Craig Ricci Shaynak

Craig Ricci Shaynak (born July 14, 1969), sometimes credited as Craig Shaynak, is a character actor based in Los Angeles, CA. He has been active in Chicago and Los Angeles theatre and more recently, national television and film.

Life and career

Shaynak was born in Northport, New York. He graduated from the University of Chicago with a degree in Medieval Drama in 1991 and is one of a few American students of Medieval Pageant Plays. Under the tutelage of David Bevington, he produced Everyman, the 16th-century morality play, as well as The Second Shepherds' Play in the original Middle English. Shaynak's first professional theatre production after university was to be The Mystery Cycle,^[1] an American adaptation of a British modernization of the Wakefield Cycle, but instead became his first professional acting experience. The adaptation was done by Nicholas Rudall, at the time, Artistic Director of the Court Theatre, and Bernard Sahlins, one of the founders of The Second City and SCTV. Shaynak also performed in Off-Off Campus ^[2][3] started by Bernard Sahlins, Francis X. Kinahan, and Steven R. Schroer of University Theater. After university, he performed in various theatre productions in the Chicago area.^[4]

Shaynak appeared in the Seth MacFarlane sequel Ted 2, released June 2015.^[5] Shaynak had a recurring role in the Showtime series Ray Donovan, starring Liev Schreiber, Jon Voight, and James Woods.^[6][7] He has performed his one man shows, 'Fat, Bald and Loud' and 'I Am Google' as part of the Hollywood Fringe Festival.^[8] He has also appeared in numerous festivalsincluding the Edinburgh Festival Fringe,^{[9][10][11][12]} Brighton Fringe,^[13] Adelaide Fringe, Melbourne International Comedy Festival,^[14] and Festival d'Avignon as well as the first New York International Fringe Festival in 1997. Previous roles include on camera appearances in The Informant, directed by Steven Soderbergh and in Harsh Times, directed by David Ayer, as well as voicework in Happy Feet, Night at the Museum, and One Night With the King.

In 2008, Shaynak performed his original piece Cowboys & Indians: Dot Not Feather in French at the Festival d'Avignon. He performed the piece in English at the 2008 Edinburgh Festival Fringe where he debuted his new children's show, Mr. Fizzywigg's Story Factory. Previous live theatre productions include Stealing Buffalo at the Gardner Stages in Hollywood, CA,^[15][16] Cowboys & Indians; Dot Not Feather at the 2007 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Fat, Bald & Loud at the 2005 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.^[17] Craig also works often with Vern Urich in plays written by author David Mamet (American Buffalo, Glengarry Glen Ross, Speed-The-Plow).

Shaynak has helmed a production company called Kingswell Productions since 2007.^[18]

External links

• Craig Ricci Shaynak at the Internet Movie Database

References