- Roy London
Infobox Actor
name = Roy London
birthdate = birth date|1943|3|3
location =New York City, New York
deathdate = death date and age|1993|8|8|1943|3|3
deathplace =Los Angeles, California Roy London (
March 3 ,1943 –August 8 ,1993 ) was born and raised on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City. In the last fifteen years of his life he became the premier teacher in Hollywood. He has been cited as a profound new influence on film acting. He taught over two hundred and fifty actors weekly and coached many more privately. In addition to preparing his clients for performances, London was also called upon to help develop and shape their projects. His knowledge of writing, combined with his experience of having acted in over 150 roles on Broadway, Off-Broadway,The Royal Shakespeare Company , feature films and television, led him to discover how to help actors reveal material in dynamic ways that led to exciting performances. Synthesizing techniques from many acting schools, with a focus on results — he had no tolerance forpsychobabble — his reputation exploded.London's classes began in his living room, and spread by word of mouth. In 1984 he moved to his own studio, but he never put a sign on the door, listed the phone number, advertised the classes nor publicised his teaching.His students, who have thanked him on the
Academy Awards , theGolden Globe Awards , theMTV Movie Awards and more, as well as countless newspapers, magazines and autobiographies, have remembered Roy fondly.A math prodigy at age five, Roy was on the radio show,
Quiz Kids , and educated at the experimental elementary school atHunter College , NYC. In 1948 the school was featured inLIFE Magazine and shows little Roy telling an arresting tale of death, transfiguration and group marriage involvingWalt Disney 'sMickey Mouse andDonald Duck .To graduate at twenty from
Antioch College , in Yellow Springs, Ohio, London wrote a paper that combined mathematic concepts and the precepts of theater. Upon returning to New York, in 1963, he immediately found work, both on Broadway and in the burgeoningOff-Broadway scene. He studied acting at theHerbert Berghoff Studio withUta Hagen and was an integral member ofJoseph Chaiken 's avant-garde, "Open Theater ." During this era, Roy lived withPulitzer Prize winning playwrightLanford Wilson .Roy was an original member and a resident playwright of
Circle Repertory Company inGreenwich Village . London won thePeabody Award for a radio play and has three books of plays published byDramatists Play Service . In addition, he was awarded theNational Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Creative Writing and the New York State Grant in Creative Writing.In the late Seventies when Roy was on tour with
Lynn Redgrave and performing on stage at theHuntington Hartford Theater in Los Angeles, he decided to stay inHollywood . As an actor, he appeared on television in programs as widely diverse as WNET's USA Writer's segment aboutCatcher in the Rye , (Roy is the only person to have professionally portrayed Holden Caulfield and with J.D. Salinger's approval) to the daytimesoap opera ,The Edge of Night , where he was popular as a peeping-tom for several seasons. In commercials Roy was an everyman, playing one of the Tang astronauts, theWilliams Lectric Shave man, theWestern Auto man, and innumerable others. He appeared onFalcon Crest ,Hill Street Blues ,Newhart ,Momma's Place ,Fatal Vision and many more. In feature films, after a bit part in theMagic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart , Roy went on to be seen withGeorge C. Scott inHardcore (film) ,Antonioni 's Zabriskie Point, inWilliam Friedkin 's "Rampage" and others.As a writer, Roy's television projects included a two hour Movie of the Week for NBC, California Gold Rush. He wrote several screenplays, including,
Tiger Warsaw , starringPatrick Swayze andPiper Laurie .Roy debuted as a television director with episodes of
Showtime ’s, “It's Garry Shandling’s Show ”. Later he directed episodes of Garry'sHBO series, "The Larry Sanders Show ," for which he was nominated for aCable Ace Award . In 1992 Roy’s first feature film as a director, "Diary of a Hitman " was released, starringForest Whitaker ,Sherilyn Fenn andSharon Stone .London was mid pre-production for his second feature film as a director when he became ill and died from complications due to the
AIDS virus.Roy's partner in life and work for his last ten years was Tim Healey; they had a commitment ceremony in 1988. Roy is buried in a cemetery overlooking the ocean in Santa Barbara, where he shared a home with Tim.A documentary about his work, featuring interviews with over 50 of his students and friends, including
Sharon Stone ,Sherilyn Fenn ,Jeff Goldblum ,Patrick Swayze ,Patricia Arquette ,Geena Davis ,Famke Janssen ,Garry Shandling ,Lanford Wilson ,Lois Chiles ,Elizabeth Berkley ,Drew Carey andJanel Moloney , premiered at theTribeca Film Festival in 2005. [http://www.specialthankstoroylondon.com Special Thanks To Roy London - Documentary]
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