Saks, Gene [Jean Michael] (b. 1921), director and actor. A native New Yorker, he was graduated from Cornell, then spent several years studying acting, later performing on and Off Broadway for more than a decade before turning to directing in the early 1960s. Among his major directorial assignments have been Enter Laughing (1963), Half a Sixpence (1965), Generation (1965),
Gene Saks
| American Theater Guide: Gene [Jean Michael] Saks |
| Director: Gene Saks |
- Born: Nov 08, 1921 in New York City, New York
- Occupation: Director, Actor
- Active: '60s-'90s
- Major Genres: Comedy, Comedy Drama
- Career Highlights: A Thousand Clowns, The Odd Couple, Cactus Flower
- First Major Screen Credit: A Thousand Clowns (1965)
Biography
Trained as an actor, Gene Saks organized a number of New York-based workshop organizations before making his Broadway debut. He began directing in 1963, helming such Neil Simon Broadway plays as Biloxi Blues and Brighton Beach Memoirs and such Simon-scripted films as Barefoot in the Park (1967), The Odd Couple (1968), and Last of the Red Hot Lovers (1986). Saks made his film acting bow in 1965, recreating his stage role as paranoid kiddie-show host Chuckles the Chipmunk in A Thousand Clowns. Saks is married to actress Beatrice Arthur, who co-starred in his 1974 film version of Mame. In 1995 Gene Saks directed the 1995 TV remake of the 1961 Broadway musical Bye Bye Birdie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide| Filmography: Gene Saks |
| Wikipedia: Gene Saks |
| Gene Saks | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 8, 1921 New York City |
Gene Saks (born November 8, 1921) is an American Tony Award-winning stage and film director.
Contents |
Life and career
Saks was born in New York City, the son of Beatrix (née Lewkowitz) and Morris J. Saks.[1] Saks studied at Cornell University and trained acting at the Dramatic Workshop of The New School in New York with the influential German director Erwin Piscator.
Saks has shared a long-term professional relationship with playwright/comedy writer Neil Simon, directing his plays Biloxi Blues, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Jake's Women, Rumors, Lost in Yonkers, Broadway Bound, The Odd Couple, and California Suite. Additional Broadway credits include Enter Laughing; Half a Sixpence; Mame; I Love My Wife; Same Time, Next Year; and Rags.
Among Saks' screen credits are Cactus Flower, which won Goldie Hawn the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, Barefoot in the Park, The Last of the Red Hot Lovers, The Odd Couple, Mame, So I Married an Axe Murderer (uncredited), and the 1995 television production of Bye Bye Birdie.
Saks made his acting debut on Broadway in South Pacific in 1949. On stage he also appeared in A Shot in the Dark, The Tenth Man, and A Thousand Clowns, in the role of Leo "Chuckles The Chipmunk" Herman, which he reprised in the film version. He portrayed Jack Lemmon's brother in the screen adaptation of Simon's The Prisoner of Second Avenue.
Saks was married to actress Bea Arthur from 1950-1978.
Awards and nominations
- Awards
- 1977 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical - I Love My Wife
- 1983 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play - Brighton Beach Memoirs
- 1985 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play - Biloxi Blues
- Nominations
- 1965 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical - Half a Sixpence
- 1966 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical - Mame
- 1969 DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in a Movie - The Odd Couple
- 1975 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play - Same Time, Next Year
- 1975 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play - Same Time, Next Year
- 1977 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical - I Love My Wife
- 1985 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play - Biloxi Blues
- 1987 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play - Broadway Bound
- 1991 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play - Lost in Yonkers
References
External links
- Gene Saks at the Internet Broadway Database
- Gene Saks at the Internet Movie Database
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 | American Theater Guide. The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. Copyright © 2004 by Oxford University Press, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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Mentioned in
- A Fine Romance (1992 Comedy Film)
- On Seventh Avenue (1996 Film)
- Lost in Yonkers (American Theater)
- Last of the Red Hot Lovers (1972 Comedy Film)
- The One and Only (1978 Comedy Drama Film)
- I.Q. (1994 Romance Film)
- Nobody's Fool (1994 Comedy Drama Film)
- A Thousand Clowns (1965 Comedy Drama Film)
- Melinda and Melinda (2004 Comedy Drama Film)
- Beatrice Arthur (Classical Musician)
- The Odd Couple (Characters) (play)
- Brighton Beach Memoirs (Characters) (play)
- PRIZES AND AWARDS: Antoinette Perry Awards (1947–2000)
- Alan Arkin (Actor, Director, Writer, Comedy/Drama)
