Michele Shay
{{Short description|American actress}}
{{Work in Progress}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Michele Shay
| image =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = 1955{{cite book |last1=Fearn-Banks |first1=Kathleen |last2=Burford-Johnson |first2=Anne |title=Historical Dictionary of African American Television |date=3 October 2014 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0-8108-7917-1 |page=421 |chapter=Shay, Michele}}
| birth_place = Tuskegee, Alabama, United States
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| occupation = {{Flatlist|
- Actress
- stage director
}}
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}}
Michele Shay (born in 1955) is an American actress and stage director.
Life and career
Born in Tuskegee, Alabama,{{cite news |last1=Hibbard |first1=Steve |date=September 11, 2014 |title=Bluesy 'Seven Guitars' at Signature Theatre |url=http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/news/2014/sep/11/bluesy-seven-guitars-signature-theatre/ |access-date=3 December 2023 |work=Connection Newspapers|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141108000440/http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/news/2014/sep/11/bluesy-seven-guitars-signature-theatre |url-status=live |archive-date=November 8, 2014}} Shay is the daughter of a veterinarian father and an accountant mother who later turned probation officer.{{cite news |last1=Bennetts |first1=Leslie |title=New Face: Michele Shay Ranges From Shange to Shakespeare |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/06/22/archives/new-face-michele-shay-ranges-from-shange-to-shakespeare-three-years.html |access-date=3 December 2023 |work=The New York Times|date=June 22, 1979 |page=3}} After initially planning a social worker career, she eventually decided to embrace acting following her personal success in a school variety show.{{cite news |title=Soap Opera Scenes |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tVNUAAAAIBAJ&dq=%22Michele+Shay%22+tony&pg=PA24&article_id=5896,5263602 |access-date=3 December 2023 |work=Boca Raton News |date=January 21, 1983 |page=4 |language=en}} She got a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Carnegie Mellon University, and later received an honorary Master of Fine Arts from the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco.{{cite news |last1=Hibbard |first1=Steve |title=Bluesy 'Seven Guitars' at Signature Theatre |url=http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/news/2014/sep/11/bluesy-seven-guitars-signature-theatre/ |access-date=3 December 2023 |work=Connection Newspapers|date=September 11, 2014}} She made her professional debut at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, in The Balcony by Jean Genet.
After being part of the Guthrie Theater stage company for three years, Shay worked both in Broadway and Off-Broadway works, as well as in regional playhouse productions.{{cite news |last1=Ghandchilar |first1=Tina |title=Theatre Review: 'Seven Guitars' presented by No Rules Theatre Company at Signature Theatre |url=https://mdtheatreguide.com/2014/09/theatre-review-seven-guitars-presented-by-no-rules-theatre-company-at-signature-theatre/ |access-date=4 December 2023 |work=Maryland Theatre Guide |date=16 September 2014}}{{cite book |last1=Hill |first1=Anthony D. |title=The A to Z of African American theater |date=2009 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-8108-7061-1 |page=443 |chapter=Shay, Michele}} In 1981, Shay won an Obie Award for Distinguished Performance by an Actress for her performance in Meetings.{{cite news |title=From soaps to stage |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gpUpAAAAIBAJ&dq=%22Michele+Shay%22+obie&pg=PA2&article_id=6064,4672615 |access-date=4 December 2023 |work=TimesDaily |date=May 20, 1984 |language=en}} She got large personal success for her performance in Seven Guitars by August Wilson, who personally chose her to play the role of Louise.{{cite news |last1=Nassour |first1=Ellis |title=Michele Shay: Lady In Waiting |url=https://www.totaltheater.com/?q=node/499 |access-date=4 December 2023 |work=Total Theater |date=1997 |language=en}} The play debuted on Broadway in 1996, and Shay got a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Play. She appeared as Mama in Cincinnati's Playhouse in the Park's 2023 production of Stew.{{Cite web |date=2024-02-22 |title=Pulitzer Finalist STEW Draws Unforgettable Portrait of Three Generations of Black Women Beginning March 2 |url=https://behindthecurtaincincy.com/2024/02/21/pulitzer-finalist-stew-draws-unforgettable-portrait-of-three-generations-of-black-women-beginning-march-2/ |access-date=2024-03-20 |website=Behind the Curtain Cincinnati |language=en}}
Shay also worked on television and films, directed numerous plays, and taught acting in several institutions, including the Michigan University, the California Institute of the Arts, the American Conservatory Theater, and the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name}}
- {{IBDB name}}
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Category:People from Tuskegee, Alabama
Category:American film actresses
Category:American stage actresses
Category:American television actresses
Category:American theatre directors
Category:20th-century American actresses