“Forgotten Hollywood”- Theater Named for John Astin…
Manny P. here…
A familiar face from The Addams Family will be honored by John Hopkins University. John Astin graduated from the Baltimore, Maryland institution with a Bachelor of Arts in Drama in 1952. Officially, their renovated theatre will now be called the John Astin Theater.
John was hired by the University in 2001. His popular classes on Method Acting, and his job as Director in the Theater Arts and Studies Department is credited with revitalizing interest in the school’s higher-learning program.
Astin has been successful on the stage, in movies, and, on television throughout his five-decade career. His early career included participation in The Threepenny Opera on Broadway, and Charles Laughton’s production of Major Barbara, based on the play by George Bernard Shaw.
John Astin had parts in West Side Story, That Touch of Mink, Move Over Darling, Viva Max!, Bunny O’Hare, Evil Roy Slade, Freaky Friday, National Lampoon’s European Vacation and the Killer Tomatoes series of films. His finest moments were on the small screen in I’m Dickens, He’s Fenster, and as Gomez Addams, the patriarch of The Addams Family. He replaced Frank Gorshin as The Riddler on Batman, and appeared on Rod Serling’s Night Gallery, The Partridge Family, and had a recurring role on Murder She Wrote. JOHN ASTIN
John Astin was married to actress Patty Duke for thirteen years. Duke was encouraged by her then-husband to run for President of the Screen Actor’s Guild, which she was elected to in 1985. Astin received an Oscar nomination for Prelude, a short project he wrote, produced, and directed. He also served for four years on the Board of Directors of the Writers Guild of America.
John Astin’s devotion to his craft through many applications is undeniable. I congratulate the actor and scholar for this latest accolade.
Until next time> “never forget”
This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 7th, 2011 at 12:48 am and is filed under Blog by Manny Pacheco. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.
You must be logged in to post a comment.