Paula Vogel
Paula Vogel and Alan Safier at the WIlliam Inge Festival in 2010, where she was the honoree
Born	(1951-11-16) 16 November 1951 (age 60) Washington, D.C., USA
Occupation	Playwright, professor
Nationality	United States
Alma mater	The Catholic University of America Cornell University Bryn Mawr College
Spouse	Anne Fausto-Sterling (2004-present)
Information
Magnum opus	How I Learned to Drive (1997)
Awards	Pulitzer Prize for Drama (1998)

Paula Vogel (born 16 November 1951) is an American playwright and university professor. She received the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play, How I Learned to Drive.

Biography[link]

Early years[link]

Vogel was born in Washington, D.C. to Donald Stephen Vogel, an advertising executive, and Phyllis Rita Bremerman, a secretary for United States Postal Service Training and Development Center.^[1] She is a graduate of The Catholic University of America (1974, B.A.) and Cornell University (1976, M.A.). Vogel also attended Bryn Mawr College from 1969 to 1970 and 1971 to 1972.

Career[link]

A productive playwright since the late 1970s, Vogel first came to national prominence with her AIDS-related seriocomedy The Baltimore Waltz, which won the Obie award for Best Play in 1992. She is best known for her Pulitzer Prize-winning play How I Learned to Drive (1997), which examines the impact and echoes of child sexual abuse and incest. Other notable plays include Desdemona, A Play About A Handkerchief (1979); The Oldest Profession (1981); And Baby Makes Seven (1984); Hot 'N Throbbing (1994); and The Mineola Twins (1996).

Although no particular theme or topic dominates her work, she often examines traditionally controversial issues such as sexual abuse and prostitution. Asserting that she "writes the play backwards," moving from emotional circumstances and character to craft narrative structure, Vogel says, "My writing isn't actually guided by issues.... I only write about things that directly impact my life." Vogel adds, "If people get upset, it's because the play is working." Vogel's family, especially her late brother Carl Vogel, influences her writings. Vogel says, "In every play, there are a couple of places where I send a message to my late brother Carl. Just a little something in the atmosphere of every play to try and change the homophobia in our world."^[2] Carl's likeness appears in such plays as The Long Christmas Ride Home (2003), The Baltimore Waltz, and And Baby Makes Seven.

"Vogel tends to select sensitive, difficult, fraught issues to theatricalize," theatre theorist Jill Dolan comments, "and to spin them with a dramaturgy that’s at once creative, highly imaginative, and brutally honest."^[3] Her work embraces theatrical devices from across several traditions, incorporating, in various works, direct address, bunraku puppetry, omniscient narration, and fantasy sequences. Critic David Finkel finds this breadth in Vogel's career to be reflective of a general tendency toward stylistic reinvention from work to work. "This playwright recoils at the notion of writing plays that are alike in their composition," Finkel writes. "She wants each play to be different in texture from those that have preceded it."^[4]

Vogel, a renowned teacher of playwriting, counts among her former students Susan Smith Blackburn Prize-winner Bridget Carpenter, Obie Award-winner Adam Bock, MacArthur Fellow Sarah Ruhl, and Pulitzer Prize-winners Nilo Cruz and Lynn Nottage.^[5][6]

During her two decades leading the graduate playwriting program and new play festival at Brown University, Vogel helped developed a nationally-recognized center for educational theatre, culminating in the creation of the Brown/Trinity Repertory Company Consortium with Oskar Eustis, then Trinity's artistic director, in 2002.^[7] She left Brown in 2008 to assume her current posts as adjunct professor and the Chair of the playwriting department at Yale School of Drama, and the Playwright-in-Residence at Yale Repertory Theatre.^[8][9] Vogel previously served as an instructor at Cornell University during her graduate work in the mid-1970s.

Recently Second Stage Theatre announced that they would be producing How I Learned to Drive as a part of their 2011-2012 season. It will be the first New York City production of this show in 15 years.

Personal life[link]

Vogel had two brothers: Carl, who died of AIDS in 1988, and Mark. Carl is namesake for the Carl Vogel Center in Washington, D.C., founded by their father Don Vogel. The Center is a service provider for people living with HIV.^[1]

Vogel married Brown University professor and author Anne Fausto-Sterling in Truro, Massachusetts, on September 26, 2004.^[1]

Honors and awards[link]

Subsequent to her Obie Award for Best Play (1992) and Pulitzer Prize in Drama (1998), Vogel received the Award for Literature from The American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2004.

She won the 1998 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.

In 2003, the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival created an annual Paula Vogel Award in Playwriting for "the best student-written play that celebrates diversity and encourages tolerance while exploring issues of dis-empowered voices not traditionally considered mainstream."^[10]

Bibliography[link]

• Swan Song of Sir Henry (1974)
• Meg (1977)
• Apple-Brown Betty (1979)
• Desdemona, A Play about a Handkerchief (1979)
• Bertha in Blue (1981)
• The Oldest Profession (1981)
• And Baby Makes Seven (1984)
• The Baltimore Waltz (1992)
• Hot 'N Throbbing (1994)
• The Mineola Twins (1996)
• How I Learned to Drive (1997)
• The Long Christmas Ride Home (2004)
• Civil War Christmas (2008)^[11]

See also[link]

Theatre portal

References[link]

External links[link]

• Profile at Brown University
• Paula Vogel at the Internet Broadway Database
• Paula Vogel at the Internet Movie Database
• Paula Vogel at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Paula Vogel on Charlie Rose
• Works by or about Paula Vogel in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Paula Vogel collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Paula Vogel - Downstage Center interview at American Theatre Wing.org
• Biographical information on enotes.com
• Profile in innewsweekly.com, March 29, 2007
• 1997 BOMB Magazine interview of Paula Vogel by Mary-Louise Parker

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific problem is: The article lacks structure and needs more background information (as well as sources).. Please help improve this article if you can; the talk page may contain suggestions. (December 2011)

This article may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone, or spelling. You can assist by editing it. (December 2011)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2011)

There are many people in history who are commonly appended with the phrase "the Great", or who were called that or an equivalent phrase in their own language. Other languages have their own suffixes such as e Bozorg and e azam in Persian and Urdu respectively.

In Persia, the title "the Great" at first seems to be a colloquial version of the Old Persian title "Great King". This title was first used by the conqueror Cyrus II of Persia.^[1]

The Persian title was inherited by Alexander III of Macedon (336–323 BC) when he conquered the Persian Empire, and the epithet "Great" eventually became personally associated with him. The first reference (in a comedy by Plautus)^[2] assumes that everyone knew who "Alexander the Great" was; however, there is no earlier evidence that Alexander III of Macedon was called "the Great".

The early Seleucid kings, who succeeded Alexander in Persia, used "Great King" in local documents, but the title was most notably used for Antiochus the Great (223–187 BC).

Later rulers and commanders began to use the epithet "the Great" as a personal name, like the Roman general Pompey. Others received the surname retrospectively, like the Carthaginian Hanno and the Indian emperor Ashoka the Great. Once the surname gained currency, it was also used as an honorific surname for people without political careers, like the philosopher Albert the Great.

As there are no objective criteria for "greatness", the persistence of later generations in using the designation greatly varies. For example, Louis XIV of France was often referred to as "The Great" in his lifetime but is rarely called such nowadays, while Frederick II of Prussia is still called "The Great". A later Hohenzollern - Wilhelm I - was often called "The Great" in the time of his grandson Wilhelm II, but rarely later.

Rulers[link]

• Abbas I of Persia (1571–1629), Shah of Iran
• Akbar (1542–1605), ruler of the Mughal Empire of South Asia, mainly India
• Alain I of Albret (1440–1522), French aristocrat
• Alexander the Great (356-323 BC), King of Macedonia, Persia, Greece, Egypt, and all of Mesopotamia
• Alexander I of Georgia (1386–1446), King of Georgia
• Alfonso III of León (c. 848-910), King of León, Galicia and Asturias
• Alfred the Great (848/849-899), King of Wessex
• Antiochus III the Great (c. 241–187 BC), ruler of the Seleucid Empire
• Ashoka the Great (c. 304–232 BC), Indian emperor of the Maurya dynasty
• Ashot I of Iberia “the Great”(died 826/830), presiding prince of Iberia (modern Georgia),
• Askia Mohammad I (c. 1442–1538), ruler of the Songhai Empire
• Bhumibol Adulyadej (born 1927), King of Thailand
• Bolesław I Chrobry (967-1025), sometimes called "the Great", first King of Poland
• Bruno the Great (925–965), Archbishop of Cologne and Duke of Lotharingia (also listed in the following section)
• Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke (1736–1809), founder and ruler of the Rattanakosin Kingdom (in what is now Thailand)
• Cnut the Great (c. 985 or 995-1035), King of Denmark, England, Norway and parts of Sweden
• Casimir III the Great (1310–1370), King of Poland
• Catherine the Great (1729–1796), Empress of Russia
• Chandragupta II (reigned 375-413/415), also known as Vikramaditya, ruler of the Gupta empire in India
• Charlemagne (died 814), King of the Franks and Emperor of the Romans
• Chulalongkorn (1853–1910), King of Siam (now Thailand)
• Chlothar II (584-629), King of Neustria and King of the Franks
• Conrad, Margrave of Meissen (c. 1097-1157), Margrave of Meissen
• Constantine I (c. 272-337), Roman emperor
• Cyaxares the Great (c. 625-585 BC), third king of Media
• Cyrus the Great (c. 600 BC or 576 BC–530 BC), founder and ruler of the Persian or Achaemenid Empire
• Darius the Great (550 – 486 BC), third ruler of the Persian Empire
• Devapala (died 850), ruler of the Pala Empire in the Indian subcontinent
• Dionysius I, Greek tyrant of Syracuse^[3]
• Ferdinand I of León and Castile (c. 1015–1065), King of León and Count of Castile
• Frederick the Great (1712–1786), King of Prussia
• Genghis Khan (1162?-1227), founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire
• Gero (c. 900–965), ruler of Marca Geronis, a very large march in Europe
• Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden (1594–1632), King of Sweden, founder of the Swedish Empire, and noted military leader
• Gwanggaeto the Great, King of Goguryeo, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea^[4][5]
• Hanno the Great, the name of three leaders of Carthage, in the 4th, 3rd, and 2nd centuries BC
• Henry I, Duke of Burgundy (946–1002)
• Henry IV of France (1553–1610), King of France and King of Navarre
• Herod the Great (73/74 BC-4 BC), King of Judea
• Hugh the Great (898-956), Duke of the Franks and Count of Paris
• Hugh Magnus of France (1007–1025), co-King of France
• Hugh I, Count of Vermandois (1057–1101)
• Humphrey I de Bohun (died c. 1123), Anglo-Norman aristocrat
• Ivan III of Russia (1440–1505), Tsar of Russia
• John I of Portugal (1358–1433), King of Portugal and the Algarve
• John II of Aragon (1398–1479), King of Aragon and, through his wife, King of Navarre
• Justinian I (483-565), Byzantine Emperor
• Kamehameha I (c. 1758-1819), first King of Hawai'i
• Kanishka (died c. 127), ruler of the Kushan Empire in Central Asia and parts of India
• Kvirike III of Kakheti (1010–1029), King of Kakheti in eastern Georgia
• Kublai Khan (1215–1294), Mongol ruler in the 13th century and Emperor of China; founder of the Yuan Dynasty
• Llywelyn the Great (c. 1172–1240), Prince of Gwynedd and de facto ruler of most of Wales
• Louis I of Hungary (1326–1382), King of Hungary, Croatia and Poland
• Mangrai the Great (1238–1317), Lanna, northern Thailand
• Emperor Meiji (1852–1912), Emperor of Japan
• Mircea I of Wallachia (1355–1418)
• Mithridates II of Parthia (died 88 BC), ruler of the Parthian Empire (in present day Iran)
• Mithridates VI of Pontus (134 BC–63 BC), ruler of Pontus and the Bosporan Kingdom
• Mstislav I of Kiev (1076–1132), Grand Prince of Kievan Rus
• Naresuan (1555–1605), King of Ayutthaya
• Narai (1633–1688), King of Ayutthaya (in what is now modern Thailand)
• Odo the Great (died c. 735), Duke of Aquitaine
• Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (912-973)
• K'inich Janaab' Pakal (603-683), ruler of the Mayan city-state of Palenque
• Parakramabahu I of Polonnaruwa (1123–1186), King of Sri Lanka
• Peter Krešimir IV of Croatia (died 1075), King of Croatia
• Peter the Great (1672–1725), Tsar of Russia
• Peter III of Aragon (1239–1285), King of Aragon and King of Sicily
• Pompey (106 BC-48 BC), military and political leader of the late Roman Republic, rival of Julius Caesar
• Radama I (1793–1828), first king of greater Madagascar
• Raja Raja Chola I (c. 947-1014), Indian emperor of the Cholas.^[6][7][8]
• Rajendra Chola I (reigned 1014–1044), Tamil King of India
• Ramesses II (reigned 1279 BC – 1213 BC), considered the greatest pharaoh of Ancient Egypt
• Ram Khamhaeng (around 1237 to 1247-1298), King of Sukhothai (in present day Thailand)
• Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona (1082–1131), also Count of Provence and various other counties
• Rhodri the Great (c. 820–878), King of Gwynedd (in present day Wales)
• Roman the Great (after 1160-1205), Grand Prince of Kiev
• Saladin (c. 1138-1193), Kurdish Sultan of Egypt and Syria, founder of the Ayyubid dynasty, and victor over the Crusaders
• Samudragupta (c. 335–375), ruler of the Gupta empire in the Indian subcontinent
• Sancho III of Navarre (c. 992-1035), King of Kingdom of Navarre
• Sargon of Akkad (died c. 2215 BC), ruler of the Akkadian Empire
• Sejong the Great (1397–1450), Korean king^[9]
• Shapur II (309-379), king of the Sassanid Empire, Persia
• Simeon I of Bulgaria (864/865-927), ruler of the First Bulgarian Empire
• Stephen III of Moldavia (1433–1504), Prince of Moldavia (Romania)
• Stephen Uroš IV Dušan of Serbia (c. 1308-1355), King of Serbia and Emperor of the Serbs and Greeks
• Taksin (1734–1782), King of the Thonburi Kingdom (Thailand)
• Tamar (1160-1123), Queen of the Georgian Empire
• Timur (1336–1405), better known as Tamerlane, founder of the Timurid Dynasty
• Theobald II, Count of Champagne (1090–1151), Count of Blois and of Chartres as Theobald IV, Count of Champagne and of Brie
• Theodoric the Great (454-526), King of the Ostrogoths, regent of the Visigoths and a viceroy of the Byzantine Empire
• Theodosius I (347-395), Roman emperor
• Tigranes the Great (140-55 BC), Emperor of Armenia
• Tiridates III of Armenia (285-339), King of Armenia
• Umar (c. 586 to 590–644), second caliph of the Muslim Empire
• Valdemar I of Denmark (1131–1182), King of Denmark
• Valentinian I (364-375), Roman Emperor
• Vladimir I of Kiev (c. 958-1015), ruler of Kievan Rus
• Vytautas (c. 1350-1430), archduke of the Lithuanian Grand Duchy
• William I, Count of Burgundy (1020–1087), Count of Burgandy and Mâcon
• William V, Duke of Aquitaine (969-1030), also Count of Poitou
• Xerxes I (519-465 BC), King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire (Persia)
• Yu the Great (c. 2200-2100 BC), legendary ruler in ancient China

Religious figures[link]

• Abraham the Great of Kashkar (ca. 492-586), monk and saint of the Assyrian Church of the East
• Abraham Kidunaia (died c. 366, hermit, priest, and Christian saint of Mesopotamia
• Albertus Magnus (1193/1206–1280), medieval German philosopher and theologian
• Anthony the Great (c. 251–356), early Christian saint of Egypt
• Babai the Great (c. 551–628), Assyrian church leader
• Basil of Caesarea (330-379), Greek bishop and theologian
• Bruno the Great (925–965), Archbishop of Cologne and Duke of Lotharingia (also listed in the previous section)
• Euthymius the Great (377-473), abbot and Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox saint
• Gertrude the Great (1256-c. 1302), German Benedictine, mystic, theologian and Roman Catholic saint
• Pope Gregory I (c. 540-604)
• Hiyya the Great, 3rd-century rabbi, Palestine
• Pope John Paul II (1920–2005)
• Pope Leo I (c. 391 or 400-461)
• Macarius of Egypt (c. 300-391), Egyptian hermit
• Pope Nicholas I (c. 800-867)
• Photius I of Constantinople (c. 810–c. 893), Eastern Orthodox saint and Patriarch of Constantinople
• William of Maleval (died 1157), founder of the Catholic congregation of Williamites

Other[link]

• Beli Mawr, a figure in medieval Welsh literature and genealogies
• Emmy the Great, folk singer
• Matteo Rosso the Great, Roman politician and father of Pope Nicholas III
• Prokop the Great, Hussite general in Bohemia

See also[link]

• Epithet
• List of monarchs by nickname
• List of nicknames of European Royalty and Nobility: G-I
• James, son of Zebedee, also known as James the Greater, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus
• Ajax (mythology), called Ajax the Greater
• Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, whose common honorific "Mahatma" means "Great Soul"

Notes[link]

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2007)

Bruce Walsh is a contemporary American playwright and a prominent Philadelphia fringe artist. His works have received attention due to their unique brand of site-specific theater. In addition to theater, he is regular contributor to the Philadelphia Metro^[1] (Philadelphia), a free city paper.

Career[link]

His plays have been workshopped or produced by The Philadelphia Theatre Company, New Dramatists, 1812 Productions, Montgomery Theatre Project, Crescendo Theatre Company, Temple Theaters, Brat Productions and Kaibutsu.^[2] While attending Temple University's Theater Program, Bruce was a Bernard B. Jacobs Intern at New Dramatists in NYC and worked extensively as a Teaching Artist for The Philadelphia Young Playwrights Festival. After graduating from Temple in 2001, he joined the legendary Philly Fringe company, Brat Productions, working as a Dramaturg, Playwright and Director. In 2004 he co-founded Kaibutsu, a Philadelphia based guerrilla theater group, which has enjoyed praise from NPR, WRTI, The City Paper, Philadelphia Weekly, The Philadelphia Inquirer and many others for its unique brand of site-specific theater.

He has been nominated for an Independence Foundation Fellowship.

Plays[link]

• Whiskey Neat (2009)
• Old Bill (2005)
• Northern Liberty (2005 Philadelphia Live Arts Festival)^[3]
• The Guided Tour (2004^[4] and 2006^[5] Philadelphia Live Arts Festival) - A curious site-specific play on a tourist trolley—was presented in the 2004 and 2006 Live Arts Festivals. "Guided Tour DUI" is a rare experiment between the creators of the show and Project P, a collective of local film enthusiasts. With the help of the P's, the cast of "Guided" perform a reading of the show with a film adaptation of the tour route projected behind them—and sometimes on them. Performed at the Mum Puppet Theatre.^[6]
• Dasein (2002 Philly Fringe Festival)
• The Wounded Body (2000 Philly Fringe Festival)
• Once (Co-written with Madi Distefano of Brat Productions, 2002)

Notes[link]

• Philadelphia Inquirer review of Whiskey Neat^[7]
• Philadelphia Weekly review of "Whiskey Neat"^[8]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Kaibutsu Theater Company web site.
• Philadelphia Live Arts Festival Interview - Co-creators of The Guided Tour, Bruce Walsh and Dan Scholnick talk about the 2006 production of the play.

Norbert Leo Butz
Born	(1967-01-30) January 30, 1967 (age 45) St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Occupation	Actor/Singer
Years active	1996–present
Spouse	Michelle Federer (2007–present)

Norbert Leo Butz (born January 30, 1967) is an American actor best known for his work in Broadway theatre.

Personal life[link]

Butz was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Elaine and Norbert Butz.^[1] He was raised in a "very middle class Catholic family." He is the seventh of 11 children in his family and is named after his father, Norbert."^[2] Some of his first theatre roles included playing the male leads at local all-girl high schools, such as Cor Jesu Academy and Nerinx Hall. He graduated from Bishop DuBourg High School. Butz earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from The Conservatory of Theatre Arts at Webster University and a Master of Fine Arts from The University of Alabama/Alabama Shakespeare Festival's Professional Actor Training Program.

Butz is married to former Wicked principal Michelle Federer (the original Nessarose).^[3]

The murder of his sister, Teresa Butz, made national news when an assailant stabbed both her and her partner in her Seattle-area home on July 19, 2009.^[4]

Butz and Federer's daughter, Georgia Teresa, was born on January 2, 2011. Butz also has two daughters, Clara and Maggie, from a previous marriage.^[5]

Career[link]

Butz made his Broadway debut as Adam Pascal's replacement as Roger Davis in Rent in 1996. Additional Broadway credits include Thou Shalt Not (Camille Raquin, 2001–2002), for which he received a Tony Award nomination; Wicked (the original Fiyero, 2003) and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Freddy) for which he received the Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical, a Drama League Award, and an Outer Critics Circle Award. He also appeared in Mark Twain's "Is He Dead?". His Off-Broadway credits include The Last Five Years (Jamie), Songs for a New World (Lead Male 2), Saved (Fred), and Juno and the Paycock (Jerry Devine), and he has toured as the Emcee in Cabaret and as Freddy in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

Butz's film roles have included Went to Coney Island on a Mission from God... Be Back by Five (Pawnbroker), Noon Blue Apples (Howard Philips), and West of Here (Josiah Blackwell).

Butz's projects include the film Dan in Real Life (with Steve Carell, Juliette Binoche, and Dane Cook), released in October 2007, the world premiere of Is He Dead?, a hitherto unproduced Mark Twain play that opened at Broadway's Lyceum Theatre on December 9, 2007, and Fifty Words Off-Broadway with Elizebeth Marvel at the Lucille Lortle Theatre (2008).^[6] In January 2008, he appeared as Captain Richard King in the miniseries adaptation of the Lonesome Dove prequel, Comanche Moon.

Starting December 23, 2008, Butz stepped in to replace Jeremy Piven in David Mamet's Speed-the-Plow; Piven suddenly and unexpectedly dropped out of the play after he claimed to be experiencing health problems related to high mercury levels in his blood. Butz took over the part until January 13, 2009, when William H. Macy assumed the role for the remainder of the play's run.^[7]

Butz taught at Drew University, Madison, New Jersey for the spring semester in 2008 in the drama department.^[8][9]

He starred as Rowdy Kaiser in the ABC show The Deep End.

He returned to the Broadway stage in April 2010 through May 9, 2010 in ENRON as Jeffrey Skilling.^[10] Despite Tony nominations, the play struggled with ticket sales.

Butz will star in Higher Ground, a drama indie film directed by Up In The Air star Vera Farmiga.^[11]

Butz originated the role of Carl Hanratty in the new musical Catch Me If You Can which played pre-Broadway tryouts at the 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle, Washington from July 28 through August 14, 2009.^[4][12] Butz played the role of Carl Hanratty in the Broadway production of Catch Me if You Can, which opened on April 10, 2011^[13] and closed in September 2011. For this role he won his second Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical^[14] and his second Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical.^[15]

In April 2012, Butz appeared as himself in one episode of the NBC musical drama Smash.

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Norbert Leo Butz at the Internet Broadway Database
• Norbert Leo Butz at the Internet Movie Database
• Norbert Leo Butz at AllRovi
• Working in the Theatre Seminar video at American Theatre Wing.org
• TonyAwards.com Interview with Norbert Leo Butz
• Norbert Leo Butz Downstage Center interview at American Theatre Wing, January 2008

Elizabeth Reaser
Reaser in July 2011
Born	Elizabeth Ann Reaser (1975-06-15) June 15, 1975 (age 37) Bloomfield, Michigan, U.S.
Education	Juilliard (BFA 1999)
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1999–present

Elizabeth Ann Reaser (born June 15, 1975) is an American film, television, and stage actress. Her work includes the films Stay, The Family Stone, Sweet Land, Against the Current, and The Twilight Saga and the TV series Saved, Grey's Anatomy and The Ex-List.

Early life and education[link]

Reaser was born in Bloomfield, Michigan, an affluent Detroit suburb, the daughter of Karen Davidson (née Weidman) and John Reaser. Elizabeth was the middle of three sisters.^[1][2] Her stepfather was billionaire businessman William Davidson.^[3]

Reaser attended the Academy of the Sacred Heart in Bloomfield Hills.^{[citation needed]} After high school, she attended Oakland University for one year,^[4] then attended the Juilliard School's Drama Division (1995-1999, Group 28)^[5] where she graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1999.^[4][6]

Career[link]

Reaser appeared in a London stage production with an audience of two people^[7] and prepared for her role on Saved by spending time in an emergency room, observing the behavior of medical staff.^[7] In October 2004, Interview magazine hailed her as one of the "14 To Be" emerging creative women.^{[citation needed]} Her work in the film Sweet Land earned the "Jury Award" at the Newport Beach Film Festival and a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award "Best Female Lead" award.^[8] Reaser earned a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her recurring guest appearance throughout 2007 on the television series Grey's Anatomy.^[8]

Reaser played the role of Esme Cullen in the movie Twilight, ^[9] The Twilight Saga: New Moon in 2009 and The Twilight Saga: Eclipse in 2010.^[10] and will reprise in The Twilght Saga: Breaking Dawn.^[11]

Reaser appeared on the CBS' legal drama, The Good Wife in October 2010.^[12]

Filmography[link]

Stage[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Elizabeth Reaser

• Elizabeth Reaser at the Internet Movie Database