Jack Colvin
Encyclopedia
Jack Colvin was an American character actor of theater, film and TV, known for the role of the tabloid reporter Jack McGee on the TV series The Incredible Hulk from 1977 through 1982 (including a 1988 TV-movie sequel), and as Dr. Ardmore in Child's Play.
, Colvin began his stage career as a child performer. At the age of seventeen he became a private student of Michael Chekhov
. Although he appeared in literally hundreds of films and television shows, he always returned to the theatre. His stage roles include Marchbanks in Shaw's Candida
, Mercutio
in Romeo and Juliet
, Morgan Evans in The Corn is Green
, Algernon in The Importance of Being Earnest
, Constantin in The Seagull
, and Edmund in Long Day's Journey into Night
. He has appeared in such feature films as They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, Scorpio
, Rooster Cogburn, Jeremiah Johnson and The Stone Killer
, among others. His partnership with Yvonne Wilder in one of the most successful comedy acts of the 1960s, Colvin and Wilder, led him to appear all over the US on stage and on television, including The Dean Martin Show
, The Ed Sullivan Show
and The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, culminating in their farewell appearance at Carnegie Hall
in New York
. Other television roles were on such programs as The Incredible Hulk, The Six Million Dollar Man
, Kojak
, and The Bionic Woman
. While under contract to Universal Pictures for seven years, he appeared in over one hundred hours of television programming.
Colvin has won Los Angeles' Drama-Logue Award
s in five separate categories, as actor
, director, playwright
, producer
and production designer
.
He taught at the central Experimental Film School of Rome, the University of Southern California
, Cal State Northridge, the American Academy of Dramatic Arts
, the 1994 Michael Chekhov International Workshop in Sussex, the Centre for Performance Research at the University of Birmingham
in 1999, and The Michael Chekhov Association's NYU June Intensive in 2004. His pupils included several stars whose subsequent performances that have won Academy Awards, Emmy Award
s and Tony Award
s. Colvin served as the Artistic Director of the Michael Chekhov Studio USA West, a position he founded, until his death from complications of a stroke
.
Biography
Born in Lyndon, KansasLyndon, Kansas
Lyndon is a city in and the county seat of Osage County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 1,052. It is part of the Topeka, Kansas Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Lyndon is located at...
, Colvin began his stage career as a child performer. At the age of seventeen he became a private student of Michael Chekhov
Michael Chekhov
Michael Chekhov was a Russian-American actor, director, author, and theatre practitioner. His acting technique has been used by actors such as Clint Eastwood, Marilyn Monroe, Yul Brynner, and Robert Stack. Constantin Stanislavski referred to him as his most brilliant student...
. Although he appeared in literally hundreds of films and television shows, he always returned to the theatre. His stage roles include Marchbanks in Shaw's Candida
Candida (play)
Candida, a comedy by playwright George Bernard Shaw, was first published in 1898, as part of his Plays Pleasant. The central characters are clergyman James Morell, his wife Candida and a youthful poet, Eugene Marchbanks, who tries to win Candida's affections. The play questions Victorian notions...
, Mercutio
Mercutio
Mercutio a fictional character in William Shakespeare's 1597 tragedy, Romeo and Juliet. He is a close friend of Romeo, and Romeo's cousin Benvolio, and also a blood relative to Prince Escalus and Count Paris. As such, being neither a Montague nor a Capulet, Mercutio is one of the few in Verona...
in Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
, Morgan Evans in The Corn is Green
The Corn is Green
The Corn Is Green is a semi-autobiographical play by Emlyn Williams.At its core is L. C. Moffat, a strong-willed English school teacher working in a small poverty-stricken coal mining town in the late 19th century...
, Algernon in The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at St. James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personae in order to escape burdensome social obligations...
, Constantin in The Seagull
The Seagull
The Seagull is the first of what are generally considered to be the four major plays by the Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov. The Seagull was written in 1895 and first produced in 1896...
, and Edmund in Long Day's Journey into Night
Long Day's Journey Into Night
Long Day's Journey Into Night is a 1956 drama in four acts written by American playwright Eugene O'Neill. The play is widely considered to be his masterwork...
. He has appeared in such feature films as They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, Scorpio
Scorpio (film)
Scorpio is a 1973 spy film directed by Michael Winner.It is about a Central Intelligence Agency agent named Cross , a successful but retiring assassin, who is training "Scorpio" to replace him...
, Rooster Cogburn, Jeremiah Johnson and The Stone Killer
The Stone Killer
The Stone Killer is a 1973 film starring Charles Bronson directed by Michael Winner. It came out in between The Mechanic and Death Wish, all three of which teamed up actor/director Bronson and Winner. Norman Fell and John Ritter appear as cops in this film, not too long before the TV series Three's...
, among others. His partnership with Yvonne Wilder in one of the most successful comedy acts of the 1960s, Colvin and Wilder, led him to appear all over the US on stage and on television, including The Dean Martin Show
The Dean Martin Show
The Dean Martin Show is a TV variety-comedy series that ran from 1965 to 1974 for 264 episodes. It was broadcast by NBC and hosted by crooner Dean Martin...
, The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....
and The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, culminating in their farewell appearance at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. Other television roles were on such programs as The Incredible Hulk, The Six Million Dollar Man
The Six Million Dollar Man
The Six Million Dollar Man is an American television series about a former astronaut with bionic implants working for the OSI...
, Kojak
Kojak
Kojak is an American television series starring Telly Savalas as the title character, bald New York City Police Department Detective Lieutenant Theo Kojak. It aired from October 24, 1973, to March 18, 1978, on CBS. It took the time slot of the popular Cannon series, which was moved one hour earlier...
, and The Bionic Woman
The Bionic Woman
The Bionic Woman is an American television series starring Lindsay Wagner that aired for three seasons between 1976 and 1978 as a spin off from The Six Million Dollar Man. Wagner stars as tennis pro Jaime Sommers who is nearly killed in a skydiving accident. Sommers' life is saved by Oscar Goldman ...
. While under contract to Universal Pictures for seven years, he appeared in over one hundred hours of television programming.
Colvin has won Los Angeles' Drama-Logue Award
Drama-Logue Award
The Drama-Logue Award was a theater award established in 1977, given by the publishers of Drama-Logue newspaper, a weekly west-coast theater trade publication. Winners were selected by the publication's theater critics, and would receive a certificate at an annual awards ceremony...
s in five separate categories, as actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, director, playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
, producer
Theatrical producer
A theatrical producer is the person ultimately responsible for overseeing all aspects of mounting a theatre production. The independent producer will usually be the originator and finder of the script and starts the whole process...
and production designer
Production designer
In film and television, a production designer is the person responsible for the overall look of a filmed event such as films, TV programs, music videos or adverts. Production designers have one of the key creative roles in the creation of motion pictures and television. Working directly with the...
.
He taught at the central Experimental Film School of Rome, the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
, Cal State Northridge, the American Academy of Dramatic Arts
American Academy of Dramatic Arts
The American Academy of Dramatic Arts is a fully accredited two-year conservatory with facilities located in Manhattan, New York City – at 120 Madison Avenue, in a landmark building designed by noted architect Stanford White as the original Colony Club – and in Hollywood, California...
, the 1994 Michael Chekhov International Workshop in Sussex, the Centre for Performance Research at the University of Birmingham
University of Birmingham
The University of Birmingham is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Birmingham Medical School and Mason Science College . Birmingham was the first Redbrick university to gain a charter and thus...
in 1999, and The Michael Chekhov Association's NYU June Intensive in 2004. His pupils included several stars whose subsequent performances that have won Academy Awards, Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
s and Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
s. Colvin served as the Artistic Director of the Michael Chekhov Studio USA West, a position he founded, until his death from complications of a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
.