John Houseman (real name Jacques Haussmann) is a theater, film and television actor, screenwriter, producer, director. Co-founder and director of the drama department of the Juilliard School for the Performing Arts in New York from 1968 to 1976. In 1974 he won an Oscar and Golden Globe for his supporting role in the film The Paper Pursuit.
In the creative biography of the actor, there are about a hundred roles in television and film projects, including participation in popular shows, documentary series and awards ceremony "Oscar", "Golden Globe", "Emmy", "Tony".
As a screenwriter, Houseman took part in the creation of films: Citizen Kane, Jane Eyre, Your Favorite Story.
In 1938 he began working as a producer. On account of his 26 films, including: "Letter from a Stranger", "They Live at Night", "Wicked and Beautiful", "Julius Caesar", "Lust for Life".
In 1946 he co-directed the short film Sorry, Wrong Number.
Among the students of the Juilliard School, where Houseman taught, there were future famous actors: Christopher Reeve, Robin Williams, Patti Lupon, Mandy Patinkin.
Biography facts
The boy was born in Romania in the fall of 1902. His maternal ancestors were English and Irish. Father - Georges Haussmann, came from an Elsian Jewish family and ran his own grain trading business.
Educated in England at Clifton College, he became a British citizen. For some time, Jacques was engaged in the grain trade, helping his father develop the business. In the same period, the young man was carried away by creativity. He began writing short stories, articles for magazines, and translated popular French and German plays for English theaters.
In 1925 he emigrated to America, settled in New York. He received United States citizenship only in 1943.
In 1929, after the famous stock market crash, the young man decided to retire from business and devote himself to art. He came up with the stage name John Houseman and wrote several plays that he proposed for staging in one of the theaters.
Creative career
In 1933 he was invited to direct the opera "Four Saints in Three Acts". He worked on this production with the famous composer Virgil Thomson and the writer Gertrude Stein.
A year later, John decided to stage a play in the theater based on the work of A. McLeish about the stock market crash and the financier who got into the epicenter of these events. Although the main character in the work was no longer young, Houseman set out to recruit the young actor Orson Welles, whom he saw on stage in William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet and was literally shocked by his performance.
After short negotiations, Orson agreed. And already in March 1935, the play was staged at the Imperial Theater. John's ex-wife, actress Zita Johann, also took part in the play. The play did not have much success, but after the premiere, Houseman invited Wells to found his own theater company, the Mercury Theater. One of the greatest achievements of the theater was the staging of a modern version of William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.
Houseman was soon named producer of the Federal Theater Project, which was funded by the government. He created the legendary musical production "Cradle Will Rock", the music for which was written by M. Blitzstein, and the main roles were performed by G. da Silva and W. Gere. The play was so controversial that it was banned immediately after the premiere.
In the summer of 1938, John came to radio, he worked for a time at the CBS radio station. Its program was officially named "Theater Mercury Live". The first performance was supposed to be "Treasure Island", but literally a week before the airing it was decided to replace it with "Dracula" by B. Stoker. According to Orson Welles, it was necessary to present the audience with a more impressive piece, which became "Dracula".
The next radio show was "War of the Worlds" by H. Wells, which became famous for its sad consequences. It caused a real panic among the listeners and the population of the country, who considered that they were talking on the air about the events taking place in reality.
Houseman and Wells were partners for several more years. When Orson decided to start a career in Hollywood as a director, they had a serious quarrel. In 1941, John helped his former friend for the last time in the work on the film, but after that they finally parted.
During World War II, he headed the Department of War Information and worked for the Voice of America radio station.
After the end of the war, John returned to creative activity and production, having released several famous films on screens, including: "The Blue Dahlia", "Letter from a Stranger", "They Live at Night", "Theater by the Fireplace", "On Dangerous Land", "Vacation for Sinners", "The Wicked and the Beautiful", "Julius Caesar", "Number for Directors", "Her Twelve Men", "Web", "Moonfleet", "Lust for Life".
In the 1970s, Houseman began to appear in films on a regular basis. He played dozens of roles in famous projects, including: "Paper Pursuit", "Rollerball", "Three Days of the Condor", "Bionic Woman", "St. Ives", "Cheap Detective", "Mork and Mindy", "Fog", My Bodyguard, Haunted Story, American Theater, Winds of War.
In 1988, John had 2 last cameo roles in The Naked Gun and A New Christmas Tale. Both films were released after the death of Houseman.
Personal life
John has been married twice. The first chosen one in 1929 was the actress Zita Johann. They lived together for several years and divorced in 1933.
The second wife in 1952 was the actress Joan Maria Dolores Courtney. The couple raised two sons and lived together until John's death.
The actor passed away at the age of 86 in the fall of 1988. The cause of death was cancer of the spine. He passed away at his own home in Malibu. His body was cremated and his ashes scattered over the sea.
