Laurence Overmire

Laurence Overmire began his professional acting career in 1981 at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis appearing in Our Town directed by Alan Schneider, the American premier of Nelly Sachs' Eli: A Mystery Play of the Sufferings of Israel directed by Garland Wright,{{cite web|title=Garland Wright Bio|url=http://www.donshewey.com/theater_articles/garland_wright.html|accessdate=30 September 2012}} and Liviu Ciulei's productions of The Tempest, featuring Boyd Gaines and Frances Conroy, and As You Like It, starring Val Kilmer and Patti LuPone.{{cite book|last=Overmire|first=Laurence|title=One Immigrant's Legacy|year=2009|publisher=Indelible Mark Publishing|location=p. 33-35|isbn=978-0-9795398-2-4}}{{cite news|last=Rich|first=Frank|title='Don Juan' Staged in Minneapolis|newspaper=The New York Times|date=July 5, 1981}}{{cite news|last=Rich|first=Frank|title=Ciulei Stages 'Tempest' at Guthrie|date=July 4, 1981|newspaper=The New York Times}}{{cite book|last=LuPone|first=Patti|title=Patti LuPone: A Memoir|year=2010|publisher=Random House Digital Inc.|pages=148–151}}

Thereafter, Overmire moved to New York City landing roles on and off Broadway including Amadeus directed by Sir Peter Hall and starring Frank Langella, Mark Hamill and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio,{{cite web|title=Amadeus (Original Broadway Production, 1980)|url=http://broadwayworld.com/bwidb/sections/productions/full.php?var=311570|publisher=Broadway World International Database}} Joseph Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival production of Don Juan, directed by Richard Foreman and featuring future stars Kelly McGillis, Melissa Leo, and Jere Burns,{{cite web|title=Don Juan (1982)|url=http://broadwayworld.com/bwidb/productions/Don_Juan_328301/|publisher=Broadway World International Database}} Charles Busch's comedy hits Vampire Lesbians of Sodom and Psycho Beach Party, Robert David MacDonald's Summit Conference for New York Studio Theatre, and the Equity Library Theatre production of Lanford Wilson's Fifth of July.{{cite news|last=Bruckner|first=D.J.R.|title=Revival of Wilson's '5th of July'|newspaper=The New York Times|date=Feb 16, 1989}}

Overmire also worked at many regional theatres across the country performing in Twelfth Night starring Ethan Phillips, Richard Ryder, Susan Diol and Christine Andreas at Alaska Repertory Theatre, Hay Fever with Mary-Louise Parker at Buffalo's Studio Arena Theater, The Tooth of Crime at [http://www.delawaretheatre.org/ Delaware Theatre Company], A Christmas Carol at Totem Pole Playhouse, Hamlet at Nashville Institute for the Arts directed by Eric Booth, Dracula and The Comedy of Errors directed by Charles Nolte at Michigan's [http://www.mbtheatre.com/ Meadow Brook Theatre], and Henry IV part 1 at Yale Repertory Theatre directed by David Hammond and starring Paul Shenar, Patricia Clarkson, Dylan Baker, Adam LeFevre, Patrick Kerr and Courtney B. Vance.{{cite news|last=Gussow|first=Mel|title=Yale Rep Offers 'Henry IV, Part One'|newspaper=The New York Times|date=Nov 4, 1984}}{{cite web|last=Overmire|first=Laurence|title=Official Biography & Resume|url=http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=36969184&locale=en_US&trk=tab_pro|work=LinkedIn|accessdate=29 May 2011}}

On television, Overmire made numerous appearances on the network soaps All My Children, As the World Turns, Another World, One Life to Live and Loving working with such notable actors as Philip Bosco, Noelle Beck, Robert S. Woods, Cady McClain and Maurice Benard.{{cite book|last=Overmire|first=Laurence|title=Gone Hollywood|year=2011|publisher=Indelible Mark Publishing|location=Oregon|isbn=978-0-9795398-3-1}}{{cite web|title=Indelible Mark Publishing|url=http://indeliblemarkpublishing.com}} Featured Author, Laurence Overmire bio

Later, Overmire moved to Hollywood where he starred in Roy Brocksmith's production of The One Less Traveled at the California Cottage Theatre,{{cite news|last=Loynd|first=Ray|title=Homey Feeling Ends As Soon As Play Begins|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=July 10, 1992}} played a featured role in the independent feature film The Thing at Pete and Julie's directed by Jerry Rapp, and founded and served as Executive Producer of The Writer's Lab, a non-profit organization created to develop material for the entertainment industry. Many talented actors, writers and directors were involved with The Writer's Lab including Debra Jo Rupp, Jerry Lambert, Lucy Liu, Ted Lange, Kevin Meaney, Hill Harper, Richard Schiff, Robin Curtis, Michael Kostroff, Teresa Parente, Jeanne Glynn, Chris Mulkey, Anita Finlay, Forbes Riley, Time Winters, Mike Evans, and Yuri Rasovsky.

In 2007, Overmire directed his play A Scrooge Mart Christmas Carol for No Illusions Theatre in Portland, OR, raising over $3,000 for charity.

Throughout his career, he has been involved in education, developing and teaching arts programs for Lincoln Center Institute, Manhattan Theatre Club, Oregon Children's Theatre, and others.{{cite book|last=Overmire|first=Laurence|title=Report From X-Star 10|year=2009|publisher=Indelible Mark Publishing|location=Oregon|isbn=978-0-9795398-1-7}}{{cite web|title=Oregon Children's Theatre|url=http://www.octc.org/loudandclear|access-date=2011-05-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120310223646/http://www.octc.org/loudandclear|archive-date=2012-03-10|url-status=dead}}, Instructor Bios

Laurence Overmire's poetry has been published in hundreds of magazines, journals and anthologies worldwide. Eclectic in form and style, his work can be provocative in its confrontation of social issues.{{cite journal|title=Laurence Overmire (USA)|journal=Thanal Online, ed. Dr. Rati Saxena and Dr. T.K.Ramachandran|date=June 2006|volume= 1|issue= 2}} He is the author of three books of poetry, Honor & Remembrance, Report From X-Star 10 and Gone Hollywood. He began writing poetry as a way to reflect upon his life experience, what became for him "a diary in art."{{cite web|title=The Other Voices International Project|url=http://othervoicespoetry.org/vol20/overmire/bio.html|work=Vol 20, 2006|access-date=2011-05-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001010547/http://othervoicespoetry.org/vol20/overmire/bio.html|archive-date=2011-10-01|url-status=usurped}}

An advocate for peace, social justice, the environment, civil rights, human rights, and animal rights, Overmire was the Poet In Residence on The Jeff Farias Show in 2010, where during a weekly segment he would read poetry and discuss the political and social issues of the day.{{cite web|title=The Jeff Farias Show|url=http://www.ustream.tv/user/jefffarias/videos|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130419015822/http://www.ustream.tv/user/jefffarias/videos|url-status=dead|archive-date=2013-04-19|work=Audio Segments}} Central to his philosophy is the need for an open mind and an open heart. "I reserve the right to evolve. What I think and feel today is subject to revision tomorrow," he says.{{cite web|title=Finest Quotes|url=http://www.finestquotes.com/select_quote-category-Evolution-page-0.htm|work=Laurence Overmire quote "I reserve the right to evolve..."}}

In 2009, several of Overmire's peace poems including {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110721073245/http://www.othervoicespoetry.org/vol20/overmire/ Middle Eastern Night and Day]}} were translated into Arabic and published in the Lebanese newspaper An-Nahar. Recently, he has been publishing videopoems on YouTube (see videopoems below).

"Poetry is the art of using language to transcend language," Overmire says. "Much of my work comes out of two simple ideas.

The first is The Golden Rule. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. And the second is We are One. All of us are

one family, interconnected and interdependent upon one another for our well-being. And central to both of these ideas are love

and compassion. So a lot of what I write about are the things I see in the world that somehow violate these two ideas. As an artist,

I believe it's very important to look at and confront the dark aspects of human nature. Those who refuse to look at or give

expression to the dark side of life are in denial—fear preventing passage through the door of growth, truth and, ultimately, wisdom."

Laurence Overmire began researching his genealogy in the 1990s. He is a descendant of Gov. William Bradford, William Brewster and several other Mayflower passengers. He also has three Native American lines of ancestry. He created several databases on RootsWeb to help others trace their own family roots, including [http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=glencoe&id=I49 The Ancestry of Overmire, Tifft, Richardson, Bradford, Reed], which has generated more than 1.5 million hits.{{cite web|title=The Poetry of Laurence Overmire|url=http://www.laurenceovermire.com|work=Official Website}}{{cite web|title=The Ancestry of Overmire Tifft Richardson Bradford Reed|url=http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=glencoe&id=I49|publisher=Rootsweb|accessdate=Jun 4, 2011}} Note: Upon checking for the information on Rootsweb on Dec. 2, 2019, the full text of The Ancestry of Overmire, Tifft, Richardson, Bradford, Reed no longer seems to exist.

In 2009, Overmire completed One Immigrant's Legacy: The Overmyer Family in America 1751-2009, A Biographical Record of Revolutionary War Veteran Capt. John George Overmire and His Descendants. Recognized as the foremost authority on the Overmyer clan in the U.S., Laurence was the keynote speaker at the Overmyer Family National Reunion in Rochester, Fulton Co., IN, the first reunion of its kind in over 100 years.{{cite web|title=Overmyer Family National Reunion|url=http://overmyerfamilyreunion.wetpaint.com|work=Official Website|access-date=2018-11-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110823220622/http://overmyerfamilyreunion.wetpaint.com/|archive-date=2011-08-23|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|title=One Immigrant's Legacy: released at Overmyer Family National Reunion|url=http://indeliblemarkpublishing.com/One-Immigrant%27s-Legacy.php|publisher=Indelible Mark Publishing|accessdate=Jun 4, 2011}}

In the afterword to One Immigrant's Legacy, Overmire writes, "Over the course of the millennia, all these multitudes of ancestors, generation upon generation, have come down to this moment in time - to give birth to you. There has never been, nor will ever be, another like you. You have been given a tremendous responsibility. You carry the hopes and dreams of all those who have gone before. Hopes and dreams for a better world. What will you do with your time on this Earth? How will you contribute to the ongoing story of humankind?"{{cite book|last=Overmire|first=Laurence|title=One Immigrant's Legacy|year=2009|publisher=Indelible Mark Publishing|location=p. 300|isbn=978-0-9795398-2-4}}

Overmire graduated summa cum laude as valedictorian from Muskingum University, Ohio, in 1979, with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. He was awarded a Bush Fellowship to attend graduate school at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, where he received his Master of Fine Arts

• Selected as Judge for the Oregon state finals of the NEA's National Poetry Out Loud Recitation contest, 2011, and for the regionals, 2012{{cite news|title=Prineville Teen Wins State Poetry Title|url=http://www.ktvz.com/news/27182672/detail.html|newspaper=KTVZ|date=March 13, 2011|access-date=2011-05-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110709210142/http://www.ktvz.com/news/27182672/detail.html|archive-date=2011-07-09|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|title=Wilson student honored for poetry performance|url=http://www.pps.k12.or.us/news/5576.htm|work=Portland Public Schools News|date=March 22, 2011}}
• Received Enchanting Verses International Poetry Journal{{'s}} "Enchanting Poet Award", 2008{{cite web|title=The Enchanting Verses International Poetry Journal|url=http://theenchantingverses.weebly.com/award-winners.html|work=Award Winners|access-date=2011-05-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100407191245/http://theenchantingverses.weebly.com/award-winners.html|archive-date=2010-04-07|url-status=dead}}
• First Place and Honorable Mention prizes for the Barnes & Noble Everybody Reads Contest, Fahrenheit 451, 2004
• Poetry Award for The Poet’s Porch and named to the Poet’s Hall of Fame, 2001
• Honorable Mention in The Jeremiah Reeves Poetry Prize For Justice, Uprising, Issue #5, Apr 1999{{cite web|title=PoemHunter, Paris, France|url=http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/sitting-bull-s-dream/|work=Sitting Bull's Dream}}

• Honor & Remembrance: A Poetic Journey through American History (Indelible Mark Publishing, 2007)
• Report From X-Star 10: Sci-Fi Poetry (Indelible Mark Publishing, 2009)
• One Immigrant's Legacy: The Overmyer Family in America, 1751-2009, A Biographical Record of Revolutionary War Veteran Capt. John George Overmire and His Descendants (Indelible Mark Publishing, 2009)
• Gone Hollywood (Indelible Mark Publishing, 2011)
• [http://www.theoneideathatsavestheworld.com/ The One Idea That Saves The World: A Call to Conscience and A Call to Action] (Indelible Mark Publishing, 2012)

• Slingshot (2005)
• A Woman In Washington's Army (2007)
• A Scrooge Mart Christmas Carol (2007)

• {{YouTube|bDj2LwjCQtI|Ode To An Endangered Species}}, 2010
• {{YouTube|2HcHRU_qmGA|Viewpoint}}, 2010
• {{YouTube|lhNa4OCUo2Q|Beach Walk At Sunset}}, 2010
• {{YouTube|EWQtzfzb7WI|Maybe the Trees}}, 2011

• [http://www.alittlepoetry.com/vs07laurenceovermire.html A Little Poetry, Voracious Verses, 2007] Overmire poems: Unable to Label, Gyroscope, Burning Wood
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110610044546/http://www.jackmagazine.com/issue1/overmire.html Jack Magazine, Vol. 1 No. 1, 2000] Overmire poems: Less Than Infinity, Kerouac, The Right Reverend, Dastardly Dick
• [http://www.boloji.net/writers/laurenceovermire.htm Boloji Media Inc., India] Overmire poems: Don't Interfere, Mentor, Nuclear Fission, Sunblock, The Burning of Alexandria
• [http://www.thanalonline.com/Issues/02/poems_en_laurence_in.htm Thanal Online, Vol 1, Issue 2, 2006] Overmire poems: Only the Poets, Sins of the Fathers, Sitting Bull's Dream, The Road to Baghdad, Refracting LIght
• [http://www.poetsagainstthewar.org/displaypoem.asp?AuthorID=2678#453059434 Poets Against War, ed. Sam Hamill]{{Dead link|date=May 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, Overmire poems: The Warning of Tombstones, There's, Bodies
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20120324200448/http://www.strever.us/kimerav3n2/biosl__p.htm Kimera: A Journal of Fine Writing, Winter 1998 Volume 3, Number 2], Overmire poems: The Amish Girl, Reunion, Mid-Life
• [http://www.swans.com/library/art6/xxx052.html Swans, Boonville, CA, Dec. 2000] Overmire poem: Refugee
• [http://www.badosa.com/bin/obra.pl?id=p120 Badosa Literary Project, 2002] Overmire poems: Expectant, Forgiveness, How Old?, Good and Bad, Last Card
• [http://www.lsrhs.net/faculty/RayB/courtship/Issue%201/overmire.html The Courtship of Winds, Issue 1, Jan 2000] Overmire poems: The Convention, Killer Groceries, Snowbound
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110701085026/http://www.gangway.net/31/gangway30_31.Overmire.html Gangway, Issue 30/31, Mar 2004, Germany] Overmire poems: Sand in the Mouth, Schlock, Die Andere, Pig Heart, Jobber Wocky
• [http://www.scottishradiance.com/gwriter/gwriter11.htm Scottish Radiance, Scotland, Nov 2000] Overmire poem: Culloden Moor
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110819090529/http://kenagain.freeservers.com/MAY2001ISSUE.HTML#Overmire ken*again, the literary magazine, Vol. 2, No.2, May 2001] Overmire poem: Dance of the Wounded Heart
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110831094019/http://tpqonline.org/wake.html The Pittsburgh Quarterly Online, Jan 2000] Overmire poem: The Wake of a Dream
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110902111830/http://wind.xephyrus.com/fal00/inbetweens.html Rustlings of the Wind: Whereness Issue, 2000] Overmire poem: In-Betweens
• [http://www.tryst3.com/issue5/overmire1.html Tryst, Issue V, June 1, 2003] Overmire poem: The Fallow Time
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080927235400/http://home.earthlink.net/~tinyviolet/thecentrifugaleyepoetryjournal/id383.html The Centrifugal Eye, Aug. 2008] Overmire poems: Saturday Night, Brooklyn Nights
• [http://commonsense2.com/2008/08/poetry/good-guys-and-bad-guys/ CommonSense2, Aug. 2008] Overmire poem: Good Guys and Bad Guys

• [http://stagenstudio.com/2011/05/writers-read-6-laurence-overmire/ Writers Read], Stage and Studio with Dmae Roberts, KBOO 90.7FM, March, 2011
• [https://archive.today/20130419015822/http://www.ustream.tv/user/jefffarias/videos Laurence Overmire, Poet-in-Residence, The Jeff Farias Show], Video Recordings, 2010

• World's Strand, An International Anthology of Poetry (Mandelbachtal-Cambridge 2006)
• The Taj Mahal Review (Cyberwit, India, vol. 5, no. 2, 2006)
• Poets Against War (ed. Sam Hamill, Port Townsend, WA, 2003)
• Poetry The Write Way: Webstatic – First Journey (Iuniverse Inc., June 2000)
• Rinse and Repeat (Scars Publications, Chicago, IL, 1999)
• The Other Voices International Project (Vol. 20, 2006)

• List of peace activists

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.tcmuk.tv/movie_database_results.php?action=title&id=461174 Turner Classic Movies], A Christmas Carol (1982)
• [http://www.carypepper.com/productions.html The One Less Travelled by Cary Pepper], California Cottage Theatre, 1992
• [http://broadwayworld.com/bwidb/people/Laurence_Overmire/ Broadway World International Database]{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, Psycho Beach Party, Don Juan
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110930154047/http://www.nfls.lib.wi.us/oco/genealogy.htm Farnsworth Public Library], Genealogy and Local History, Quote of Laurence Overmire
• [https://books.google.com/books?id=AKlgjBCPPnsC&pg=PA89 Encyclopedia of Television Series, Pilots and Specials: 1974-1984], A Christmas Carol, The Entertainment Channel
• [http://www.mountmanresa.org/documents/2009/Nwsltr-Winter_2008-09.pdf The Founder, Mount Manresa Newsletter] Poem The Fallow Time quotation, Winter, 2008–2009 Vol 52, No 3
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20100608022009/https://www.stolaf.edu/green/campusecology/syllabus.html St. Olaf College Syllabus], American Studies 210, Campus Ecology, Laurence Overmire's poem Real World
• {{YouTube|Mk3zDdhEyI4|Chun Kim's video Refugee}}, featuring Laurence Overmire's poem Refugee
• [https://artistquoteoftheday.wordpress.com/category/laurence-overmire/ 2011 Artist Quote of the Day], Laurence Overmire, Word Press
• [https://archive.today/20130201144600/http://saardchit.com/forwarddesign/gallery.html Forward Design Gallery] Art quote by Laurence Overmire
• [http://blog.gaiam.com/quotes/search/node/overmire Gaiam Life, Stream of Consciousness] Quotes of Laurence Overmire
• [http://quote.robertgenn.com/auth_search.php?name=overmire The Painter's Keys] Laurence Overmire Art Quotes
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110527051633/http://www.guthrietheater.org/shakespeare The Guthrie Theatre] Shakespeare at the Guthrie, 1981-1982 Season
• [http://issuu.com/edenmagazine/docs/edenmagazine7 Eden Magazine] Laurence Overmire featured article, July 2011
• [https://www.facebook.com/poet.laurence.overmire Facebook] Poet Laurence Overmire

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Category:1957 births

Category:Living people

Category:Writers from Rochester, New York

Category:American male poets

Category:20th-century American dramatists and playwrights

Category:American male actors

Category:University of Minnesota alumni

Category:Muskingum University alumni

Category:American male dramatists and playwrights

Category:20th-century American male writers

Category:Activists from Rochester, New York