- published: 13 Feb 2016
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Ellen Ware Geer (born August 29, 1941) is an American actress, professor, screenwriter, film director and theatre director.
Geer was born in New York City, New York, the daughter of actors Herta Ware and Will Geer. She is currently married to children's musician Peter Alsop, and was previously married to actor Ed Flanders. Her daughters are Megan and Willow Geer-Alsop; her son is Ian Flanders.
Geer has enjoyed a long, distinguished career in film and television. She began her career appearing as a nun in the 1968 Richard Lester drama Petulia. Geer followed this with an appearance in 1969's The Reivers with her father, Will Geer. In 1971, Geer played the deceased wife of the lead character in Kotch, appearing throughout the movie in flashbacks. That same year, she became a regular on The Jimmy Stewart Show (which aired until the following year) and had a supporting role in the acclaimed comedy Harold and Maude. In 1974, she starred in two films which she also wrote: Silence and Memory of Us. Both featured her father.
Will Geer (born William Aughe Ghere; March 9, 1902 – April 22, 1978) was an American actor and social activist. He is known for his portrayal of Grandpa Zebulon Tyler Walton in the 1970s TV series, The Waltons.
Geer was born in Frankfort, Indiana, the son of Katherine (née Aughe), a teacher, and A. Roy Ghere, a postal worker. He was deeply influenced by his grandfather, who taught him the botanical names of the plants in his native state. Geer started out to become a botanist, studying the subject and obtaining a master's degree at the University of Chicago. While at Chicago he also became a member of Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity.
He began his acting career touring in tent shows and on river boats. He worked on several left-oriented documentaries, including narrating Sheldon Dick's Men and Dust, about silicosis among miners.
Geer was also the lover of gay activist Harry Hay. In 1934, Hay met Geer at the Tony Pastor Theatre, where Geer worked as an actor. They became lovers, and Hay credited Geer as his political mentor. Hay and Geer participated in a milk strike in Los Angeles, where Hay was first exposed to radical gay activism in the person of "Clarabelle," a drag queen who held court in the Bunker Hill neighborhood, who hid Hay from police. Later that year, Hay and Geer performed in support of the San Francisco General Strike.