Jeff Weiss
{{Short description|American playwright, impresario, and actor (1940–2022)}}
{{for|the president of Lesley University|Jeff A. Weiss}}
{{distinguish|Jeff Weise}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Jeff Weiss
| birth_name = Jeffrey Weiss
| birth_date = {{birth date|1940|4|30}}
| birth_place = Allentown, Pennsylvania, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2022|9|18|1940|4|30}}
| death_place = Macungie, Pennsylvania, U.S.
| occupation = {{hlist|Playwright|impresario|actor}}
| years_active = 1964–2022
| partner = {{unbulleted list
| Carlos Ricardo Martinez (1982–2022; his death)
}}
| relatives = Jonathan Taylor Thomas (nephew)
}}
Jeffrey Weiss (April 30, 1940 – September 18, 2022){{cite news |last1=Gruen |first1=John |title=The Pop Scene: Talented Actor {{sic|nolink=y|reason=error in source|Choses}} Poverty to Easy Compromise |url=https://catalog.lamama.org/Detail/objects/386 |access-date=October 1, 2022 |work=New York World Journal Tribune |publisher=World Journal Tribune, Inc. |date=February 16, 1967}}{{cite news |title=Jeff Weiss, an Unconventional Theatrical Force, Dies at 82 |work=The New York Times |date=October 18, 2022 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/18/theater/jeff-weiss-dead.html |last1=Genzlinger |first1=Neil }} was an American playwright, impresario, and actor, both on Broadway and a theater he ran with partner Ricardo Martinez in the East Village, Manhattan.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ibdb.com/person.php?id=69918|title=Jeff Weiss – Broadway Cast & Staff {{!}} IBDB|last=League|first=The Broadway|website=www.ibdb.com|access-date=May 29, 2018}}
Early life and education
Weiss grew up in Allentown, Pennsylvania, with his parents, two brothers, and one sister. His father was a salesman for Pennsylvania cement companies. His brother, Stephen Weiss, currently lives in Florida. His paternal nephew is actor Jonathan Taylor Thomas.{{cite news| url=https://www.mcall.com/news/mc-xpm-1993-02-26-2900740-story.html|title=Walnutport Girl, 6, Already A New York Commuter ... Backstage| newspaper=The Morning Call| location=Allentown, Pennsylvania| date=February 26, 1993| access-date=December 27, 2021}}
Career
Weiss became involved in theatre, both writing and acting in plays. In New York City, his work was often presented at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club and Caffe Cino.{{cite news|url=https://www.mcall.com/1984/12/21/playwright-jeff-weiss-he-pays-the-rent-by-mirroring-the-chaos-the-unlikely-but-true-unions-the-deceptions-of-life/|title=Playwright Jeff Weiss He Pays The Rent By Mirroring The Chaos, The Unlikely But True Unions, The Deceptions Of Life|last=Gehman|first=Geoff|date=December 21, 1984|access-date=August 29, 2010|publisher=The Morning Call}} His first performance at La MaMa was in Robert Sealy's Waiting Boy,La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. [https://catalog.lamama.org/Detail/Occurrences/74 "Production: Waiting Boy (1964)". Accessed May 30, 2018.] followed by Sealy's Prevarications,La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. [https://catalog.lamama.org/Detail/Occurrences/118 "Production: Prevarications (1964)". Accessed May 30, 2018.] both in 1964. In 1966, Weiss performed in his own play, A Funny Walk Home, at Caffe Cino, read for the Thunderbird American Indian Dancers in Louis Mofsie's Three Mask Dances at La MaMa,La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. [https://catalog.lamama.org/Detail/Occurrences/367 "Production: Three Mask Dances (1966)". Accessed May 30, 2018.] and performed in Jean Reavey's Window, directed by Tom O'Horgan, also at La MaMa.La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. [https://catalog.lamama.org/Detail/Occurrences/379 "Production: Window (1966)". Accessed May 30, 2018.]
Weiss often collaborated with his partner and producer Ricardo Martinez, an artist from New Mexico.{{cite news|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/newsday/access/100067693.html?dids=100067693:100067693&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Apr+06%2C+1986&author=By+Patrick+Pacheco&pub=Newsday+(Combined+editions)&desc=Off-Off-Broadway%27s+king+goes+Public&pqatl=google|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130111073654/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/newsday/access/100067693.html?dids=100067693:100067693&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Apr+06,+1986&author=By+Patrick+Pacheco&pub=Newsday+(Combined+editions)&desc=Off-Off-Broadway's+king+goes+Public&pqatl=google|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 11, 2013|title=Off-Off-Broadway's king goes Public|last=Pacheco|first=Patrick|date=April 6, 1986|access-date=August 29, 2010|publisher=Newsday}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/30/theater/theater-how-jeff-weiss-found-his-pulpit-on-the-stage.html?sec=&spon=|title=THEATER; How Jeff Weiss Found His Pulpit on the Stage|last=Wright|first=Damon|date=May 30, 1993|work=The New York Times}}Gehman, Geoff (December 21, 1984). "Playwright Jeff Weiss: He pays the rent by mirroring the chaos, the unlikely but true unions, the deceptions of life", The Morning Call, p. D1. In 1966, Martinez directed Weiss in Weiss's own one-man show at La MaMa, And That's How the Rent Gets Paid.La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. [https://catalog.lamama.org/Detail/Occurrences/240 "Production: And That's How the Rent Gets Paid (1966)". Accessed May 30, 2018.]
In 1967, Weiss performed alongside Mary Boylan in H.M. Koutoukas' When Clowns Play Hamlet, which Koutoukas co-directed with O'Horgan at La MaMa.La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. [https://catalog.lamama.org/Detail/Occurrences/428 "Production: When Clowns Play Hamlet (1967)". Accessed May 30, 2018.] He directed and performed in a production of Jeff Laffel's There Should be Violins and The Sunday Caller at La MaMa, also in 1967.La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. [https://catalog.lamama.org/Detail/Occurrences/470 "Production: There Should Be Violins and The Sunday Caller (1967)". Accessed May 30, 2018.] Martinez directed a production of Weiss's International Wrestling Match: An Old Testament Morality Play in Two Vengeful Acts at La MaMa in January 1969.La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. [https://catalog.lamama.org/Detail/Occurrences/283 "Production: International Wrestling Match: A Old Testament Morality Play in Two Vengeful Acts (1969)". Accessed May 30, 2018.] Weiss performed in Julie Bovasso's Gloria and Esperanza at La MaMa in April 1969.La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. [https://catalog.lamama.org/Detail/Occurrences/550 "Production: Gloria and Esperanza (1969a)". Accessed May 30, 2018.]
A play Weiss wrote for children, Locomotive Munch:, was produced at La MaMa in 1972.La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. [https://catalog.lamama.org/Detail/Occurrences/1086 "Production: Locomotive Munch: (1972)". Accessed May 30, 2018.] And That's How the Rent Gets Paid, Part Two, a follow-up to his 1966 show, was produced at La MaMa in April 1973,La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. [https://catalog.lamama.org/Detail/Occurrences/1220 "Production: And That's How the Rent Gets Paid, Part Two (1973)". Accessed May 30, 2018.] and his play Pushover was produced at La MaMa in November 1973.La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. [https://catalog.lamama.org/Detail/Occurrences/1309 "Production: Pushover (1973)". Accessed May 30, 2018.] In 1979, he continued his work at La MaMa, directing his play Dark Twist La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. [https://catalog.lamama.org/Detail/Occurrences/1974 "Production: Dark Twist (1969)". Accessed May 30, 2018.] and performing And That's How the Rent Gets Paid, Part 3, this time alongside Nicky Paraiso.La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. [https://catalog.lamama.org/Detail/Occurrences/1929 "Production: And That's How the Rent Gets Paid, Part 3 (1979)". Accessed May 30, 2018.] In 1984, members of The Wooster Group, including Willem Dafoe, Kate Valk, and Ron Vawter, joined Weiss in And That's How the Rent Gets Paid, Part IV (or, The Confessions of Conrad Gerhardt). Later that year, he re-worked the show in Allentown with Paraiso, Dorothy Cantwell and a cast of local actors, and brought that iteration to NYC at the Wooster Group's Performing Garage.{{Cite web |title=PLAYWRIGHT JEFF WEISS HE PAYS THE RENT BY MIRRORING THE CHAOS, THE UNLIKELY BUT TRUE UNIONS, THE DECEPTIONS OF LIFE. |url=https://www.mcall.com/news/mc-xpm-1984-12-21-2439338-story.html |access-date=October 8, 2022 |website=The Morning Call|date=December 21, 1984 }} Weiss won an Obie Award for his play Hot Keys, presented during the 1991-92 season at Naked Angels.{{Cite web|url=http://www.villagevoice.com/obies/search|title=obies {{!}} Search Results|website=www.villagevoice.com|access-date=May 29, 2018}} In 2012, Weiss contributed scenes, and appeared (via taped performance), in Peter Schmidt's The Teddy Bear Awards.{{Cite web |title=Raunchy, funny, bumpy ride to 'Teddy Bear Awards' |url=https://www.mcall.com/entertainment/arts-theater/mc-xpm-2012-01-06-mc-rev-teddy-bear-awards-20120106-story.html |access-date=October 8, 2022 |website=The Morning Call|date=January 6, 2012 }} In 2015, The Kitchen produced a revival of And That's How the Rent Gets Paid.
Weiss also enjoyed a prolific, if late-blossoming, career on the "legitimate" stage. After making his 1967 Broadway debut in Spofford, {{Cite web |title=Spofford |url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/spofford-3104#OpeningNightCast}} Weiss did not appear again as a professional performer until 1986, when he appeared as the Ghost/The Player King/Osric in Hamlet, opposite Kevin Kline.{{Cite news |last=Gussow |first=Mel |date=March 10, 1986 |title=THEATER: KEVIN KLINE IN 'HAMLET' AT PUBLIC |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/03/10/theater/theater-kevin-kline-in-hamlet-at-public.html |access-date=October 8, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite news |last=Bennetts |first=Leslie |date=March 24, 1986 |title=SUCCESS CATCHES UP WITH WEISS IN 'HAMLET' |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/03/24/theater/success-catches-up-with-weiss-in-hamlet.html |access-date=October 8, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}} From that point until his retirement in 2003, Weiss was a fixture on and off-Broadway, appearing in The Front Page (with John Lithgow and Richard Thomas), Macbeth (with Glenda Jackson and Christopher Plummer),{{Cite web |title=ON THE ROAD WITH 'MACBETH' IS A FIRST AND LAST TRIP FOR JEFF WEISS |url=https://www.mcall.com/news/mc-xpm-1988-05-08-2631546-story.html |access-date=October 9, 2022 |website=The Morning Call|date=May 8, 1988 }} Our Town, Mastergate, The Real Inspector Hound and The Fifteen Minute Hamlet, Face Value, Carousel, The Play's the Thing, Present Laughter (with Frank Langella), Ivanov (with Kline), The Iceman Cometh (with Kevin Spacey), The Invention of Love, Mr. Peters' Connections, Flesh and Blood (with Cherry Jones),{{Cite web |last=amNY |date=August 12, 2003 |title=Jones and Weiss create chemistry in "Flesh and Blood" {{!}} amNewYork |url=https://www.amny.com/news/jones-and-weiss-create-chemistry-in-flesh-and-blood/ |access-date=October 8, 2022 |website=www.amny.com |language=en-US}} and Henry IV (with Kline, Ethan Hawke, and Audra McDonald).{{Cite web |title=Jeff Weiss |url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0919032/otherworks |access-date=October 8, 2022 |website=IMDb}} Weiss was also lauded for his performances in regional productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream,{{Cite news |last1=Gussow |first1=Mel |last2=Times |first2=Special To the New York |date=July 16, 1986 |title=THEATER: 'MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM' |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/07/16/theater/theater-midsummer-night-s-dream.html |access-date=October 8, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}} Coriolanus,{{Cite web |title=Coriolanus at McCarter Theatre 1987 |url=https://www.abouttheartists.com/productions/112457-coriolanus-at-mccarter-theatre-1987 |access-date=October 8, 2022 |website=www.abouttheartists.com}} A Christmas Carol,{{Cite news |last=Klein |first=Alvin |date=December 8, 1991 |title=THEATER; 'A Christmas Carol,' but Not the Same Old Thing |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/08/nyregion/theater-a-christmas-carol-but-not-the-same-old-thing.html |access-date=October 8, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}} Harvey,{{cite web |last=Churnin |first=Nancy |date=May 24, 1994 |title=Theater Review: 'Harvey': Timeless Quality Enriches Work at La Jolla |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-05-24-ca-61354-story.html |access-date=October 8, 2022 |website=Los Angeles Times }} Moliere's The Bungler,{{Cite web |title=Jeff Weiss theatre profile |url=https://www.abouttheartists.com/artists/292765-jeff-weiss |access-date=October 8, 2022 |website=www.abouttheartists.com}} and the world premiere of Arthur Miller's Resurrection Blues.{{Cite news |last=Rothstein |first=Mervyn |date=July 28, 2002 |title=THEATER; So Tragic, You Have To Laugh |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/28/theater/theater-so-tragic-you-have-to-laugh.html |access-date=October 8, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}
Weiss appeared in television episodes of Law & Order and The Equalizer, as well as in films Interstate 84, Mr. Destiny, and Vanilla Sky. {{Cite web |title=Jeff Weiss |url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0919032/ |access-date=October 8, 2022 |website=IMDb}} He was the solo performer in the 1987 short film, Maestro, by Alex Zamm.{{Citation |last=Zamm |first=Alex |title=Maestro |date=November 30, 2012 |url=https://vimeo.com/54646788 |access-date=October 8, 2022}}
Personal life and death
Weiss began a relationship with musician and producer, Carlos Ricardo Martinez in 1982.{{cite web |title=Remembering Jeff Weiss |url=https://www.lamama.org/community/remembering-jeff-weiss |website=www.lamama.org}}{{cite web |title=And That's How the Rent Gets Paid Paying Tribute to Jeff Weiss |url=https://brooklynrail.org/2015/06/theater/and-thats-how-the-rent-gets-paid-paying-tribute-to-jeff-weiss |website=brooklynrail.org}}
Weiss died on September 18, 2022, in Macungie, Pennsylvania.{{cite news |title=JEFF WEISS (1940–2022) |url=https://www.artforum.com/news/jeff-weiss-1940-2022-89312 |access-date=September 26, 2022 |work=Artforum |date=September 26, 2022}}
Awards
- Obie Award for Special Citations - Joseph Cino Memorial Award: And That's How The Rent Gets Paid and A Funny Walk Home (1967){{Cite web |title=67 |url=https://www.obieawards.com/events/1960s/year-67/ |access-date=October 9, 2022 |website=Obie Awards |language=en-US}}
- Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts, US & Canada (1975){{Cite web |title=Jeffrey George Weiss |url=https://www.gf.org/fellows/all-fellows/jeffrey-george-weiss/ |access-date=October 9, 2022 |website=John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation |language=en-US}}
- Obie Award for Playwriting: And That's How The Rent Gets Paid, Part Three (1980){{Cite web |title=1980s |url=https://www.obieawards.com/events/1980s/ |access-date=October 9, 2022 |website=Obie Awards |language=en-US}}
- Obie Award for Special Citations: Hot Keys (1992){{Cite web |title=92 |url=https://www.obieawards.com/events/1990s/year-92/ |access-date=October 9, 2022 |website=Obie Awards |language=en-US}}
- Robert Chesley Award, to honor works by playwrights in the LGBT community (2000){{citation needed|date=March 2024}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0919032}}
- [https://www.nytimes.com/1986/03/24/theater/success-catches-up-with-weiss-in-hamlet.html "Success Catches up With Weiss in Hamlet" New York Times, March 24, 1986]
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weiss, Jeff}}
Category:20th-century American male writers
Category:20th-century American dramatists and playwrights
Category:20th-century American LGBTQ people
Category:Place of birth missing
Category:American male dramatists and playwrights
Category:American male stage actors
Category:American LGBTQ dramatists and playwrights
Category:American people of Pennsylvania Dutch descent
Category:Gay dramatists and playwrights
Category:LGBTQ people from Pennsylvania
Category:Male actors from Allentown, Pennsylvania
Category:Musicians from Allentown, Pennsylvania