Peter Riegert
Encyclopedia
Peter Riegert is an American
actor
, screenwriter
, and film director
, best known for his role as Boon from Animal House and crooked New Jersey State Assemblyman Ronald Zellman on the HBO original series The Sopranos
.
, Riegert grew up in Hartsdale, NY, and was raised in a nonobservant Jewish household. He graduated from Ardsley High School
in 1964 and later from the University of Buffalo and worked at a number of jobs, including teaching, waiting tables, and social work
er before settling on acting as a career.
debut in the musical
Dance with Me
. Other Broadway credits include The Old Neighborhood, An American Daughter, The Nerd, and Censored Scenes From King Kong. Off-Broadway he has appeared in Road to Nirvana, The Birthday Party
, Isn't It Romantic, Sexual Perversity in Chicago
, and A Rosen by Any Other Name.
credits include Animal House, The Runestone
, Americathon
, Local Hero
, City Girl
, Crossing Delancey
, Chilly Scenes of Winter, Oscar
, The Mask
, Coldblooded, Traffic
(which won him the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by the Cast of a Theatrical Motion Picture), and How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog
, as well as the short film The Response.
debut as Cpl. Igor Straminsky in two episodes of M*A*S*H. He has also portrayed New Jersey
State Assemblyman Ronald Zellman in The Sopranos
and defense attorney Chauncey Zeirko in multiple episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
. He starred opposite former girlfriend Bette Midler
in the television adaptation of Gypsy
and was featured in the HBO drama Barbarians at the Gate (which earned him an Emmy Award
nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Special), the final episode of Seinfeld
as an NBC executive and the television movie
Back When We Were Grownups
, and he voiced the character of Max Weinstein in the controversial episode "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein
" of Family Guy
. In 2011, Riegert began a multi-episode arc on One Tree Hill
as August Kellerman, Nathan's unforgiving college professor.
. It received an Academy Award nomination for Best Live Action Short Film and won him the Festival Award for Best First Feature at the Marco Island Film Festival.
Riegert directed and co-wrote King of the Corner
, a 2004 film featured at the Newport Film Festival. It stars Peter Riegert and Isabella Rossellini
, and includes Eric Bogosian
, Dominic Chianese
, Beverly D'Angelo
and Rita Moreno
.
's The Yiddish Policemen's Union
, which was nominated for a 2008 Audie Award in literary fiction
. He narrated the audiobook of The Voyage of the Narwhal, a mid-nineteenth century romance with the Arctic. and also read the stories of Raymond Carver.
He also was the Narrator for The First Basket
, a documentary film on professional basketball's influence on Jewish culture.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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...
, screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
, and film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, best known for his role as Boon from Animal House and crooked New Jersey State Assemblyman Ronald Zellman on the HBO original series The Sopranos
The Sopranos
The Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads...
.
Early life
Born in The BronxThe Bronx
The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...
, Riegert grew up in Hartsdale, NY, and was raised in a nonobservant Jewish household. He graduated from Ardsley High School
Ardsley High School
Ardsley High School is a public secondary school located in Ardsley, New York. The school was established in 1957 and serves students in grades 9–12. An extension was built onto the school and was completed in 2006. The school principal is Dr. James Haubner...
in 1964 and later from the University of Buffalo and worked at a number of jobs, including teaching, waiting tables, and social work
Social work
Social Work is a professional and academic discipline that seeks to improve the quality of life and wellbeing of an individual, group, or community by intervening through research, policy, community organizing, direct practice, and teaching on behalf of those afflicted with poverty or any real or...
er before settling on acting as a career.
Stage
He made his BroadwayBroadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
debut in the musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
Dance with Me
Dance With Me (musical)
Dance With Me is a Broadway musical written by Greg Antonacci. It opened on January 23, 1975 and ran at the Mayfair Theatre for 396 performances. It was directed by and choreographed by Joel Zwick....
. Other Broadway credits include The Old Neighborhood, An American Daughter, The Nerd, and Censored Scenes From King Kong. Off-Broadway he has appeared in Road to Nirvana, The Birthday Party
The Birthday Party (play)
The Birthday Party is the first full-length play by Harold Pinter and one of Pinter's best-known and most-frequently performed plays...
, Isn't It Romantic, Sexual Perversity in Chicago
Sexual Perversity in Chicago
Sexual Perversity in Chicago is a play written by David Mamet that examines the sex lives of two men and two women in the 1970's. The play is filled with profanity and regional jargon that reflects the working-class language of Chicago. The characters' relationships become hindered by the caustic...
, and A Rosen by Any Other Name.
Film
Riegert's notable feature filmFeature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
credits include Animal House, The Runestone
The Runestone
The Runestone is a 1991 adventure/horror film, the first film written and directed by Willard Carroll. The film is an updating of the Ragnarok legend, with Fenrir being found in a runestone in Pennsylvania unearthed by archaeologists.-Plot:...
, Americathon
Americathon
Americathon is a 1979 American comedy film starring John Ritter, Fred Willard, Peter Riegert, Harvey Korman, and Nancy Morgan, with narration by George Carlin, based on a play by Firesign Theatre alumni Phil Proctor and Peter Bergman...
, Local Hero
Local Hero
Local Hero is a 1983 Scottish comedy-drama film starring Peter Riegert and Burt Lancaster. It was directed by Bill Forsyth and produced by David Puttnam....
, City Girl
City Girl (1984 film)
City Girl is a 1984 film directed by Martha Coolidge. The film marked her directorial debut, although it did not receive distribution until her film Valley Girl became a surprise hit.-Plot:...
, Crossing Delancey
Crossing Delancey
Crossing Delancey is a romantic comedy film starring Amy Irving and Peter Riegert released in 1988. It is directed by Joan Micklin Silver and based on a play by Susan Sandler, who also wrote the screenplay...
, Chilly Scenes of Winter, Oscar
Oscar (1991 film)
Oscar is a 1991 American comedy film directed by John Landis. Based on the Claude Magnier stage play, it is can be considered a remake of the 1967 film of the same name, but the settings has been moved to the Depression era New York City and centers around a mob boss trying to go straight...
, The Mask
The Mask (film)
The Mask is a 1994 American superhero comedy film based on a series of comic books published by Dark Horse Comics. This film was directed by Chuck Russell, and produced by Dark Horse Entertainment and New Line Cinema, and originally released to movie theatres on July 29, 1994 through New Line...
, Coldblooded, Traffic
Traffic (2000 film)
Traffic is a 2000 American crime drama film directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Stephen Gaghan. It explores the illegal drug trade from a number of perspectives: a user, an enforcer, a politician and a trafficker. Their stories are edited together throughout the film, although some of the...
(which won him the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by the Cast of a Theatrical Motion Picture), and How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog
How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog
How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog is a 2000 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Michael Kalesniko and produced by Michael Nozik, Nancy M. Ruff and Brad Weston.- Plot :...
, as well as the short film The Response.
TV
Riegert made his televisionTelevision
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
debut as Cpl. Igor Straminsky in two episodes of M*A*S*H. He has also portrayed New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
State Assemblyman Ronald Zellman in The Sopranos
The Sopranos
The Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads...
and defense attorney Chauncey Zeirko in multiple episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it is also primarily produced...
. He starred opposite former girlfriend Bette Midler
Bette Midler
Bette Midler is an American singer, actress, and comedian, also known by her informal stage name, The Divine Miss M. She became famous as a cabaret and concert headliner, and went on to star in successful and acclaimed films such as The Rose, Ruthless People, Beaches, and For The Boys...
in the television adaptation of Gypsy
Gypsy (1993 film)
Gypsy is a 1993 musical television film directed by Emile Ardolino. The teleplay by Arthur Laurents is an adaptation of his book of the 1959 stage musical Gypsy: A Musical Fable, which was based on Gypsy: A Memoir by Gypsy Rose Lee....
and was featured in the HBO drama Barbarians at the Gate (which earned him an 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...
nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Special), the final episode of Seinfeld
Seinfeld
Seinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
as an NBC executive and the television movie
Television movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
Back When We Were Grownups
Back When We Were Grownups
Back When We Were Grownups is a 2001 novel written by Anne Tyler in memory of her husband, who died in 1997.Tyler's 15th novel, like most of her work, is set in Baltimore, Maryland...
, and he voiced the character of Max Weinstein in the controversial episode "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein
When You Wish upon a Weinstein
"When You Wish Upon a Weinstein" is an episode of the animated television sitcom Family Guy that would have first aired in 2000, but due to concerns about its content it was not aired until November 9, 2003, when it was broadcast on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim. It was later aired on Fox on...
" of Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
. In 2011, Riegert began a multi-episode arc on One Tree Hill
One Tree Hill (TV series)
One Tree Hill is an American television drama created by Mark Schwahn, which premiered on September 23, 2003, on The WB Television Network. After its third season, The WB merged with UPN to form The CW Television Network, and, since September 27, 2006, the network has been the official broadcaster...
as August Kellerman, Nathan's unforgiving college professor.
Director and Writer
Riegert made his screenwriting and directorial debuts with By Courier, based on a short story by O. HenryO. Henry
O. Henry was the pen name of the American writer William Sydney Porter . O. Henry's short stories are well known for their wit, wordplay, warm characterization and clever twist endings.-Early life:...
. It received an Academy Award nomination for Best Live Action Short Film and won him the Festival Award for Best First Feature at the Marco Island Film Festival.
Riegert directed and co-wrote King of the Corner
King of the Corner
King of the Corner is a 2004 film featured at the Newport Film Festival. It stars Peter Riegert and Isabella Rossellini, and includes Eric Bogosian, Dominic Chianese, Beverly D'Angelo and Rita Moreno. It was released in 2004. Peter Riegert also co-wrote and directed the film.It is a story of a...
, a 2004 film featured at the Newport Film Festival. It stars Peter Riegert and Isabella Rossellini
Isabella Rossellini
Isabella Fiorella Elettra Giovanna Rossellini is an Italian actress, filmmaker, author, philanthropist, and model. Rossellini is noted for her 14-year tenure as a Lancôme model, and for her roles in films such as Blue Velvet and Death Becomes Her.-Background and early life:Rossellini is a...
, and includes Eric Bogosian
Eric Bogosian
Eric Bogosian is an American actor, playwright, monologist, and novelist of Armenian descent.-Personal life:Bogosian, an Armenian-American, was born in Woburn, Massachusetts, the son of Edwina, a hairdresser and instructor, and Henry Bogosian, an accountant. After graduating from Oberlin College,...
, Dominic Chianese
Dominic Chianese
Dominic Chianese is an American film, television and theatre actor, perhaps best known for his role as Corrado "Junior" Soprano on the HBO TV series, The Sopranos.-Early life:...
, Beverly D'Angelo
Beverly D'Angelo
Beverly Heather D'Angelo is an American actress and singer.-Early life:D'Angelo was born in Columbus, Ohio, the daughter of Priscilla , a violinist, and Gene D'Angelo, a bass player and television station manager. She is of part Italian ancestry...
and Rita Moreno
Rita Moreno
Rita Moreno is a Puerto Rican singer, dancer and actress. She is the only Hispanic and one of the few performers who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony, and was the second Puerto Rican to win an Academy Award....
.
Voice work
Riegert narrated the audiobook of Michael ChabonMichael Chabon
Michael Chabon born May 24, 1963) is an American author and "one of the most celebrated writers of his generation", according to The Virginia Quarterly Review....
's The Yiddish Policemen's Union
The Yiddish Policemen's Union
The Yiddish Policemen's Union is a 2007 novel by American author Michael Chabon. The novel is a detective story set in an alternative history version of the present day, based on the premise that during World War II, a temporary settlement for Jewish refugees was established in Sitka, Alaska, in...
, which was nominated for a 2008 Audie Award in literary fiction
Literary fiction
Literary fiction is a term that came into common usage during the early 1960s. The term is principally used to distinguish "serious fiction" which is a work that claims to hold literary merit, in comparison from genre fiction and popular fiction . In broad terms, literary fiction focuses more upon...
. He narrated the audiobook of The Voyage of the Narwhal, a mid-nineteenth century romance with the Arctic. and also read the stories of Raymond Carver.
He also was the Narrator for The First Basket
The First Basket
The First Basket is a 2008 documentary film on professional basketball's influence on Jewish culture.It is narrated by Peter Riegert. The film includes interviews and narratives provided by, and footage of, well known Jewish basketball personalities including Ossie Schectman, Red Auerbach, Sidney...
, a documentary film on professional basketball's influence on Jewish culture.