Jake Weber
Encyclopedia
Jake Weber is an English actor, known in film for his role as Michael in Dawn of the Dead
and for his role as Drew in Meet Joe Black
. In television, he is known for his role as Joe DuBois, the husband of medium/psychic Allison DuBois
, in the drama series Medium
.
In 2001 and 2002, Weber was a series regular in HBO's The Mind of the Married Man
and made guest appearances on Law & Order: Criminal Intent
and NYPD Blue
.
, Morocco
to a Sephardic Jew
ish family. Weber's maternal grandmother, Priscilla, was English; she was the daughter of politician Archibald Weigall and the granddaughter of business magnate Sir John Blundell Maple, 1st Baronet (her first husband had been peer Edward Curzon
).
Weber attended Summerhill School
, Leiston
, Suffolk
. Later he went to the United States to study at Middlebury College
in Vermont, where he sang a cappella
with the Dissipated Eight
and majored in English literature and political science, graduating cum laude with a BA
. He also attended Juilliard
, from which he graduated in 1991. Weber studied at Russia
's famed Moscow Art Theatre
.
Weber was interviewed in the 2010 rock 'n roll documentary, Stones in Exile
, where he said his main role was rolling marijuana joints for the Rolling Stones and other musicians. Weber has reportedly stated that his drug-dealing father brought him to Keith Richards
’s rented French villa, Nellcôte
, in the seaside town of Villefranche-sur-Mer
near Nice, where the Stones were recording Exile on Main Street.
Much of Stones in Exile comes from more than 20 hours of outtakes from Robert Frank
’s rarely seen Stones documentary Cocksucker Blues
, which was never formally released to the public.
At the 2010 Cannes film festival
, as part of the Directors' Fortnight at the launching of Stones in Exile, Stones lead singer Mick Jagger
spoke to the crowd about the months of drug-fueled recording sessions that produced the Stones' classic 1972 album Exile on Main Street. Jagger joked about the rarely-seen original footage that reveals eight-year-old Weber rolling marijuana joints for them: "It didn't do him any harm being a drug smuggler," but added: "It's not a recommended vocation for an eight-year-old."
-directed period saga Born on the Fourth of July
(1989) and continuing with work for directors including Sidney Lumet (A Stranger Among Us
, 1992), Alan J. Pakula (The Pelican Brief
, 1993) and Martin Brest (Meet Joe Black
, 1998). Weber scored one of his premier leads as Dr. Matt Crower, a kindly physician who takes charge of a young boy and protects him from a possessed sheriff in actor-turned-producer Shaun Cassidy
's short-lived, but well received, supernatural drama series American Gothic
(1995) on CBS
.
That program did not last long, and neither did the Mike Binder sitcom The Mind of the Married Man
(2001), in which Weber signed on as one of the leads, Chicago newspaper employee Jake Berman. After his prominent role in the 2004 remake of horror film Dawn of the Dead
, Weber won the role of Joe Dubois on Medium
playing the husband of a woman (Patricia Arquette
) plagued by psychic visions who uses her ability to help solve crimes.
He has performed on Broadway and off-Broadway.
Jake Weber was married to his wife Diane from 1995 until their divorce in 2002. He and his girlfriend Elizabeth Carey have a son.
In an article in The Times
of 20 May 2010, Weber recalled
that when he was 8 years old, his "father used him as a drug mule to bring cocaine out for Mick
and Bianca Jagger
's wedding."
Dawn of the Dead (2004 film)
Dawn of the Dead is a 2004 horror film directed by Zack Snyder in his directorial debut. It is a remake of George A. Romero's 1978 film of the same name and stars Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, and Jake Weber. The film depict a handful of human survivors living in a Milwaukee, Wisconsin shopping mall...
and for his role as Drew in Meet Joe Black
Meet Joe Black
Meet Joe Black is a 1998 American fantasy romance film produced by Universal Studios, directed by Martin Brest and starring Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins and Claire Forlani, loosely based on the 1934 film Death Takes a Holiday...
. In television, he is known for his role as Joe DuBois, the husband of medium/psychic Allison DuBois
Allison DuBois
Allison DuBois is an American author and medium. DuBois has controversially claimed to possess psychic abilities and use them to help U.S. law enforcement officials solve crimes, which formed the basis of the TV series Medium....
, in the drama series Medium
Medium (TV series)
Medium is an American television drama series that premiered on NBC on January 3, 2005, and ended on CBS on January 21, 2011. Themed on supernatural gifts, its lead character, Allison DuBois , is a medium employed as a consultant for the Phoenix, Arizona district attorney's office...
.
In 2001 and 2002, Weber was a series regular in HBO's The Mind of the Married Man
The Mind of the Married Man
The Mind of the Married Man is a television series that ran on the HBO network for two seasons consisting of twenty episodes between September 2001 and November 2002. The story attempts to focus on the challenges of modern-day married life from a male perspective.The show drew mixed reviews from...
and made guest appearances on Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Law & Order: Criminal Intent is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it was also primarily produced. Created and produced by Dick Wolf and René Balcer, the series premiered on September 30, 2001, as the second spin-off of Wolf's successful crime drama...
and NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue is an American television police drama set in New York City, exploring the internal and external struggles of the fictional 15th precinct of Manhattan...
.
Early years
Weber was born in London, the son of Susan Ann Caroline (née Coriat), a British socialite, and Thomas Evelyn "Tommy" Weber, a race car driver who also came from a wealthy family. His father, whose name was originally Thomas Ejnar Arkner, was born in Denmark to a Danish father and English mother (whose surname, Weber, he later adopted). Jake Weber's maternal grandfather was born in MogadorEssaouira
Mogador redirects here, for the hamlet in Surrey see Mogador, Surrey.Essaouira is a city in the western Moroccan economic region of Marrakech-Tensift-Al Haouz, on the Atlantic coast. Since the 16th century, the city has also been known by its Portuguese name of Mogador or Mogadore...
, Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
to a Sephardic Jew
Sephardi Jews
Sephardi Jews is a general term referring to the descendants of the Jews who lived in the Iberian Peninsula before their expulsion in the Spanish Inquisition. It can also refer to those who use a Sephardic style of liturgy or would otherwise define themselves in terms of the Jewish customs and...
ish family. Weber's maternal grandmother, Priscilla, was English; she was the daughter of politician Archibald Weigall and the granddaughter of business magnate Sir John Blundell Maple, 1st Baronet (her first husband had been peer Edward Curzon
Edward Curzon, 6th Earl Howe
Edward Richard Assheton Penn Curzon, 6th Earl Howe, CBE was a British peer, known as Viscount Curzon from 1929-1964....
).
Weber attended Summerhill School
Summerhill School
Summerhill School is an independent British boarding school that was founded in 1921 by Alexander Sutherland Neill with the belief that the school should be made to fit the child, rather than the other way around...
, Leiston
Leiston
Leiston is a town in eastern Suffolk, England. It is situated near Saxmundham and Aldeburgh, about from the North Sea coast and is northeast of Ipswich and northeast from London...
, Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
. Later he went to the United States to study at Middlebury College
Middlebury College
Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college located in Middlebury, Vermont, USA. Founded in 1800, it is one of the oldest liberal arts colleges in the United States. Drawing 2,400 undergraduates from all 50 United States and over 70 countries, Middlebury offers 44 majors in the arts,...
in Vermont, where he sang a cappella
A cappella
A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
with the Dissipated Eight
Dissipated Eight
Middlebury's Dissipated Eight, also known as the D8, is the oldest a cappella group at Middlebury College. The group performs both nationally and internationally, at private venues, colleges, and high schools alike. Over the years, the group has arranged numerous contemporary and modern pieces, and...
and majored in English literature and political science, graduating cum laude with a BA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
. He also attended Juilliard
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
, from which he graduated in 1991. Weber studied at Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
's famed Moscow Art Theatre
Moscow Art Theatre
The Moscow Art Theatre is a theatre company in Moscow that the seminal Russian theatre practitioner Constantin Stanislavski, together with the playwright and director Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, founded in 1898. It was conceived as a venue for naturalistic theatre, in contrast to the melodramas...
.
Weber was interviewed in the 2010 rock 'n roll documentary, Stones in Exile
Stones in Exile
Stones in Exile is a 2010 documentary film about the recording of the 1972 The Rolling Stones album Exile on Main St. Directed by Stephen Kijak, it premiered at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival. It had its worldwide premiere on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon...
, where he said his main role was rolling marijuana joints for the Rolling Stones and other musicians. Weber has reportedly stated that his drug-dealing father brought him to Keith Richards
Keith Richards
Keith Richards is an English musician, songwriter, and founding member of the Rolling Stones. Rolling Stone magazine said Richards had created "rock's greatest single body of riffs", and placed him as the "10th greatest guitarist of all time." Fourteen songs written by Richards and songwriting...
’s rented French villa, Nellcôte
Nellcote
Nellcôte is a 19th century sixteen-room mansion on the waterfront of Villefranche-sur-Mer in the Côte d'Azur region of southern France...
, in the seaside town of Villefranche-sur-Mer
Villefranche-sur-Mer
Villefranche-sur-Mer is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera.-Geography:...
near Nice, where the Stones were recording Exile on Main Street.
Much of Stones in Exile comes from more than 20 hours of outtakes from Robert Frank
Robert Frank
Robert Frank , born in Zürich, Switzerland, is an important figure in American photography and film. His most notable work, the 1958 photobook titled The Americans, was influential, and earned Frank comparisons to a modern-day de Tocqueville for his fresh and skeptical outsider's view of American...
’s rarely seen Stones documentary Cocksucker Blues
Cocksucker Blues
Cocksucker Blues is an unreleased documentary film directed by the noted still photographer Robert Frank chronicling The Rolling Stones' North American tour in 1972 in support of their album Exile on Main St..-Production:...
, which was never formally released to the public.
At the 2010 Cannes film festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
, as part of the Directors' Fortnight at the launching of Stones in Exile, Stones lead singer Mick Jagger
Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and a founding member of The Rolling Stones....
spoke to the crowd about the months of drug-fueled recording sessions that produced the Stones' classic 1972 album Exile on Main Street. Jagger joked about the rarely-seen original footage that reveals eight-year-old Weber rolling marijuana joints for them: "It didn't do him any harm being a drug smuggler," but added: "It's not a recommended vocation for an eight-year-old."
Career
Weber's roles were often bit parts in A-list films, beginning with that of Kyra Sedgwick's unnamed boyfriend in the Oliver StoneOliver Stone
William Oliver Stone is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Stone became well known in the late 1980s and the early 1990s for directing a series of films about the Vietnam War, for which he had previously participated as an infantry soldier. His work frequently focuses on...
-directed period saga Born on the Fourth of July
Born on the Fourth of July
Born on the Fourth of July is the best selling autobiography of Ron Kovic, a paralyzed Vietnam War veteran who became an anti-war activist. Kovic was born on July 4, 1946, and his book's ironic title echoed a famous line from George M. Cohan's patriotic 1904 song, "The Yankee Doodle Boy"...
(1989) and continuing with work for directors including Sidney Lumet (A Stranger Among Us
A Stranger Among Us
A Stranger Among Us is a film directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Melanie Griffith, released in 1992. It tells the story of an undercover police officer's experiences in a Hasidic community. It was entered into the 1992 Cannes Film Festival....
, 1992), Alan J. Pakula (The Pelican Brief
The Pelican Brief
The Pelican Brief is a legal-suspense thriller written by John Grisham in 1992. The hardcover edition was published by Doubleday in that same year. Two paperback editions were published, both by Dell Publishing in 1993...
, 1993) and Martin Brest (Meet Joe Black
Meet Joe Black
Meet Joe Black is a 1998 American fantasy romance film produced by Universal Studios, directed by Martin Brest and starring Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins and Claire Forlani, loosely based on the 1934 film Death Takes a Holiday...
, 1998). Weber scored one of his premier leads as Dr. Matt Crower, a kindly physician who takes charge of a young boy and protects him from a possessed sheriff in actor-turned-producer Shaun Cassidy
Shaun Cassidy
Shaun Paul Cassidy is an American actor, singer, writer, and producer. He is the eldest son of Academy Award winning actress Shirley Jones, and the second son of Tony award-winning actor Jack Cassidy...
's short-lived, but well received, supernatural drama series American Gothic
American Gothic (TV series)
American Gothic is an American horror series created by Shaun Cassidy and executive produced by Sam Raimi. The show first aired on CBS on September 22, 1995, and was cancelled after a single season on July 11, 1996.-Plot:...
(1995) on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
.
That program did not last long, and neither did the Mike Binder sitcom The Mind of the Married Man
The Mind of the Married Man
The Mind of the Married Man is a television series that ran on the HBO network for two seasons consisting of twenty episodes between September 2001 and November 2002. The story attempts to focus on the challenges of modern-day married life from a male perspective.The show drew mixed reviews from...
(2001), in which Weber signed on as one of the leads, Chicago newspaper employee Jake Berman. After his prominent role in the 2004 remake of horror film Dawn of the Dead
Dawn of the Dead (2004 film)
Dawn of the Dead is a 2004 horror film directed by Zack Snyder in his directorial debut. It is a remake of George A. Romero's 1978 film of the same name and stars Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, and Jake Weber. The film depict a handful of human survivors living in a Milwaukee, Wisconsin shopping mall...
, Weber won the role of Joe Dubois on Medium
Medium (TV series)
Medium is an American television drama series that premiered on NBC on January 3, 2005, and ended on CBS on January 21, 2011. Themed on supernatural gifts, its lead character, Allison DuBois , is a medium employed as a consultant for the Phoenix, Arizona district attorney's office...
playing the husband of a woman (Patricia Arquette
Patricia Arquette
Patricia T. Arquette is an American actress and director. She played the lead character in the supernatural drama series Medium for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series....
) plagued by psychic visions who uses her ability to help solve crimes.
He has performed on Broadway and off-Broadway.
Personal life
Weber's mother, Susan, was diagnosed with depression and LSD-induced schizophrenia and died of a drug overdose when Jake was 8 years old and living at the Rolling Stones' Villa Nellcôte. His father, who sold various drugs and utilized both his sons in trafficking the drugs to various international destinations, struggled with drug addiction until his death in 2006. He has one sibling, a brother, Charley.Jake Weber was married to his wife Diane from 1995 until their divorce in 2002. He and his girlfriend Elizabeth Carey have a son.
In an article in The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
of 20 May 2010, Weber recalled
that when he was 8 years old, his "father used him as a drug mule to bring cocaine out for Mick
Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and a founding member of The Rolling Stones....
and Bianca Jagger
Bianca Jagger
Bianca Jagger is a Nicaraguan-born social and human rights advocate and a former actress and model...
's wedding."
Filmography
- Born on the Fourth of JulyBorn on the Fourth of July (film)Born on the Fourth of July is a 1989 American film adaptation of the best selling autobiography of the same name by Vietnam War veteran Ron Kovic. Tom Cruise plays Kovic, in a performance that earned him his first Academy Award nomination. Oliver Stone co-wrote the screenplay with Kovic, and also...
(1989) - Donna's boyfriend - Bed & Breakfast (1991) - Bobby
- A Stranger Among UsA Stranger Among UsA Stranger Among Us is a film directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Melanie Griffith, released in 1992. It tells the story of an undercover police officer's experiences in a Hasidic community. It was entered into the 1992 Cannes Film Festival....
(1992) - Yaakov Klausman - Skin Art (1993) - Richard
- The Pelican BriefThe Pelican Brief (film)The Pelican Brief is a 1993 legal crime thriller based on the novel of the same name by John Grisham. Directed by Alan J. Pakula, the film stars Julia Roberts in the role of young law student Darby Shaw and Denzel Washington as Washington Herald reporter Gray Grantham...
(1993) - Curtis Morgan/Garcia - Cultivating Charlie (1994) - Charles Thundertrunk
- Vanishing Son II (1994) - Bo
- Vanishing Son IV (1994) - Bo
- What the Deaf Man HeardWhat the Deaf Man HeardWhat the Deaf Man Heard is a 1997 Hallmark Hall of Fame television movie that aired on CBS television on November 23, 1997. It concerns Sammy, a boy who pretends to be deaf and mute, when in reality he can hear and speak perfectly well. The movie starred Matthew Modine and James Earl Jones.-Plot...
(1997) - Tolliver Tynan - Amistad (1997) - Mr. Wright
- Meet Joe BlackMeet Joe BlackMeet Joe Black is a 1998 American fantasy romance film produced by Universal Studios, directed by Martin Brest and starring Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins and Claire Forlani, loosely based on the 1934 film Death Takes a Holiday...
(1998) - Drew - Dangerous BeautyDangerous BeautyDangerous Beauty is a biographical drama film directed by Marshall Herskovitz. It is adapted from the non-fiction book The Honest Courtesan, by Margaret Rosenthal, , about the life of Veronica Franco , a courtesan in 16th century Venice.A stage musical version of the film premiered on July 25,...
(1998) - King Henri III - Into My HeartInto My HeartInto My Heart is a 1998 motion picture featuring Rob Morrow and Claire Forlani. It premiered at the Venice Film Festival on September 9, 1998, the drama documents a love triangle involving a woman and two childhood friends, focusing on the themes of marriage, adultery and betrayal. It was written...
(1998) - Adam - Pushing TinPushing TinPushing Tin is a 1999 comedy-drama film directed by Mike Newell. It centers on a cocky air traffic controller who quarrels over proving "who's more of a man" with fellow employee Bell...
(1999) - Barry Plotkin - In Too Deep (1999) - Dr. Beverly Kirk
- Cherry (1999) - Daniel Connelly
- The CellThe CellThe Cell is a 2000 science fiction psychological thriller film directed by Tarsem Singh, and starring Jennifer Lopez in the lead role.-Plot:...
(2000) - FBI Special Agent Gordon Ramsey - U-571U-571 (film)U-571 is a 2000 film directed by Jonathan Mostow, and starring Matthew McConaughey, Bill Paxton, Harvey Keitel, Thomas Kretschmann, Jon Bon Jovi, Jack Noseworthy, Will Estes, and Tom Guiry...
(2000) - Lt. Hirsch, USNR - WendigoWendigo (film)Wendigo is a 2001 horror film by Larry Fessenden starring Patricia Clarkson and Jake Weber.-Plot:George is a highly-strung professional photographer who is starting to unravel from the stress of his work with a Manhattan advertising agency...
(2001) - George - Love Thy Neightbor (2002) - Man in Adult Section
- Leo (2002) - Ben Bloom
- 100 Mile Rule100 Mile Rule-Plot:A dark comedy about three salesmen from Detroit who come to Los Angeles for a two week seminar and get themselves involved in a world of trouble when their 'fun' snowballs into a roller-coaster ride of secrets, guilt, peer pressure and stupidity....
(2002) - Bobby Davis - The Warrior ClassThe Warrior ClassThe Warrior Class is a 2004 film directed by Alan Hruska which stars Anson Mount and Erica Leerhsen. Even though it was finished in 2004, it was not released on DVD until February 6, 2007.-Plot:...
(2004) - Phil Anwar - HavenHaven (film)Haven is a 2004 feature film set in the Cayman Islands, a British offshore financial centre. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2004. It is written and directed by native Caymanian Frank E...
(2004) - Officer Powell - Dawn of the DeadDawn of the Dead (2004 film)Dawn of the Dead is a 2004 horror film directed by Zack Snyder in his directorial debut. It is a remake of George A. Romero's 1978 film of the same name and stars Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, and Jake Weber. The film depict a handful of human survivors living in a Milwaukee, Wisconsin shopping mall...
(2004) - Michael - The Haunting of Molly HartleyThe Haunting of Molly HartleyThe Haunting of Molly Hartley is a 2008 supernatural horror film written by John Travis and Rebecca Sonnenshine and directed by Mickey Liddell starring Haley Bennett, Chace Crawford, AnnaLynne McCord, Jessica Lowndes and Jake Weber.-Plot:...
(2008) - Mr. Hartley
TV
- Something WilderSomething WilderSomething Wilder is an American sitcom starring Gene Wilder that lasted only one season on NBC, running from October 1, 1994 until June 13, 1995...
(1994-1995) - Richie Wainwright (15 episodes) - American GothicAmerican Gothic (TV series)American Gothic is an American horror series created by Shaun Cassidy and executive produced by Sam Raimi. The show first aired on CBS on September 22, 1995, and was cancelled after a single season on July 11, 1996.-Plot:...
(1995–1996) - Dr. Matt Crower (15 episodes) - Liberty! The American Revolution (1994) - Gentleman / Virginia Officer (5 episodes)
- The $treetThe $treetThe $treet is an American television drama series that aired on Fox in 2000. 11 episodes were produced and 6 aired in the U.S.The series was about a small brokerage house called Belmont Stevens located in New York and the lives of its employees. Freddie Sacker was one of the most notable...
(2001) - Pete Dearborn (2 episodes) - The Mind of the Married ManThe Mind of the Married ManThe Mind of the Married Man is a television series that ran on the HBO network for two seasons consisting of twenty episodes between September 2001 and November 2002. The story attempts to focus on the challenges of modern-day married life from a male perspective.The show drew mixed reviews from...
(2001–2002) - Jake Berman (20 episodes) - MediumMedium (TV series)Medium is an American television drama series that premiered on NBC on January 3, 2005, and ended on CBS on January 21, 2011. Themed on supernatural gifts, its lead character, Allison DuBois , is a medium employed as a consultant for the Phoenix, Arizona district attorney's office...
(2005–2011) - Joe Dubois (129 episodes) - Human Target (2011) - Bill Fickner (1 episode)