Howard Alk

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Howard Alk (1930 – January 1982) was a Chicago-based filmmaker.

Career

Alk enrolled in the University of Chicago at the age of 14.[1] He was a member of the Compass Players cabaret troupe and one of the founders (along with fellow U of C graduates Bernard Sahlins and Paul Sills) of The Second City.[1][2][3] Alk had previously worked with Sills at the Gate of Horn.[1] According to Sahlins, Alk coined the group's name.[4] He left the group in the early 1960s.[1]

Alk was a longtime friend and collaborator of Bob Dylan, whom he met in 1963.[5] The two worked together on the films Eat the Document, Hard Rain, and Renaldo and Clara.[4]

He also worked on American Revolution 2 (1969), The Murder of Fred Hampton (1971), and Janis, among other films.

Death

Alk was a heroin addict.[6]

In January 1982,[nb 1] Alk was found dead at Rundown Studios, Dylan's studio in Santa Monica, California.[7][8] Although the coroner ruled his death to be due to an accidental heroin overdose,[8] various sources report his death to be a suicide.[4][6][7] Alk's wife, Jones, believed he intentionally killed himself.[8]

Films

Notes

  1. Heylin states that Alk was found dead on New Year's Day 1982, but Sounes notes that he was found on January 3, 1982.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Mike Thomas (December 10, 2009). "Excerpt: 'The Second City Unscripted'". NPR. 
  2. Don B. Wilmeth (September 13, 2007). The Cambridge Guide to American Theatre. Cambridge University Press. p. 586. ISBN 978-0-521-83538-1. 
  3. Jeanne Leep (May 15, 2008). Theatrical Improvisation: Short Form, Long Form, and Sketch-Based Improv. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 94. ISBN 978-0-230-60467-4. Retrieved July 22, 2013. 
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 Patrick Friel (January 6, 2008). "Second City cinéaste". TimeOut Chicago. 
  5. Nothing to Turn Off: The Films and Video of Bob Dylan. Lulu.com. p. 25. ISBN 978-0-615-18336-7. Retrieved July 22, 2013. 
  6. 6.0 6.1 Barney Hoskyns (2006). Across the Great Divide: The Band and America. HAL LEONARD Publishing Company. p. 435. ISBN 978-1-4234-1442-1. Retrieved July 22, 2013. 
  7. 7.0 7.1 Clinton Heylin (April 29, 2003). Bob Dylan: Behind the Shades Revisited. HarperCollins. p. 527. ISBN 978-0-06-052569-9. Retrieved July 22, 2013. 
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 Howard Sounes (April 2002). Down the Highway: The Life of Bob Dylan. GROVE/ATLANTIC Incorporated. p. 306. ISBN 978-0-8021-3891-0. Retrieved July 22, 2013. 

External links

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