Michael Jeter
{{short description|American actor (1952–2003)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| image = Michael Jeter at the 44th Emmy Awards cropped.jpg
| caption = Jeter at the 44th Emmy Awards in 1992
| birth_date = {{birth date|1952|8|26}}
| birth_place = Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2003|3|30|1952|8|26}}
| death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.
| alma_mater = Memphis State University
| occupation = Actor
| years_active = 1977–2003
| partner = Sean Blue (1995–2003)
}}
Michael Jeter ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|dʒ|iː|t|ər}}; August 26, 1952 – March 30, 2003) was an American actor. Known for his career on stage and screen, Jeter played diverse characters. He won a Tony Award and a Primetime Emmy Award. He portrayed Herman Stiles on the sitcom Evening Shade from 1990 until 1994.
Jeter was born in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee. He studied at Memphis State University and later pursued a career in acting. He made his Broadway debut acting in the musical Once in a Lifetime (1979), followed by G. R. Point. For his role as Otto Kringelein in the musical Grand Hotel (1989) he received a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical. Jeter also portrayed Giuseppe Zangara in the musical Assassins (1989).
Jeter gained fame for his roles in The Fisher King (1991) and The Green Mile (1999). His other notable film roles include in Zelig (1983), Miller's Crossing (1990), Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993), Air Bud (1997), Mouse Hunt (1997), Patch Adams (1998), Jurassic Park III (2001), Open Range (2003), and The Polar Express (2004). He also appeared on Sesame Street's Elmo's World as the other Mister Noodle from 2000 to 2003.
Early life and education
Jeter was born in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee on August 26, 1952. His mother, Virginia (née Raines), was a housewife. His father, William Claud Jeter, was a dentist.{{cite web| url=http://torchbearer.utk.edu/2010/03/william-claud-jeter-1943/| title=William Claude Jeter (1943)| publisher=University of Tennessee| date=March 10, 2010| access-date=February 28, 2014| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140305104539/http://torchbearer.utk.edu/2010/03/william-claud-jeter-1943/| archive-date=March 5, 2014}} Jeter had one brother, William, and four sisters, Virginia, Amanda, Emily, and Lori.{{cite web| title=Michael Jeter, 50, Dies; Won Acting Prizes| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/02/arts/michael-jeter-50-dies-won-acting-prizes.html| work=The New York Times| date=April 2, 2003| access-date=February 28, 2014}} Jeter was a student at Memphis State University (now the University of Memphis) when his interests changed from medicine to acting. He performed in several plays and musicals at the Circuit Theatre and its partner theatre, the Playhouse on the Square, in midtown Memphis. He left Memphis to further pursue his stage career in Baltimore, Maryland.
Career
{{expand section|date=October 2024}}
Jeter's woebegone look, extreme flexibility, and high energy led Tommy Tune to cast him in the off-Broadway play Cloud 9 in 1981.{{cite web| title=Cloud 9| url=http://www.lortel.org/LLA_archive/index.cfm?search_by=show&id=705| publisher=Lortel Archives| access-date=February 28, 2014| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140228220213/http://www.lortel.org/LLA_archive/index.cfm?search_by=show&id=705| archive-date=February 28, 2014}} Much of his work specialised in playing eccentric, pretentious, or wimpy characters, as in The Fisher King, Waterworld, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Green Mile and Drop Zone. Occasionally, Jeter was able to stray from type for more diverse characters, such as those he portrayed in Jurassic Park III, Air Bud, and Open Range. Jeter is perhaps most known for his role as convicted felon Eduard Delacroix in The Green Mile, a role for which he was nominated along with the rest of the cast for a Screen Actors Guild Award.
In The Fisher King, Jeter portrayed "an unnamed homeless cabaret singer", and "shimmies across the screen with boundless confidence, turning what might have been a grotesque, or at least merely humorous, part into something noble, even indomitable... In a film unafraid of big acting, Jeter goes bigger than anyone."{{Cite web|url=https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/3606-michael-s-turn-michael-jeter-in-the-fisher-king|title=Michael's Turn: Michael Jeter in The Fisher King|first=Michael|last=Koresky|website=The Criterion Collection|access-date=February 2, 2021}}
He also played Mr. Noodle's brother, Mister Noodle, on Sesame Street from 2000 to 2003. He appeared in an episode of Touched by an Angel in 1999 as Gus, an insurance salesman who arrives in Las Vegas, in the episode "The Man Upstairs".{{cite web |url=http://www.touched.com/episodeguide/seasonfive/516.html |title=Touched By An Angel Episode 516: "The Man Upstairs" |publisher=Touched.com |date=February 21, 1999 |access-date=February 23, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121203061215/http://www.touched.com/episodeguide/seasonfive/516.html |archive-date=December 3, 2012 }} His last two appearances were in the films Open Range and The Polar Express. Both films were in post-production at the time of his death and, when released, contained a dedication to his memory.{{cite news| title=Review: 'The Polar Express'| url=https://variety.com/2004/film/reviews/the-polar-express-3-1200530031/| last=Rooney| first=David| date=October 24, 2004| work=Variety| access-date=February 28, 2014}}Open Range film credits. The season 35 premiere of Sesame Street, a special entitled "The Street We Live On", was similarly dedicated to Jeter.
Personal life and death
Jeter was gay and met his partner Sean Blue in 1995; they were together until Jeter's death in 2003.
Jeter was HIV-positive and disclosed his diagnosis in a 1997 interview on Entertainment Tonight. Despite this, he remained healthy for many years.{{cite news|url=http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1999-12-06/lifestyle/9912030812_1_hiv-status-herman-stiles-michael-jeter |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180915225708/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1999-12-06/lifestyle/9912030812_1_hiv-status-herman-stiles-michael-jeter |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 15, 2018 |title=Healthy Despite His Hiv, Jeter Says It's Nothing To Hide |date=December 6, 1999 |access-date=September 15, 2018 |newspaper=Sun Sentinel |author-link=The New York Times}} Jeter also announced while accepting his 1990 Tony that he had recovered from substance abuse.{{cite journal
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2mQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA62 |date=May 13, 2003 |page=62 |issue=889 |issn=0001-8996 |publisher=Here Publishing |journal=The Advocate |title=In memoriam. Michael Jeter |last=Ferber |first=Lawrence}}
On March 30, 2003, Jeter was found dead by Blue at his home in Hollywood Hills, California. He was 50 years old.{{cite web| url=https://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/08/31/entertainment/main547217.shtml| title=Actor Michael Jeter Dead At 52| first=Bootie| last=Cosgrove-Mather|publisher=CBS News| date=August 31, 2004| access-date=February 28, 2014}}{{dead link|date=August 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} Blue said that Jeter died of complications after an epileptic seizure. Jeter was cremated, and his ashes were given to charity.{{cite news| title=Corrections| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VGUEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA6| page=6| work=The Advocate | date=September 17, 2004|publisher = Here| access-date=February 28, 2014}}
Acting credits
=Film=
| class="wikitable unsortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes |
|---|
| 1979
| Hair | Woodrow Sheldon | |
| 1981
| Ragtime | Special Reporter | |
| 1982
| Mr. Kelp | |
| 1983
| Zelig | Freshman No. 2 | |
| 1986
| Arnie | |
| rowspan=2 | 1989
| Dr. Alexander Krantz | |
| Tango & Cash
| Floyd Skinner | |
| rowspan=2 | 1990
| Just Like in the Movies | Vernon | |
| Miller's Crossing
| Adolph | |
| 1991
| Homeless Cabaret Singer | |
| rowspan=2 | 1993
| Night Clerk No. 1 | |
| Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit
| Father Ignatius | |
| 1994
| Earl Leedy | |
| 1995
| Gregor | |
| rowspan=2 | 1997
| Air Bud | Norm Snively | |
| Mouse Hunt
| Quincy Thorpe | |
| rowspan=5 | 1998
| Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas | Dr. L. Ron Bumquist | Drug expert / guest speaker |
| The Naked Man
| 'Sticks' Varona | |
| Thursday
| Dr. Jarvis | |
| Zack and Reba
| Oras | |
| Patch Adams
| Rudy | |
| rowspan=3 | 1999
| Dale Porterhouse | |
| Jakob the Liar
| Avron | |
| The Green Mile
| Eduard Delacroix | |
| rowspan=2 | 2000
| South of Heaven, West of Hell | Uncle Jude | |
| The Gift
| Gerald Weems | |
| 2001
| Udesky | |
| 2002
| 'Toto' | |
| 2003
| Percy | Posthumous release |
| 2004
| Smokey / Steamer | Voice |
=Television=
| class="wikitable unsortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes |
|---|
| 1979
| George Gardner | Television film |
| rowspan=3 | 1980
| Arnie Gallo | rowspan=2|Unknown episodes |
| From Here to Eternity
| Private Ridgley |
| Lou Grant
| Max Galt | Episode: "Dogs" |
| 1981
| Alice at the Palace | Caterpillar / Dormouse | Television film |
| 1986
| Confessing Crook | Episode: "The Night Off" |
| 1987
| Calvin Klein | Episode: "Old Spouses Never Die – Part 1" |
| rowspan=2 | 1988
| Senator Michael Gaspari | Episode: "The Hearings" |
| Hothouse
| Dr. Art Makter | 7 episodes |
| 1990–1994
| Herman Stiles | 98 episodes |
| 1993–1995
| Peter Lebeck | rowspan=2|3 episodes |
| rowspan=2 | 1993
| Carson Callas |
| Gypsy
| Goldstone | Television film |
| 1994
| Aladdin | Runtar | Voice; Episode: "StinkerBelle" |
| 1995
| Bob Ryan | Episode: "A Coupla Stiffs" |
| rowspan=4 | 1996
| Dream On | Dr. Enoch | Episode: "Finale with a Vengeance" |
| Suddenly Susan
| Lawrence Rosewood | Episode: "Dr. No" |
| Mrs. Santa Claus
| Arvo | rowspan=2|Television film |
| The Boys Next Door
| Arnold Wiggins |
| rowspan=4 | 1997
| Duckman | Dr. William Blay | Voice; Episode: "Ajax & Ajaxer" |
| Second Noah
| The Chicken Man | Episode: "Diving In" |
| Murphy Brown
| Vic | Episode: "You Don't Know Jackal" |
| Johnny Bravo
| Lawrence the Camel | Voice; Episode: "Blarney Buddies/Over the Hump/Johnny Meets Farrah Fawcett" |
| 1998–1999
| Biederman | Voice; 4 episodes |
| rowspan=2 | 1998
| Edwin Murloff | Episode: "Veronica's Blackout" |
| The Ransom of Red Chief
| Bill Driscoll | Television film |
| 1999
| Gus Zimmerman | Episode: "The Man Upstairs" |
| 2000–2003
| Mr. Noodle's Brother, Mister Noodle | Elmo's World segments |
| rowspan=2 | 2002
| Taken | William Jeffries | Episode: "Taken" |
| Hey Arnold!
| Nate Horowitz | Voice; Episode: "Gerald's Game/The Fishing Trip" |
= Theater =
| class="wikitable unsortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes |
|---|
| 1978
| Jolson / Bellboy | Circle in the Square |
| 1979
| Straw | Playhouse Theatre, Broadway |
| 1980
| Alice in Concert | Ensemble |
| 1981
| Cloud 9 | Betty / Gerry | Lucille Lortel's Theatre de Lys |
| 1982
| Performer | Circle in the Square Downtown |
| rowspan=2|1989
| Otto Kringelein | Martin Beck Theatre, Broadway |
| Assassins |
Awards and nominations
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{commons}}
- {{IMDb name|5052}}
- {{IBDB name}}
- {{iobdb name|17616}}
{{Navboxes
|title = Awards for Michael Jeter
|list =
{{DramaDesk MusicalOutstandingFeaturedActor 1975-1999}}
{{EmmyAward ComedySupportingActor 1976-2000}}
{{TonyAward MusicalFeaturedActor 1976-2000}}
}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jeter, Michael}}
Category:20th-century American LGBTQ people
Category:20th-century American male actors
Category:20th-century American male singers
Category:20th-century American singers
Category:21st-century American LGBTQ people
Category:21st-century American male actors
Category:American male film actors
Category:American male musical theatre actors
Category:American male stage actors
Category:American male television actors
Category:American male voice actors
Category:Drama Desk Award winners
Category:LGBTQ people from Tennessee
Category:Male actors from Memphis, Tennessee
Category:Neurological disease deaths in California
Category:People from Lawrenceburg, Tennessee