Byrne Piven
Encyclopedia
Byrne Piven was an influential American
stage actor, director, and co-founder of the Playwrights Theatre Club
, a forerunner of The Second City
.
. He came to Chicago
in 1954 and met Joyce Hiller
at the University of Chicago
. They were married a short time later. In the 1950s, the Pivens were two of the founding members of the Playwrights Theatre Club, along with Paul Sills and David Shepard. Playwrights featured such budding stars as Mike Nichols
, Elaine May
, Ed Asner
and Barbara Harris
.
In the mid-1950s, the Pivens moved to New York, where they studied with Uta Hagen
. Piven played the leads in several New York Shakespeare Festival
productions. He was also part of the Obie Award
-winning cast of A House Remembered.
They returned to Chicago in 1967 to rejoin Sills, Sheldon Patinkin
, Bernie Sahlins and Joyce Sloane in forming Second City Repertory and then Story Theatre. Piven, charismatic, balding and bearded, with a beautifully resonant voice, spent some time as an acting teacher at Northwestern University, offering his expertise in improvisation as well as his peculiarly sage view of life, combining a respect for zen and the torah. In 1972, he and his wife started the Piven Theatre Workshop, partly to supplement their incomes, and partly to have something for their children to do after school. As Piven liked to point out, many of those children went on to fame and fortune.
Piven was standby for both Louis Hayward (King Arthur) and Christopher Carey (Mordred) in the national tour of "Camelot." The production also featured Arthur Treacher (Pellinore) and Kathryn Grayson (Guenevere) prior to her replacement by Jan Moody.
Some of Piven's favorite roles include: The Man in 605, for which he received the Joseph Jefferson
Award for best actor, the Piven Theatre Workshop/Famous Door production of The Shoemakers, directed by Shira, Victory Garden's production of The Value of Names with Shelley Berman
, This Old Man Came Rolling Home and The Sunshine Boys
at the National Jewish Theatre, Bob Falls’ Hamlet (starring Byrne's then-student Aidan Quinn
) and the Workshop's futuristic production of Macbeth.
Piven also starred as the river boat captain in the Uncle Ben's
rice commercials in the 1970s, and many television appearances. He died of lung cancer in Evanston, Illinois
.
His son is actor Jeremy Piven
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
stage actor, director, and co-founder of the Playwrights Theatre Club
Playwrights Theatre Club
The Playwrights Theatre Club was founded in Chicago in the early 1950s by a group of young theater pioneers including Paul Sills and David Sheppard. Other members and participants included Elaine May, Sheldon Patinkin, Rolf Forsberg, Mike Nichols, Joyce Piven, Josephine Forsberg, Barbara Harris and...
, a forerunner of The Second City
The Second City
The Second City is a improvisational comedy enterprise which originated in Chicago's Old Town neighborhood.The Second City Theatre opened on December 16, 1959 and has since expanded its presence to several other cities, including Toronto and Los Angeles...
.
Life and career
Piven was born in Scranton, PennsylvaniaScranton, Pennsylvania
Scranton is a city in the northeastern part of Pennsylvania, United States. It is the county seat of Lackawanna County and the largest principal city in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area. Scranton had a population of 76,089 in 2010, according to the U.S...
. He came to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
in 1954 and met Joyce Hiller
Joyce Piven
Joyce Hiller Piven is a director, teacher and actress. She and her late husband, Byrne Piven, were actors in the Compass Players. Later they founded the Piven Theatre Workshop in Evanston, Illinois and became a teacher to a generation of stars such as John Cusack, Joan Cusack, Aidan Quinn, Adam...
at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
. They were married a short time later. In the 1950s, the Pivens were two of the founding members of the Playwrights Theatre Club, along with Paul Sills and David Shepard. Playwrights featured such budding stars as Mike Nichols
Mike Nichols
Mike Nichols is a German-born American television, stage and film director, writer, producer and comedian. He began his career in the 1950s as one half of the comedy duo Nichols and May, along with Elaine May. In 1968 he won the Academy Award for Best Director for the film The Graduate...
, Elaine May
Elaine May
Elaine May is an American film director, screenwriter and actress. She achieved her greatest fame in the 1950s from her improvisational comedy routines in partnership with Mike Nichols...
, Ed Asner
Ed Asner
Edward Asner , commonly known as Ed Asner, is an American film, television, stage, and voice actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild, primarily known for his Emmy Award-winning role as Lou Grant on both The Mary Tyler Moore Show and its spin-off series, Lou Grant...
and Barbara Harris
Barbara Harris (actress)
Barbara Harris is an American actress who was a Broadway stage star and later became a film actress. She appeared in such films as A Thousand Clowns, Plaza Suite, Nashville, Family Plot, Freaky Friday, Peggy Sue Got Married, and Grosse Pointe Blank...
.
In the mid-1950s, the Pivens moved to New York, where they studied with Uta Hagen
Uta Hagen
Uta Thyra Hagen was a German-born American actress and drama teacher. She originated the role of Martha in the 1963 Broadway premiere of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee...
. Piven played the leads in several New York Shakespeare Festival
New York Shakespeare Festival
New York Shakespeare Festival is the previous name of the New York City theatrical producing organization now known as the Public Theater. The Festival produced shows at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, as part of its free Shakespeare in the Park series, at the Public Theatre near Astor Place...
productions. He was also part of the Obie Award
Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City...
-winning cast of A House Remembered.
They returned to Chicago in 1967 to rejoin Sills, Sheldon Patinkin
Sheldon Patinkin
Sheldon Patinkin is the chair of the Theater Department of Columbia College Chicago, Artistic Director of the Getz Theater of Columbia College, Artistic Consultant of The Second City and of Steppenwolf Theatre and Co-Director of the Steppenwolf Theatre Summer Ensemble Workshops...
, Bernie Sahlins and Joyce Sloane in forming Second City Repertory and then Story Theatre. Piven, charismatic, balding and bearded, with a beautifully resonant voice, spent some time as an acting teacher at Northwestern University, offering his expertise in improvisation as well as his peculiarly sage view of life, combining a respect for zen and the torah. In 1972, he and his wife started the Piven Theatre Workshop, partly to supplement their incomes, and partly to have something for their children to do after school. As Piven liked to point out, many of those children went on to fame and fortune.
Piven was standby for both Louis Hayward (King Arthur) and Christopher Carey (Mordred) in the national tour of "Camelot." The production also featured Arthur Treacher (Pellinore) and Kathryn Grayson (Guenevere) prior to her replacement by Jan Moody.
Some of Piven's favorite roles include: The Man in 605, for which he received the Joseph Jefferson
Joseph Jefferson
Joseph Jefferson, commonly known as Joe Jefferson , was an American actor. He was the third actor of this name in a family of actors and managers, and one of the most famous of all American comedians....
Award for best actor, the Piven Theatre Workshop/Famous Door production of The Shoemakers, directed by Shira, Victory Garden's production of The Value of Names with Shelley Berman
Shelley Berman
Sheldon "Shelley" Berman is an American comedian, actor, writer, teacher, lecturer, and poet.- Early life :Berman was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Irene and Nathan Berman.- Career :...
, This Old Man Came Rolling Home and The Sunshine Boys
The Sunshine Boys
The Sunshine Boys is a play by Neil Simon that was produced on Broadway in 1972 and later adapted for film and television.-Plot:The play focuses on aging Al Lewis and Willy Clark, a one-time vaudevillian team known as "Lewis and Clark" who, over the course of forty-odd years, not only grew to hate...
at the National Jewish Theatre, Bob Falls’ Hamlet (starring Byrne's then-student Aidan Quinn
Aidan Quinn
-Early life:Quinn was born in Chicago, Illinois to Irish parents. He was brought up as a Roman Catholic and raised in Chicago and Rockford, Illinois, as well as in Dublin and Birr, County Offaly in Ireland. His mother, Teresa, was a homemaker, and his father, Michael Quinn, was a professor of...
) and the Workshop's futuristic production of Macbeth.
Piven also starred as the river boat captain in the Uncle Ben's
Uncle Ben's
Uncle Ben's is a brand name for parboiled rice and related food products. The brand was introduced by Converted Rice Inc., which was later bought by Mars, Inc....
rice commercials in the 1970s, and many television appearances. He died of lung cancer in Evanston, Illinois
Evanston, Illinois
Evanston is a suburban municipality in Cook County, Illinois 12 miles north of downtown Chicago, bordering Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, and Wilmette to the north, with an estimated population of 74,360 as of 2003. It is one of the North Shore communities that adjoin Lake Michigan...
.
His son is actor Jeremy Piven
Jeremy Piven
Jeremy Samuel Piven is an American film producer and actor best known for his role as Ari Gold in the television series Entourage for which he has won three Emmy Awards as well as several other nominations for Best Supporting Actor....
.