Austin Pendleton

Austin Campbell Pendleton (born March 27, 1940) is an American film, television, and stage actor, a playwright, and a theatre director and instructor.

Life and career

Pendleton was born in Warren, Ohio, the son of Thorn Pendleton, who ran a tool company, and Frances Manchester Pendleton, a professional actress. Pendleton is a graduate of Yale University, School of Drama.^[3]

Theater

Pendleton first received fame and critical acclaim for his performance as Motel in the original Broadway cast of Fiddler on the Roof. Additionally, he has appeared in The Last Sweet Days of Isaac (for which he won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Performance and an Obie Award), The Diary of Anne Frank, Goodtime Charley, and Up from Paradise, among others. In August 2006, Pendleton appeared as the Chaplain in Bertolt Brecht's Mother Courage and Her Children with Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline in the New York Shakespeare Festival/Public Theater production directed by George C. Wolfe at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, New York City. In 2007, he appeared as Friar Lawrence in the New York Shakespeare Festival/Public Theater's production of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. In 2009 Pendleton directed Uncle Vanya, starring Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Saarsgard, at the Classic Stage Company. Also that year, Pendleton starred in the off-Broadway production of Love Drunk, written by Romulus Linney and directed by Kelly Morgan. Later on, in the summer of 2009, he appeared in Wyoming Seminary's Performing Arts Institute production of Gypsy as Herbie, opposite Devon McFadden as Moma Rose and Allison Considine as Gypsy Rose Lee.

Pendleton then went on to direct Tennessee Williams' autobiographical play Vieux Carré at The Pearl Theatre Company Off-Broadway in 2009.^[4]

Pendleton wrote the plays Uncle Bob, Booth, and Orson's Shadow, all of which were staged off-Broadway. His direction of Elizabeth Taylor and Maureen Stapleton in Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes garnered him a Tony Award nomination.

Additional directing credits include Spoils of War by Michael Weller (1988),^[5]The Runner Stumbles by Milan Stitt (1977),^[5]and The Size of the World by Charles Evered (1996).^[6]

In January and February 2010, Pendleton directed two plays, "Bus Stop" at The Olney Theatre and "Golden Age" at the Philadelphia Theatre Company. In April 2010, Pendleton acted with Eleanor Handley in the romantic comedy Limonade Tous Les Jours by Charles Mee, directed by Diana Basmajian. In June 2010, Pendleton directed Order at Kirk Theater at Theatre Row (New York City). Order was written by Christopher Stetson Boal and centered on a philosopher-cannibal who wants to be a better person.^[7][8]

In 2012 he directed a production of 'Detroit' at the National Theatre in London, England.^[9]

Pendleton currently teaches acting at the HB Studio and directing at The New School, both in Greenwich Village. Pendleton is an ensemble member of the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago. He began his artistic relationship there by directing Ralph Pape's Say Goodnight, Gracie for the 1979-80 season. In addition to directing at Steppenwolf, Mr. Pendleton has appeared as an actor in such Steppenwolf productions as Uncle Vanya, Valparaiso, and Educating Rita.

Pendleton served as Artistic Director for Circle Repertory Company with associate artistic director Lynne Thigpen. The Company closed in 1996.^[10]

Partial filmography

References

External links

• Austin Pendleton at the Internet Broadway Database
• Austin Pendleton at the Internet Movie Database
• Austin Pendleton Talks about Stuttering and Acting
• St. Louis Actors' Studio to host class with Austin Pendleton. St. Louis Post Dispatch, August 30, 2013