- published: 27 Jan 2014
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John Houseman (born Jacques Haussmann; September 22, 1902 – October 31, 1988) was a Romanian-born British-American actor and film producer who became known for his highly publicized collaboration with director Orson Welles from their days in the Federal Theatre Project through to the production of Citizen Kane. He is perhaps best known for his role as Professor Charles Kingsfield in the 1973 film The Paper Chase, for which he won a best supporting actor Oscar. He reprised his role as Kingsfield in the subsequent TV series adaptation of The Paper Chase. Houseman was also known for his commercials for the brokerage firm Smith Barney. He had a distinctive Mid-Atlantic English accent, in common with many actors of his generation.
Houseman was born in Bucharest, Romania in 1902, the son of May (née Davies) and Georges Haussmann, who ran a grain business. His mother was British, from a Christian family of Welsh and Irish descent. His father was an Alsatian-born Jew. He was educated in England at Clifton College, became a British citizen and worked in the grain trade in London before emigrating to the United States in 1925, where he took the stage name of John Houseman. He became a U.S. citizen in 1943. Houseman died of spinal cancer in 1988 at his home in Malibu, California, at age 86.
Day at Night: John Houseman Part 1
Day at Night: John Houseman, Part 2
John Houseman Wins Supporting Actor: 1974 Oscars
John Houseman on his two careers
The Paper Chase (1973)
SCTV - An Evening with John Houseman by Robin Williams
John Houseman in Rollerball (1975)
John Houseman - Entrertainers And The Entertained - Part 1
The Paper Chase (1973) - SON OF A BITCH KINGSFIELD
JOHN HOUSEMAN TRIBUTE
THE CRADLE WILL ROCK - The True Story
MAQUILLAJE CON OTRAS MANOS - NOT MY ARMS MAKEUP CHALLENGE Ft JOHN HOUSEMAN
John Michael - I'm In Love With Music
John Houseman in Smith Barney Commercial
Actors: Richard Linklater (director), Simon Atherton (miscellaneous crew), Steve Christian (producer), Richard Linklater (producer), Eddie Marsan (actor), John Sloss (producer), Jools Holland (actor), Claire Danes (actress), Zac Efron (actor), Chris Wilson (actor), Michael Brandon (actor), Greg Bennett (actor), Garrick Hagon (actor), Matt Curtis (miscellaneous crew), Libbie Barr (miscellaneous crew),
Plot: In November 1937, high school student and aspiring thespian Richard Samuels takes a day trip into New York City. There, he meets and begins a casual friendship with Gretta Adler, their friendship based on a shared love and goal of a profession in the creative arts. But also on this trip, Richard stumbles across the Mercury Theatre and meets 'Orson Welles' (qv), who, based on an impromptu audition, offers Richard an acting job as Lucius in his modern retelling of Julius Caesar, which includes such stalwart Mercury Theatre players as 'Joseph Cotten (I)' (qv) and 'George Coulouris' (qv). Despite others with official roles as producer 'John Houseman (I)' (qv), this production belongs to Welles, the unofficial/official dictator. In other words, whatever Welles wants, the cast and crew better deliver. These requests include everything, even those of a sexual nature. Welles does not believe in conventions and will do whatever he wants, which includes not having a fixed opening date, although the unofficial opening date is in one week's time. In turn, Welles realizes that his name will either be strengthened or ruined in the theater community by this production. Richard is taken under the wing by the production's Jane-of-All-Trades, Sonja Jones. Known as the Ice Queen by the male cast, Sonja deflects much of the unwanted sexual attention by jokingly implying that she and Richard are having a fling, which Richard wants nothing more than to be the truth. As the end of the week and opening night approaches, Richard, having seen Welles' behavior, has to decide if acting in this production is worth it at any cost.
Keywords: 17-year-old, 1930s, actor, actors'-equity-association, actress, ambition, ambulance, ambulance-siren, apology, applauseActors: Ridley Scott (producer), Melanie Griffith (actress), Brenda Blethyn (actress), Fiona Shaw (actress), James Cromwell (actor), Liev Schreiber (actor), Kerry Shale (actor), Jay Benedict (actor), Liam Cunningham (actor), David Suchet (actor), Cyril Shaps (actor), Roy Scheider (actor), John Malkovich (actor), John Altman (composer), Tony Scott (producer),
Plot: Coming to Hollywood as a celebrated boy genius featuring a spectacular career arc in New York including his "War of the Worlds" radio hoax, Orson Welles is stymied on the subject for his first film. After a dinner party at Hearst Castle, during which he has a verbal altercation with Hearst, Welles decides to do a movie about Hearst. It takes him some time to convince co-writer Herman Mankiewicz and the studio, but Welles eventually gets the script and the green light, keeping the subject very hush-hush with the press. When a rough cut is screened, Hearst gets wind of the movie's theme and begins a campaign to see that it is not only never publicly screened, but destroyed.
Keywords: 1940s, actress, anti-semitism, bankruptcy, based-on-documentary, based-on-true-story, censorship, director, film-director, film-industryActors: Frankie Faison (actor), Jay Bushman (writer), Jay Bushman (director), David Heckel (actor), Jay Bushman (producer), Todd Butera (actor), Kate Anthony (actress), Ilan Kometz (editor), Kevin Keaveney (actor), Loren Bevans (costume designer), Melanie Ashley (actress), Jim Spivey (miscellaneous crew), Matt Rankin (actor), Ray Schiel (actor), Camille McCord (actress),
Plot: 1937. Four years before Citizen Kane. Orson Welles is the budding "Wonderboy" of the theater. But at a rehearsal for "Doctor Faustus," not everyone holds him in such esteem. The crew is overworked and surly. The producer, John Houseman, wants to take control. But help arrives from an unlikely source.
Keywords: independent-filmActors: Paul Giamatti (actor), Philip Baker Hall (actor), Kyle Gass (actor), Peter Fernandez (actor), Hank Azaria (actor), John Cusack (actor), Cary Elwes (actor), Bob Balaban (actor), Lee Arenberg (actor), Ned Bellamy (actor), Carl Burrows (actor), Jack Black (actor), Rubén Blades (actor), Angus Macfadyen (actor), Barnard Hughes (actor),
Plot: In 1930s New York Orson Welles tries to stage a musical on a steel strike under the Federal Theater Program despite pressure from an establishment fearful of industrial unrest and red activity. Meanwhile Nelson Rockefeller gets the foyer of his company headquarters decorated and an Italian countess sells paintings for Mussolini.
Keywords: 1930s, actor, actress, anti-communist, art, artist, bare-breasts, based-on-play, based-on-true-story, beaver