Whit Hertford

Whit Hertford
Whit Hertford in East London UK
Born November 2, 1978
Occupation Writer, Director, Actor

Whit Hertford (born November 2, 1978) is a director, writer, actor and musician.

Theatre

Artistic director of Riot Act based in London, England. He is a current MFA theatre directing student at the University of Essex’s East 15. He has studied under the likes of Stephen Unwin, Neil Bartlett, Robert Icke, John Caird, Matthew Lloyd, Michael Fry and Mike Alfreds and has directed at the Arcola Theatre.

As a playwright his works include: Bloke, Wildlife, The Heimlich Maneuver, Endangered Species, The Space Program, Empereur, Anatomy of Arithmetic and Lunatic a re-telling of Stoker's classic Dracula story; as well as adaptations of Marlowe's Hero & Leander, Dirty Bird based on Chekhov's The Seagull, Houses adapted from Romeo and Juliet and Dóttir devised from the female archetypes of Shakespeare's works .

He received a BFA from the University of Utah's Actor Training Program conservatory in 2004 with Irene Ryan nominations for From Morn to Midnight, The Duchess of Malfi and You Can't Take It with You. After graduation, he directed the Utah premiere of Eric Coble's Bright Ideas and formed Shortcut Theatre Co. (director, Fool for Love; producer-actor, True West). He was also a company member of Salt Lake Shakespeare for five seasons.

Film and television

His film career spans three decades and began at an early age, most notably with his appearance in Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park.

In 2009 he co-founded the independent film company Sneak Attack, with director Ryan Darst. Their award-winning short and full-length films (written by Hertford) have screened at festivals all over the US and UK with performances from actors such as: Jon Heder, Nora Kirkpatrick, Matt L. Jones, Brian Huskey, Mary Kate Wiles, Lauren Lapkus, Kyle Mooney, Matt Bush, Rusty Schwimmer, Nick Thune, Johnny Pemberton and Brandon Quinn. Their debut feature, the 2013 coming-of-age new wave romance Dreamworld (co-written by Robert Gibbs), found itself in the Top 20 independent films during its first week on iTunes. Their 2015 revenge drama, "Wildlife" premiered at the Festival de Cannes as part of the Court Métrage program.

In 2014 he received Best Actor awards for his work as geneticist Jesse Darden in the science faction independent feature film The Perfect 46 from the Other Worlds Film Festival in Austin, Texas and Filmquest Film Festival in Salt Lake City, Utah.

From 2005 to 2011, he was a member of the Upright Citizens Brigade in Los Angeles as a sketch writer, performer and improviser. During that time he recurred as "Officer / Detective Ross" on the FOX comedy Raising Hope and as the tyrannical rival choreographer Dakota Stanley during the first season of Glee. Other TV credits include Psych, various appearances on Conan and as the voice of Cadet Kryze on Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

Music

As a musician he is part of the electronic group Luvrs. In the past he has played drums with Tyler Blake & Michael David of Classixx in the group The Mannequin as well as the folk rock trio Willful Creatures (with Nora Kirkpatrick of Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros and actor Matt L. Jones).

Personal

Currently lives in London with his wife, actress Haeleigh Royall.

He was raised in Los Angeles, California and is a long-time Los Angeles Clippers fan.

Filmography

External links