John Houseman
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| John Houseman | ||||||||||
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| Birth name | Jacques Haussmann | |||||||||
| Born | September 22 1902 Bucharest, Romania | |||||||||
| Died | October 31 1988 (aged 86) Malibu, California | |||||||||
| Spouse(s) | Zita Johann (1929-1933) Joan Courtney (1952-1988) | |||||||||
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John Houseman (September 22, 1902 – October 31, 1988) was an American actor and film producer.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] Personal life
Houseman was born Jacques Haussmann in Bucharest, the son of a British mother of Welsh and Irish descent and an Alsatian-born Jewish father who ran a grain business.[1][2][3][4] He was educated in England at Clifton College before emigrating to the United States in 1925, where he took the stage name of John Houseman. He became a citizen of the U.S. in 1943.[5] Houseman died of spinal cancer in 1988 at his home in Malibu, California. He was 86 years old.
[edit] Career
Along with Orson Welles, Houseman founded the Mercury Theatre, best remembered for their 1938 radio adaptation of H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds. Houseman produced more than two dozen films, including the 1946 film noir, The Blue Dahlia. He first became widely known to the public, however, for his Golden Globe and Academy Award-winning role as Professor Charles Kingsfield in the 1973 film The Paper Chase, a role which he reprised in the television series of the same name.
He was the Executive Producer of CBS' landmark Seven Lively Arts series. Houseman also played Energy Corporation Executive Bartholomew in the 1975 film Rollerball and parodied Sydney Greenstreet in the 1978 Neil Simon film, The Cheap Detective.
In the 1980s, Houseman was also known for his role as grandfather Edward Stratton II in Silver Spoons, which starred Rick Schroder, and for his commercials for brokerage Smith Barney, which featured the catchphrase, "They make money the old fashioned way...they earn it." He also made a guest appearance in John Carpenter's 1980 movie The Fog as Mr. Machen. He played the Jewish professor Aaron Jastrow in the 1983 miniseries The Winds of War.
Houseman taught acting at The Juilliard School where his first graduating class included Kevin Kline and Patti LuPone. Unwilling to see his first class immediately disbanded by the testing world of stage and screen, he formed them into a touring repertory company appropriately named the Group 1 Acting Company. They later shortened their name simply to The Acting Company and are still touring the country today.
He appeared in The Naked Gun, which was released after his death.
[edit] Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1938 | Too Much Johnson | Duelist | |
| 1964 | Seven Days in May | Vice-Adm. Farley C. Barnswell | uncredited |
| 1973 | The Paper Chase | Charles W. Kingsfield Jr. | Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor; Golden Globe |
| 1975 | Three Days of the Condor | Wabash | |
| Rollerball | Bartholomew | ||
| 1976 | St. Ives | Abner Procane | |
| 1978 | The Cheap Detective | Jasper Blubber | |
| 1979 | Old Boyfriends | Doctor Hoffman | |
| 1980 | The Fog | Mr. Machen | |
| My Bodyguard | Mr. Dobbs | ||
| Wholly Moses! | The Archangel | ||
| 1981 | Ghost Story | Sears James | |
| 1982 | Rose for Emily | Narrator | |
| Murder by Phone | Stanley Markowitz | ||
| 1988 | The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! | Driving Instructor | uncredited |
| Another Woman | Marion's Father | ||
| Bright Lights, Big City | Mr. Vogel |
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Joel Grey for Cabaret | Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor 1973 for The Paper Chase | Succeeded by Robert De Niro for The Godfather Part II |
[edit] References
- ^ Magill, Frank Northen (1977). Survey of Contemporary Literature. Salem Pr. Inc., 6535. ISBN0893560502.
- ^ Houseman, John (1972). Run-Through: A Memoir. Simon and Schuster, 15. ISBN.
- ^ John Houseman. Encyclopedia Britannica.
- ^ John Houseman New York Times Movies.
- ^ [http://www.filmreference.com/Writers-and-Production-Artists-Ha-Ja/Houseman-John.html John Houseman
[edit] External links
- John Houseman at the Internet Movie Databasede:John Houseman
fr:John Houseman it:John Houseman no:John Houseman sv:John Houseman
