring Geraldine Page, Sabra Jones, and Victor Slezak.[15] His play H6R3, a compilation of Henry VI and Richard III intended to make the story line clearer and strengthen the women's parts, became a benefit production of The Mirror Theater Ltd at the then Promenade Theater in New York. Pendleton played Richard in this performance, Sabra Jones performed Elizabeth, Lynn Redgrave played Mad Margaret, Charles McAteer was Lord Rutland, Geraint Wyn Davies played Henry VI, Daniel Gerroll played Buckingham, and Lisa Pelikan played Lady Anne.[16]

In 2009, Pendleton directed Uncle Vanya, starring Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard, at the Classic Stage Company. The same year he directed Tennessee Williams's Vieux Carré at The Pearl Theatre Company.[17] In 2010, Pendleton directed two plays, Bus Stop at the Olney Theater and Golden Age at the Philadelphia Theatre Company. His 2011 directing of Three Sisters won him an Obie Award.[18] In 2012, he directed a production of Detroit at the National Theatre in London.[19]

Pendleton served as artistic director of the Circle Repertory Company with associate artistic director Lynne Thigpen. The company closed in 1996.[20] He has taught acting at HB Studio since 1969,[21] and teaches directing at The New School.[21] Pendleton has been involved with Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre since directing Ralph Pape's Say Goodnight, Gracie for the 1979–80 season, and is an ensemble member there.[22] His acting credits at Steppenwolf include Uncle Vanya, Valparaiso, and Educating Rita.[23]

In 2022, Pendleton reminisced that he was initially reluctant to join Steppenwolf, as the name bothered him and he was reluctant to move to Chicago. "But he ended up taking the gig and started auditioning the troupe—twelve relative unknowns. 'For one role, I had to choose between Laurie Metcalf and Joan Allen,' he said. A second role went to a guy named John Malkovich."[24]

Pendleton was the subject of Starring Austin Pendleton, a 2016 documentary in which colleagues including Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Olympia Dukakis, and Ethan Hawke discuss his life and legacy.[25]

As a member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Pendleton starred in Tracy Letts's play The Minutes on Broadway.[26]

In the fall of 2022, Pendleton directed a Broadway production of Between Riverside and Crazy, which he directed Off Broadway in 2014.[24]

Personal life

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Pendleton has been married to actress Katina Commings since November 1970. They have one child.[24][27]

Work

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Theatre

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Year Stage Role Notes
1962 Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mama's Hung You
in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad 		Jonathan Off-Broadway
1964 Fiddler on the Roof Motel Broadway
1966 Hail Scrawdyke! Irwin Ingham Broadway
1967 The Little Foxes Leo Hubbard Broadway
1970 The Last Sweet Days of Isaac Isaac Off-Broadway
1973 Shelter Director; Broadway
1974 An American Millionaire Professor Bobby Rudetsky Broadway
1975 Goodtime Charley Charley (standby) Broadway
1976 The Sorrows of Frederick Frederick II of Prussia Off-Broadway
1976 The Old Glory Director; off-Broadway
1976 The Runner Stumbles Director; Broadway
1978 Say Goodnight Gracie Director; off-Broadway
1979 The Office Murders Jack Off-Broadway
1980 John Gabriel Borkman Director; Broadway
1981 The Little Foxes Director; Broadway
1983 Up from Paradise Adam Off-Broadway
1985 Doubles Arnie Broadway
1986 Master Class Shostakovich Off-Broadway
1987 Educating Rita Frank Off-Broadway
1987 Uncle Vanya Voitski Off-Broadway
1988 Spoils of War Director; Broadway
1989 Grand Hotel Otto Kringelein Replacement; Broadway
1991 The Sorrows of Frederick Frederick the Great Off-Broadway
1991 What About Luv? Harry Berlin Off-Broadway
1993 Sophistry Whitey McCoy Off-Broadway
1996 The Size of the World Director; off-Broadway
1996 900 Oneonta Director; off-Broadway
1997 The Diary of Anne Frank Mr. Dussel Broadway
1998 The Pussycat and the Expert Plumber Who Was a Man Mayor Off-Broadway
2002 The Exonerated Off-Broadway
2006 Mother Courage and Her Children Chaplain Off-Broadway
2006 an oak tree Father Off-Broadway
2006 The Sunset Limited White Off-Broadway
2007 Toys in the Attic Director; off-Broadway
2007 Romeo and Juliet Friar Laurence Off-Broadway
2008 Fifty Words Director; off-Broadway
2008 The Black Monk The Black Monk Off-Broadway
2009 Uncle Vanya Director; off-Broadway
2009 Vieux Carre Director; off-Broadway
2009 Order Director;[28] off-Broadway
2009 Love Drunk Wilbur Off-Broadway
2010 Rosmersholm Doctor Kroll Off-Broadway
2011 Three Sisters Director; off-Broadway
2012 In Masks Outrageous and Austere Dr. Lester G. Syme Off-Broadway
2012 Detroit Director; off-Broadway
2012 Ivanov Lebedev Also director; off-Broadway
2013 Choir Boy Mr. Pendleton Off-Broadway
2014 Between Riverside and Crazy Director; off-Broadway
2014 Straight White Men Ed Off-Broadway
2017 Workshop Ward Stein Off-Broadway
2018 Wars of the Roses: Henry VI & Richard III Henry VI Also director; off-Broadway
2018 Choir Boy Mr. Pendleton Broadway
2018 The Magic of Too Late Director; off-Broadway
2019 Life Sucks. The Professor Off-Broadway
2020 The Minutes Mr. Oldfield Broadway
2022 The Minutes Mr. Oldfield Broadway
2022 Between Riverside and Crazy Director; Broadway

Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
1968 Petulia Intern
Skidoo Fred
1970 Catch-22 Lieutenant Colonel Moodus
1972 What's Up, Doc? Frederick Larrabee
Every Little Crook and Nanny Luther
1973 The Thief Who Came to Dinner Zukovsky
1974 The Front Page Earl Williams
1976 Diary of the Dead Dr. Klein
1977 The Great Smokey Roadblock Guido
1979 The Muppet Movie Max
Starting Over Paul
1980 Simon Dr. Carl Becker
First Family Dr. Alexander Grade
1984 Talk to Me Richard Patterson
1985 My Man Adam Mr. Greenhut
1986 Off Beat Gun Shop Salesman
Short Circuit Howard Marner
1987 Hello Again Junior Lacey
1990 Mr. & Mrs. Bridge Mr. Gadbury
1991 The Ballad of the Sad Café Lawyer Taylor
True Identity Othello's Director
1992 My Cousin Vinny John Gibbons
Rain Without Thunder Catholic Priest
Charlie's Ear Harold Blodgett
Do You Like Women? Unknown
1993 Mr. Nanny Alex Mason Sr.
My Boyfriend's Back Dr. Bronson
Searching for Bobby Fischer Asa Hoffmann
1994 Greedy Hotel Clerk
Guarding Tess Earl Fowler
1995 Home for the Holidays Peter Arnold
Two Much Dr. Huffeyer
The Fifteen Minute Hamlet Hamlet Short
1996 Sgt. Bilko Major Ebersole
2 Days in the Valley Ralph Crupi
The Proprietor Willy Kunst
The Associate Aesop Franklin
The Mirror Has Two Faces Barry
1997 Trial and Error Judge Paul Z. Graff
Sue Lost in Manhattan Bob
Amistad Professor Gibbs
The Fanatics Eugene Cleft
A River Made to Drown In Billy
1998 Charlie Hoboken Harry Cedars
1999 Skirty Winner François Truffaut
Joe the King Winston
Men of Means Jerry Trask
The 4th Floor Mr. Collins
Brokendown Love Story 'Lucky' Short
2000 The Acting Class Bobby Austin
Broke Even Archie
Fast Food Fast Women George
The Summer of My Deflowering Unknown Short
Clowns Dean
2001 Queenie in Love Alvin
A Beautiful Mind Thomas King
Wishcraft Mr. Turner
2002 Manna from Heaven Two-Digit Doyle
2003 Finding Nemo Gurgle Voice
Uptown Girls Mr. McConkey
2004 Christmas with the Kranks Marty
Piccadilly Jim Peter Pett
2005 The Civilization of Maxwell Bright Jaurice
The Notorious Bettie Page Teacher
2006 Raising Flagg Gus Falk
2007 Lovely by Surprise Jackson
2010 Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps Dr. Masters
2013 He's Way More Famous Than You Dad
Hair Brained Dapper Man
Black Box William Peters
2014 She's Funny That Way Judge Pendergast
The Mend Earl
2016 Starring Austin Pendleton[29] Himself Documentary
Finding Dory Gurgle Voice
2018 7 Splinters in Time Fyodor Wax
Divide and Conquer: The Story of Roger Ailes Himself Documentary
2019 The Sound of Silence Robert Feinway
2020 The Mimic The Driver
2022 5-25-77 Herb Lightman

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1972 Love, American Style Barney Dereemus 1 episode
1973 Love, American Style Leo 1 episode
1974 Good Times Donald Hargrove 1 episode
Great Performances Bennie 1 episode
1977 You're Gonna Love It Here Harry Rogers TV movie
1978 Big City Boys Harry Buckman TV movie
1983 Great Performances White Rabbit 1 episode
1983–1984 St. Elsewhere Mr. Entertainment 2 episodes
1985 Love, Long Distance Dr. Arthur Ruskin TV movie
1986 Miami Vice Max Rogo 1 episode
1986–1989 The Equalizer Jonah 3 episodes
1987 Leg Work Harold Rodman 1 episode
1988 Spenser: For Hire The Professor 1 episode
1989 The Cosby Show Mr. Kensington 1 episode
B.L. Stryker Danny Lennox 1 episode
Anything But Love Max Templeton 1 episode
One Life to Live Mr. Dubuis TV series
1990 American Dreamer Unknown 1 episode
21 Jump Street Mr. Trysla 1 episode
1991 Lethal Innocence Paul Kent TV movie
1992 Murder, She Wrote Barney Gunderson Episode: "Angel of Death"
Four Eyes and Six Guns Mustached Passenger TV movie
1994 The Cosby Mysteries Maynard Caldwell Episode: "One Day at a Time"
Don't Drink the Water Chef Oscar TV movie
1995 Tales from the Crypt Orloff Episode: "Doctor of Horror"
New York News Unknown Episode: "Cost of Living"
Long Island Fever Dr. Motts TV movie
1997 Frasier Dr. William M. Dorfman Episode: "Three Days of the Condo"
The Practice Sam Feldberg Episode: "Part VI"
Fired Up Bobby H. 1 episode
Liberty! Benjamin Rush 2 episodes
1998 Tracey Takes On... Professor Kenneth Hawkins Episode: "Age"
1998–1999 Homicide: Life on the Street Dr. George Griscom 11 episodes
1998–2002 Oz William Giles 11 episodes
2000 The West Wing Barry Haskell Episode: "Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics"
Homicide: The Movie Dr. George Griscom TV movie
2001 The Education of Max Bickford Harry 1 episode
2001–2002 100 Centre Street Al Cox 2 episodes
2002 Touched by an Angel Mr. Piltdown Episode: "The Christmas Watch"
2003 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Horace Gorman Episode: "Control"
2004 Strip Search James Perley TV movie
Law & Order: Criminal Intent Dr. John Manotti Episode: "Inert Dwarf"
2005 Joan of Arcadia Dietrich Steinholz Episode: "Secret Service"
2009 Life on Mars Dr. Goldman Episode: "Revenge of Broken Jaw"
Cupid Dr. Boyd Episode: "Pilot"
2011 Person of Interest Pilcher Episode: "Foe"
2012 Game Change Senator Joe Lieberman HBO TV movie
2016 Billions Goose Quill 2 episodes
Difficult People Director Episode: "Cedar Grove"
2018 Alex, Inc. Wesley Harman Episode: "The Unfair Advantage"
2019 A President Show Documentary: The Fall Of Donald Trump Historian TV special
2020 New Amsterdam Eli Pembroke Episode: "Hiding Behind My Smile"
2021 The Good Fight Dr. Goat Episode: "And the Violence Spread."

Audio dramas

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Year Title Role Notes
2021–2022 Around the Sun Harry Voice; 3 episodes

References

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  1. ^ Catalog of Copyright Entries: Musical compositions. Government Printing Office. 1963. p. 29.
  2. ^ Mayer, John (August 11, 2016). Steppenwolf Theatre Company of Chicago: In Their Own Words. Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-1-4742-3947-9.
  3. ^ [1] Wilkinson, Alissa. "Roger Ailes was 'not rational': Alexis Bloom on her new film about the Fox News Founder; 'His first loyalty was to the audience, to manufacturing outrage, to weaponizing division.'" Vox. Dec 11, 2018.
  4. ^ [2] PBS, American Masters. "Austin Penndleton Interview". July 17, 2006.
  5. ^ a b c Condit, Susan (December 5, 2001). "The Pendleton Touch (continuation)". Daily Hampshire Gazette. p. 20. Retrieved January 3, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Austin Pendelton to Teach "Directing for the Stage" This Spring
  7. ^ "Who Am Us, Anyway? Peter Bergman". Firesign Media. Archived from the original on December 9, 2017. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
  8. ^ Proctor, Philip. Bride of Firesign. Firesign Media (liner notes). Archived from the original on March 11, 2016. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
  9. ^ Brantley, Ben. "Rash and Unadvis’d in Verona Seeks Same". New York Times. June 25, 2007.
  10. ^ [3] "Austin Pendleton Oral History Interview". Harry Ransom Center. University of Texas at Austin.
  11. ^ "Austin Pendleton Theatre Credits". Broadway World. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  12. ^ Rothstein, Mervyn (July 3, 2011). "A LIFE IN THE THEATRE: Actor-Writer-Director Austin Pendleton". Playbill.
  13. ^ a b "Austin Pendleton: Director Performer". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved November 7, 2017.
  14. ^ Brantley, Ben (March 21, 1996). "Theater Review. So Chipper, So Smiley, So Upbeat, but Why?". The New York Times. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
  15. ^ Bennetts, Leslie (June 26, 1984). "Repertory Company Blossoms". The New York Times. Retrieved November 7, 2017.
  16. ^ Simonson, Robert (January 21, 2016). "Mirror Rep Presents HGRS, Pendleton's Bard With a Bonus Conflation". Playbill. Retrieved November 7, 2017.
  17. ^ Hetrick, Adam (May 12, 2009). "Pearl's Vieux Carré Begins Previews Off-Broadway May 12". Playbill. Retrieved May 26, 2023.
  18. ^ Furlan, Julia (March 17, 2011). "And the Obie Award Goes To..." WNYC. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  19. ^ "Detroit". Time Out London. May 16, 2012. Retrieved November 7, 2017.
  20. ^ Lefkowitz, David (October 8, 1996). "NY's Circle Rep, Home of Lanford Wilson, Closes After 27 Years". Playbill. Retrieved May 26, 2023.
  21. ^ a b "Austin Pendleton". HB Studios. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  22. ^ "Austin Pendleton". Steppenwolf Theatre Company. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  23. ^ Steppenwolf on line. Austin Penndleton Biography.
  24. ^ a b c Alford, Henry (May 14, 2022). "Austin Pendleton Is Still on Broadway, Still a Babe Magnet". The New Yorker. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
  25. ^ Gallerano, Gene; Holmes, David H. (June 19, 2016), Starring Austin Pendleton (Documentary, Short, Biography, Comedy, Drama), Emily Althaus, Kevin Anderson, Lyndsey Anderson, Kate Arrington, 4 Hawk, Defendshee Productions, Neboya Collective, retrieved September 26, 2020
  26. ^ "The Minutes - Creative". The Minutes. Retrieved April 3, 2022.
  27. ^ Bass, Milton R. (July 30, 1981). "The Lively World". The Berkshire Eagle. p. 10. Retrieved January 3, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  28. ^ Rooney, David (June 24, 2010). "Sometimes That Inner Demon Just Needs to Win". The New York Times. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  29. ^ "Starring Austin Pendleton". Tribeca Film Festival. Retrieved January 6, 2017.
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