Jeff Weiss

Jeffrey Weiss (April 30, 1940^[1] – September 18, 2022^[2]) was an American playwright, impresario, and actor, both on Broadway and a theater he ran with partner Ricardo Martinez in the East Village, Manhattan.^[3]

Early life and education

Weiss grew up in Allentown, Pennsylvania, with his parents, two brothers, and one sister. His father was a salesman for Pennsylvania cement companies. His brother, Stephen Weiss, currently lives in Florida. His nephew is actor Jonathan Taylor Thomas.^[4] Weiss got his taste for performance early. His older sister, Kathleen, who was tasked with babysitting the 4 year old Jeff, would take him by train to Philadelphia where he would perform in clubs. He was fond of theatrics, which of course branded him a problem child. One of his early stunts, when he was 14, was donning his father's trench coat and fedora, taking an unloaded pistol to a local diner, Hamilton Family Diner, and burst in the dining room, demanding everyone take cover as we were being invaded by aliens. The local police were called and they took Jeff home. It's a testament to the times that no one got hysterical and that in fact the only thing his father asked was "Did he use any bad language" and the police assured him that Jeff had been a perfect gentleman.

Weiss's parents enrolled him in several private schools in an effort to control him and was promptly kicked out of all of them. The last one, he staged his own "suicide" charging his fellow students 25 cents to watch him dive off the third floor stair railing, which he managed to do without in fact meeting his demise.

His parents committed him to Rittenhouse, a local home for both incorrigible children and deranged adults. It has since been torn down. A sympathetic doctor recognized his misbehavior as creative talent and gave him money to take the bus to New York City. It was here that he met the love of his life, Ricardo Martinez. It was a pivotal meeting for both of them. Ricardo was putting his head in an oven in a boarding house and Weiss, coming home late, smelled the gas, broke in with some friends and saved Ricardo. It was the beginning of a tumultuous relationship, inspiring Ricardo's (later called Richard) play, Art the Rat, and Weiss's poignant song, "Let Love Pass Me By."

Career

Weiss became involved in theatre, both writing and acting in plays. In New York City, his work was often presented at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club and Caffe Cino.^[5] His first performance at La MaMa was in Robert Sealy's Waiting Boy,^[6] followed by Sealy's Prevarications,^[7] both in 1964. In 1966, Weiss performed in his own play, A Funny Walk Home, at Caffe Cino, read for the Thunderbird American Indian Dancers in Louis Mofsie's Three Mask Dances at La MaMa,^[8] and performed in Jean Reavey's Window, directed by Tom O'Horgan, also at La MaMa.^[9]

Weiss often collaborated with his partner and producer Ricardo Martinez, an artist from

In 1967, Weiss performed alongside Mary Boylan in H.M. Koutoukas' When Clowns Play Hamlet, which Koutoukas co-directed with O'Horgan at La MaMa.^[14] He directed and performed in a production of Jeff Laffel's There Should be Violins and The Sunday Caller at La MaMa, also in 1967.^[15] Martinez directed a production of Weiss's International Wrestling Match: An Old Testament Morality Play in Two Vengeful Acts at La MaMa in January 1969.^[16] Weiss performed in Julie Bovasso's Gloria and Esperanza at La MaMa in April 1969.^[17]

A play Weiss wrote for children, Locomotive Munch:, was produced at La MaMa in 1972.^[18] And That's How the Rent Gets Paid, Part Two, a follow-up to his 1966 show, was produced at La MaMa in April 1973,^[19] and his play Pushover was produced at La MaMa in November 1973.^[20] In 1979, he continued his work at La MaMa, directing his play Dark Twist ^[21] and performing And That's How the Rent Gets Paid, Part 3, this time alongside Nicky Paraiso.^[22] In 1984, members of The Wooster Group, including Willem Dafoe, Kate Valk, and Ron Vawter, joined Weiss in And That's How the Rent Gets Paid, Part IV (or, The Confessions of Conrad Gerhardt). Later that year, he re-worked the show in Allentown with Paraiso, Dorothy Cantwell and a cast of local actors, and brought that iteration to NYC at the Wooster Group's Performing Garage.^[23] Weiss won an Obie Award for his play Hot Keys, presented during the 1991-92 season at Naked Angels.^[24] In 2012, Weiss contributed scenes, and appeared (via taped performance), in Peter Schmidt's The Teddy Bear Awards.^[25] In 2015, The Kitchen produced a revival of And That's How the Rent Gets Paid.

Weiss also enjoyed a prolific, if late-blossoming, career on the "legitimate" stage. After making his 1967 Broadway debut in

Weiss appeared in television episodes of Law & Order and The Equalizer, as well as in films Interstate 84, Mr. Destiny, and Vanilla Sky. ^[38] He was the solo performer in the 1987 short film, Maestro, by Alex Zamm.^[39]

Personal life and death

Weiss began a relationship with musician and producer, Carlos Ricardo Martinez in 1982.^[40][41] Ricardo was the lynchpin in Jeffrey's life, providing both the stability and the motivation to create and perform. They traveled together to Greece (Ricardo was the art director for Holiday Magazine early in their relationship) and Morocco where they partied with the usual suspects: Paul Bowles and William Burroughs among many others in the gay scene in Marrakesh.

After an unusual and unusually prolific career as an actor and playwright on the national and international scene, Jeffrey returned to his birth home in Allentown, PA when Ricardo's Parkinson's became unmanageable. Weiss cared for both his mother until she died and then Ricardo until he died in 2018. While he was in Allentown, Weiss was a mentor to writers, actors, and musicians. He and Ricardo kept as much off the radar as they could, but their light shown too brightly. Weiss is the unlisted author of the hit song, "Is that all there is?" made popular by Peggy Lee.^{[citation needed]}

Weiss died on September 18, 2022, in Macungie, Pennsylvania.^[42]

Awards

• Obie Award for Special Citations - Joseph Cino Memorial Award: And That's How The Rent Gets Paid and A Funny Walk Home (1967)^[43]
• Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts, US & Canada (1975)^[44]
• Obie Award for Playwriting: And That's How The Rent Gets Paid, Part Three (1980)^[45]
• Obie Award for Special Citations: Hot Keys (1992)^[46]
• Robert Chesley Award, to honor works by playwrights in the LGBT community (2000)^{[citation needed]}

References