John Houseman
John Houseman | |
---|---|
Born | Jacques Haussmann September 22, 1902 |
Died | October 31, 1988 Malibu, California, U.S. | (aged 86)
Citizenship | American |
Education | Clifton College |
Occupation(s) | Actor, producer |
Years active | 1930–1988 |
Spouses | |
Children | 2 |
John Houseman (born Jacques Haussmann; September 22, 1902 – October 31, 1988) was a Romanian-born British-American actor and producer of theatre, film, and television. He became known for his highly publicized collaboration with director Orson Welles from their days in the Federal Theatre Project through to the production of Citizen Kane and his collaboration, as producer of The Blue Dahlia, with writer Raymond Chandler on the screenplay. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Professor Charles W. Kingsfield in the 1973 film The Paper Chase. He reprised the role of Kingsfield in the 1978 television series adaptation.
Early life
Houseman was born Jacques Haussmann on September 22, 1902, in
Theatre producer
Houseman worked as a speculator in the international grain markets, only turning to the theater following the
On Broadway he co-wrote Three and One (1933) and And Be My Love (1934). Composer Virgil Thomson recruited him to direct Four Saints in Three Acts (1934), Thomson's collaboration with Gertrude Stein.[9] He later directed The Lady from the Sea (1934) and Valley Forge (1934).[10]
Collaboration with Orson Welles
In 1934, Houseman was looking to cast
Although the play opened to indifferent notices and ran for a mere three performances, it nevertheless led to the forging of a theatrical team, a fruitful but stormy partnership in which Houseman said Welles "was the teacher, I, the apprentice."
He supervised the direction of Walk Together Chillun in 1936.
Federal Theatre Project
In 1936, the Federal Theatre Project of the Works Progress Administration put unemployed theatre performers and employees to work. The Negro Theatre Unit of the Federal Theatre Project was headed by Rose McClendon, a well-known black actress, and Houseman, a theatre producer. Houseman describes the experience in one of his memoirs:
Within a year of its formation, the Federal Theatre had more than fifteen thousand men and women on its payroll at an average wage of approximately twenty dollars a week. During the four years of its existence its productions played to more than thirty million people in more than two hundred theatres as well as portable stages, school auditoriums and public parks the country over.[11]
Macbeth (1936)
Houseman immediately hired Welles and assigned him to direct
... on a partnership with a 20-year-old boy in whose talent I had unquestioning faith but with whom I must increasingly play the combined and tricky roles of producer, censor, adviser, impresario, father, older brother and bosom friend.[11]
Houseman later produced for the Negro Theatre Unit Turpentine (1936) without Welles.
In 1936, Houseman and Welles were running a WPA unit in midtown Manhattan for classic productions called Project No. 891. Their first production was Christopher Marlowe's Tragical History of Dr. Faustus which Welles directed while also playing the title role.
Houseman and Welles put on
The Cradle Will Rock (1937)
In June 1937, Project No. 891 produced their most controversial work with The Cradle Will Rock. Written by Marc Blitzstein, the musical was about Larry Foreman, a worker in Steeltown (played in the original production by Howard da Silva), which is run by the boss, Mister Mister (played in the original production by Will Geer). The show was thought to have had left-wing and unionist sympathies (Foreman ends the show with a song about "unions" taking over the town and the country), and became legendary as an example of a "censored" show. Shortly before the show was to open, FTP officials in Washington announced that no productions would open until after July 1, 1937, the beginning of the new fiscal year.
In his memoir, Run-Through, Houseman wrote about the circumstances surrounding the opening night at the
Mercury Theatre
That same year, 1937, after detaching themselves from the Federal Theatre Project, Houseman and Welles did The Cradle Will Rock as an independent production on Broadway. They also founded the acclaimed New York drama company, the Mercury Theatre. Houseman wrote of their collaboration at this time:
On the broad wings of the Federal eagle, we had risen to success and fame beyond ourselves as America's youngest, cleverest, most creative and audacious producers to whom none of the ordinary rules of the theater applied.[11]
Armed with a manifesto written by Houseman[citation needed] declaring their intention to foster new talent, experiment with new types of plays, and appeal to the same audiences that frequented the Federal Theater the company was designed largely to offer plays of the past, preferably those that "...seem to have emotion or factual bearing on contemporary life." The company mounted several notable productions, the most remarkable being its first commercial production of Julius Caesar. Houseman called the decision to use modern dress "an essential element in Orson's conception of the play as a political melodrama with clear contemporary parallels."
Houseman and Welles later presented The Shoemaker's Holiday (1938), Heartbreak House (1938) and Danton's Death (1938).
Radio
Beginning in the summer of 1938, the Mercury Theatre was featured in a weekly dramatic
The Mercury Theatre on the Air featured an impressive array of talents, including Agnes Moorehead, Bernard Herrmann, and George Coulouris.
"The War of the Worlds" (1938)
The Mercury Theatre on the Air subsequently became famous for its notorious 1938 radio adaptation of
Without Welles, Houseman staged Douglas Moore's The Devil and Daniel Webster (1939).
Film producer
Too Much Johnson (1938)
While Houseman was teaching at
Citizen Kane (1941)
The Welles-Houseman collaboration continued in Hollywood. In the spring of 1939, Welles began preliminary discussions with RKO's head of production, George Schaefer, with Welles and his Mercury players being given a two-picture deal, in which Welles would produce, direct, perform, and have full creative control of his projects.
For his motion picture debut, Welles first considered adapting Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness for the screen. A 200-page script was written. Some models were constructed, while the shooting of initial test footage had begun. However, little, if anything, had been done either to whittle down the budgetary difficulties or begin filming. When RKO threatened to eliminate the payment of salaries by December 31 if no progress had been made, Welles announced that he would pay his cast out of his own pocket. Houseman proclaimed that there wasn't enough money in their business account to pay anyone. During a corporate dinner for the Mercury crew, Welles exploded, calling his partner a "bloodsucker" and a "crook". As Houseman attempted to leave, Welles began hurling dish heaters at him, effectively ending both their partnership and friendship.
Houseman later, however, played a pivotal role in ushering
I think Welles has always sincerely felt that he, single-handed, wrote Citizen Kane and everything else that he has directed—except, possibly, the plays of
Shakespeare. But the script of Kane was essentially Mankiewicz's. The conception and the structure were his, all the dramatic Hearstian mythology and the journalistic and political wisdom he had been carrying around with him for years and which he now poured into the only serious job he ever did in a lifetime of film writing. But Orson turned Kane into a film: the dynamics and the tensions are his and the brilliant cinematic effects—all those visual and aural inventions that add up to make Citizen Kane one of the world's great movies—those were pure Orson Welles.
In 1975, during an interview with Kate McCauley, Houseman stated that film critic Pauline Kael in her essay "Raising Kane", had caused an "idiotic controversy" over the issue: "The argument is Orson's own fault. He wanted to be given all the credit because he's a hog. Actually, it is his film. So it's a ridiculous argument."[14][15]
Return to the theatre
After he and Welles went their separate ways, Houseman went on to direct The Devil and Daniel Webster (1939) and Liberty Jones (1941) and produced the Mercury Theatre's stage production of Native Son (1941) on Broadway, directed by Welles.
David O. Selznick
In Hollywood he became a vice-president of David O. Selznick Productions. His most notable achievement during that time was helping adapt and produce the adaptation of Jane Eyre (1943) which starred Joan Fontaine and Welles.
World War II
In the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Houseman quit his job and became the head of the overseas radio division of the Office of War Information (OWI), working for the Voice of America whilst also managing its operations in New York City.[16]
Paramount
In 1945 Houseman signed a contract with Paramount Pictures to produce movies. His first credit for that studio was The Unseen (1945). He followed it with Miss Susie Slagle's (1945) and The Blue Dahlia (1946), both with Veronica Lake. The latter, starring Alan Ladd and written by Raymond Chandler, has become a classic.
He left Paramount and returned to Broadway to direct Lute Song (1946) with Mary Martin.
Back in Hollywood he produced
RKO
Houseman went to
He returned to Broadway to produce Joy to the World (1949) and King Lear (1950-51), the latter with Louis Calhern.
MGM
RKO's head of production had been Dore Schary. When Schary moved to MGM he offered Houseman a contract at the studio, which the producer accepted.
Houseman's stint at MGM began with
Also popular was
Television and theatre
Houseman moved into television producing, notably doing The Seven Lively Arts (1957) and episodes of Playhouse 90.
He also returned to theatre, producing revivals of Measure for Measure (1957) and The Duchess of Malfi (1957).
Return to MGM
Houseman was enticed back to MGM as a producer, and given his own production company, John Houseman Productions. His films were All Fall Down (1962), Two Weeks in Another Town (1962) and In the Cool of the Day (1963).
Return to television
Houseman returned to television where he made
He returned to Broadway, directing Pantagleize (1967).
Teaching
The Juilliard School and The Acting Company
Houseman became the founding director of the Drama Division at The Juilliard School, and held this position from 1968 until 1976.[17][18] The first graduating class in 1972 included Kevin Kline and Patti LuPone; subsequent classes under Houseman's leadership included Christopher Reeve, Mandy Patinkin, and Robin Williams.[19]
Unwilling to see that very first class disbanded upon graduation, Houseman and his Juilliard colleague Margot Harley formed them into an independent, touring repertory company they named the "Group 1 Acting Company."[20] The organization was subsequently renamed The Acting Company, and has been active for more than 40 years. Houseman served as the producing artistic director through 1986, and Harley has been the company's producer since its founding.[21] Writing in The New York Times in 1996, Mel Gussow called it "the major touring classical theater in the United States."[22]
Theatre
Houseman continued to be involved in theatre, producing The School for Wives (1971), The Three Sisters (1973), The Beggar's Opera (1973), Scapin (1973), Next Time I'll Sing to You (1974), The Robber Bridegroom (1975), Edward II (1975), and The Time of Your Life (1975)
He directed ).
In 1979, Houseman earned induction into the American Theater Hall of Fame[23]
Acting
Houseman had acted occasionally during the early part of his career and he had a brief but important part in Seven Days in May (1964).
Houseman first became widely known to the public for his
Houseman played Energy Corporation Executive Bartholomew in the film Rollerball (1975), and was in the thrillers Three Days of the Condor (1975) and St Ives (1976).
Houseman appeared on TV in Fear on Trial (1975), The Adams Chronicles (1976), Truman at Potsdam (1976), Hazard's People (1976) and Six Characters in Search of an Author (1976). Houseman was reunited with The Paper Chase co-star Lindsay Wagner in 1976's "Kill Oscar", a three-part joint episode of the popular science fiction series The Bionic Woman and The Six Million Dollar Man; he played the scientific genius Dr. Franklin.
He continued appearing on TV in
In films he parodied Sydney Greenstreet in the Neil Simon film The Cheap Detective (1978) and was in Old Boyfriends (1980), John Carpenter's The Fog (1980), Wholly Moses! (1981) and My Bodyguard (1981).
Houseman briefly returned to producing with the TV movie Gideon's Trumpet (1980), which he also appeared in and Choices of the Heart (1983). He produced one more show on Broadway, The Curse of an Aching Heart (1982).
He acted in The Babysitter (1980), A Christmas Without Snow (1980), Ghost Story (1981), Mork & Mindy, Murder by Phone (1982) (second billed), Marco Polo (1982), and American Playhouse (1982).
Television star
Having played a
In the 1980s Houseman became more widely known for his role as grandfather Edward Stratton II in
He played Jewish author Aaron Jastrow (loosely based on the real life figure of Bernard Berenson) in the highly acclaimed 1983 miniseries The Winds of War (receiving a fourth Golden Globe nomination). He declined to reprise the role in the sequel War and Remembrance miniseries (the role then went to Sir John Gielgud).
However he was in the miniseries A.D. (1984), Noble House (1986), and Lincoln (1988).
Writing
Between and sometimes during engagements, he contributed articles and book reviews to national publications, and wrote three volumes of memoirs, which are a chronicle of an era as well as a testimony to his phenomenal powers of recall: Run Through (1972), Front and Center (1979) and Final Dress (1983). In 1986 he published Entertainers and the Entertained. A fourth volume, Unfinished Business: Memoirs, 1902 to 1988, a distillation of his earlier books with some new material, was published in 1988.
Personal life
Houseman was in a relationship with actress Joan Fontaine after her marriage to actor Brian Aherne ended. "Ours was what was known in Hollywood as a 'romance,' -- which meant that we slept together three or four nights a week, got invited to parties together, went away together for weekends and sometimes talked about getting married without really meaning it," Houseman wrote in Front and Center, his second autobiography.[24]
Final years and death
Later film appearances included Bright Lights, Big City (1988) and Another Woman (1988).
In 1988, he appeared in his last two roles—cameos in the films The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! and Scrooged. He played a driving instructor (whose mannerisms parodied many of his prior roles) in the former, and himself in the latter. Both films were released after his death.
On October 31, 1988, Houseman died at age 86 of
In popular culture
Houseman was portrayed by
In the Seinfeld episode "The Face Painter", Jerry tells Elaine that Alec Berg has "a good John Houseman name". Jerry then imitates Houseman, speaking Alec Berg's name in a non-rhotic, gravelly rasp.
In the SCTV episode "Jane Eyrehead", guest star Robin Williams portrayed Houseman in the sketch commercial "An Evening with John Houseman", in which he reads the Mellonville phonebook to a cheering theater audience.
Filmography
Film
As actor (film)
Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1938 | Too Much Johnson
|
Duelist/Keystone Cop | Orson Welles | Also producer |
1964 | Seven Days in May | Vice-Adm. Farley C. Barnswell | John Frankenheimer | Uncredited |
1973 | The Paper Chase | Charles W. Kingsfield Jr. | James Bridges | Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture (2nd Place)
National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated – New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor |
1975 | Rollerball | Mr. Bartholomew | Norman Jewison | |
Three Days of the Condor | Wabash | Sydney Pollack | ||
1976 | St. Ives | Abner Procane | J. Lee Thompson | |
1978 | The Cheap Detective | Jasper Blubber | Robert Moore | |
1979 | Old Boyfriends | Dr. Hoffman | Joan Tewkesbury | |
1980 | The Fog | Mr. Machen | John Carpenter | |
Wholly Moses! | The Archangel | Gary Weis | ||
My Bodyguard | Mr. Dobbs | Tony Bill | ||
1981 | Ghost Story | Sears James | John Irvin | |
1982 | Murder by Phone | Stanley Markowitz | Michael Anderson | |
1983 | A Rose for Emily | Narrator (voice) | Lyndon Chubbuck | Short film |
1988 | Bright Lights, Big City | Mr. Vogel | James Bridges | |
Another Woman | Mr. Post | Woody Allen | ||
Scrooged | Himself | Richard Donner | Cameo; posthumous release | |
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! | Driving Instructor | David Zucker
|
Uncredited cameo; posthumous release |
As producer (film)
Year | Title | Director | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1938 | Too Much Johnson
|
Orson Welles | |
1945 | The Unseen | Lewis Allen | As associate producer |
1946 | Miss Susie Slagle's | John Berry | |
The Blue Dahlia | George Marshall | ||
1948 | Letter from an Unknown Woman | Max Ophüls | |
They Live by Night | Nicholas Ray | ||
1951 | The Company She Keeps | John Cromwell | |
On Dangerous Ground | Nicholas Ray | ||
1952 | Holiday for Sinners | Gerald Mayer | |
The Bad and the Beautiful | Vincente Minnelli | ||
1953 | Julius Caesar
|
Joseph L. Mankiewicz | Nominated – Academy Award for Best Picture |
1954 | Executive Suite | Robert Wise | |
Her Twelve Men | Robert Z. Leonard | ||
1955 | The Cobweb | Vincente Minnelli | |
Moonfleet
|
Fritz Lang | ||
1956 | Lust for Life | Vincente Minnelli | |
1962 | All Fall Down | John Frankenheimer | |
Two Weeks in Another Town | Vincente Minnelli | ||
1963 | In the Cool of the Day | Robert Stevens | |
1966 | This Property Is Condemned | Sydney Pollack |
Television
As actor (television)
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1975 | Great Performances | Dr. Fawcett | Episode: "Beyond the Horizon" |
Fear on Trial | Mike Collins | Television film | |
1976 | The Adams Chronicles | Judge Richard Gridley | Miniseries; 1 episode |
Truman at Potsdam | Winston Churchill | Television film | |
Hazard's People | John Hazard | ||
Six Characters in Search of an Author | The Director | ||
The Six Million Dollar Man | Dr. Lee Franklin | Episode: "Kill Oscar: Part 2" | |
The Bionic Woman | 2 episodes | ||
Captains and the Kings | Judge Newell Chisholm | Miniseries; 2 episodes | |
1977 | The American Short Story | Father Flynn | Episode: "The Displaced Person" |
Washington: Behind Closed Doors | Myron Dunn | Miniseries; 6 episodes | |
The Best of Families | Himself (Host) | Miniseries | |
Aspen | Joseph Merrill Drummond | Miniseries; 2 episodes | |
1978–86 | The Paper Chase | Charles W. Kingsfield Jr. | Main cast; Seasons 1–4 Nominated – CableACE Award for Best Actor in a Dramatic Presentation Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama (1978–1979) |
1979 | The Last Convertible | Dr. Wetherell | Miniseries; 3 episodes |
The French Atlantic Affair | Dr. Archady Clemens | ||
1980 | The Associates | Professor Kingsfield | Episode: "Eliot's Revenge" |
Gideon's Trumpet | Earl Warren | Television film | |
The Babysitter | Dr. Lindquist | ||
A Christmas Without Snow | Ephraim Adams | ||
1982 | Mork & Mindy | Milt | Episode: "Mork, Mindy, and Mearth Meet MILT" |
Marco Polo | Patriarch of Aquileia | Miniseries; 1 episode | |
1982–87 | Silver Spoons | Edward Stratton Jr. | Recurring role; Seasons 1–5 |
1983 | American Playhouse | Network Newscaster | Episode: "Network Newscaster" |
The Winds of War
|
Aaron Jastrow | Miniseries; 7 episodes Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film | |
Freedom to Speak | Benjamin Franklin | Miniseries; 3 episodes | |
1985 | A.D. | Gamaliel | Miniseries; 5 episodes |
1988 | Noble House | Sir Geoffrey Allison | Miniseries; 4 episodes |
Lincoln | Gen. Winfield Scott | Miniseries; 2 episodes | |
227 | John Houseman, himself | Episode: "They're Playing Our Song" |
As producer (television)
Year | Title | Notes |
---|---|---|
1957–58 | The Seven Lively Arts | 10 episodes |
1958–59 | Playhouse 90 | 7 episodes |
1960 | Dillinger | Television film |
1963 | The Great Adventure | 3 episodes |
1966 | ABC Stage 67 | Episode: "Evening Primrose" |
1980 | Gideon's Trumpet | Television film Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie |
1983 | Choices of the Heart | Television film |
References
- ^ Current biography yearbook – H.W. Wilson Company – Google Books. 1984. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
- ^ Darrach, Brad (January 17, 1983). "John Houseman". People.com. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
- ISBN 0-89356-050-2.
- ^ Houseman, John (1972). Run-Through: A Memoir. Simon and Schuster. p. 15.
- ^ "John Houseman". Encyclopædia Britannica.
- ^ "John Houseman", New York Times Movies.
- ^ "Clifton College Register" Muirhead, J.A.O. p314, no 7281: Bristol; J.W Arrowsmith for Old Cliftonian Society; April, 1948
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
- ^ Tommasini, Anthony. (1997) Virgil Thomson – Composer on the Aisle, pp.241–243.
- ^ The Broadway League. "John Houseman". Internet Broadway Database. Ibdb.com. Retrieved March 29, 2010.
- ^ a b c Houseman, John. Run-Through: A Memoir, New York, 1972.
- ^ "The Federal Theatre Project". Novaonline.nvcc.edu. Retrieved March 29, 2010.
- ^ Kehr, Dave (August 7, 2013), "Early Film by Orson Welles Is Rediscovered", New York Times
- ^ Kael, Pauline (February 20, 1971). "Raising Kane—I". The New Yorker. and Kael, Pauline (February 27, 1971). "Raising Kane—II". The New Yorker.
- ^ "John Houseman on "What happened to Orson Welles?"". Wellesnet: Orson Welles Web Resource. August 21, 2008. Retrieved February 17, 2018.
- ^ "The Beginning: An American Voice Greets the World". Voice of America.
- ISBN 9780252071065.
- ^ "A Brief History – About Juilliard". The Juilliard School. Retrieved June 3, 2012.
- ^ Klein, Alvin (July 12, 1992). "THEATER; From Juilliard to Shakespeare at a Pond". The New York Times.
- ISBN 9780252071065.
The success of The Acting Company's first season had greatly benefited the School and lifted the Drama Division's stock with Lincoln Center's Board.
Reprinting of the 1999 book, which described the relationship between the Juilliard School and The Acting Company at the time of the latter's founding. - ^ "About Us". The Acting Company. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
- ^ Gussow, Mel (January 30, 1996). "A Touring Troupe That Plays Classics On Main Street". The New York Times.
Seven years after Mr. Houseman's death, and after a steeplechase course of obstacles, the Acting Company endures as the major touring classical theater in the United States. Now under the sole leadership of Ms. Harley, the company takes plays to 45 cities from Orono, Me., to Sheridan, Wyo.
Descriptive article on the occasion of the Company's 25th anniversary. - ^ "Theater Hall of Fame Enshrines 51 Artists". The New York Times. November 19, 1979. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
- ^ Lardner, James (October 7, 1979). "John Houseman's Done It All -- And In Good Company". The Washington Post.
- ^ "John Houseman, Actor and Producer, 86, Dies". The New York Times.