Alvin Epstein Biography (1925-)

Born May 14, 1925, in New York, NY; son of Harry (a doctor) and Goldie (maiden name, Rudnick) Epstein. Addresses: Contact: 82 Highland Rd., Brookline, MA 02445-7041.

Nationality: American
Gender: Male
Occupation: Actor, director, teacher
Birth Details: May 14, 1925; New York, New York, United States

Famous Works

CREDITS
Stage Appearances
(Stage debut) Lord Rivers, Richard III, Biarritz American University, U.S. Army, 1945
(New York debut) Wint Selby, Ah, Wilderness!, Equity Library Theatre, Lenox Hill Playhouse, 1946
Arthur Jarvis, Lost in the Stars, Habima Theatre, Tel Aviv, Israel, c. 1953-1955
Victor Karenin, The Living Corpse, Habima Theatre, c. 1953-1955
The Messiah, The Golem, Habima Theatre, c. 1953-1955
Tony, The Mother, Habima Theatre, c. 1953-1955
Donalbain, Macbeth, Habima Theatre, c. 1953-1955
The Snake, Legend of 3 and 4, Habima Theatre, c. 1953-1955
Willy Keith, The Caine Mutiny Court Martial, Habima Theatre, c. 1953-1955
Count Carlo di Nolli, Henry IV, Habima Theatre, c. 1953-1955
The Fool, King Lear, Habima Theatre, c. 1953-1955
Marcel Marceau and His Partners, Phoenix Theatre, then Ethel Barrymore Theatre, New York City, 1955
The Fool, King Lear, City Center Theatre, New York City, 1956
Lucky, Waiting for Godot, John Golden Theatre, New York City, 1956
Puck, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Empire State Music Festival, Ellenville, NY, 1956
O'Killigain, Purple Dust, Cherry Lane Theatre, New York City, 1956
Satan, Adam, White Barn Theatre, Westport, CT, 1956
The Devil, L'histoire du Soldat, Kaufman Auditorium, New York City, 1957
Johnny Casside, Pictures in the Hallway, Festival Theatre, Ravinia, IL, 1957
The Ragpicker, The Madwoman of Chaillot, Boston Summer Theatre, MA, 1957
Spy, Romanoff and Juliet, Shubert Theatre, Boston, MA, 1957
Vicomte Octave de Clerambard, Clerambard, Rooftop Theatre, New York City, 1957
Clov, Endgame, Cherry Lane Theatre, 1958
Claudius, The Golden Six, York Playhouse, New York City, 1958
Narrator, The Play of Daniel, Chapel of the Intercession, New YorkCity, 1959
Feste, Twelfth Night, Cambridge Drama Festival, MA, 1959
Ensemble, From A to Z (revue), Plymouth Theatre, New York City, 1960
Narrator, The Play of Daniel, St. George's Church, New York City,1961
Luc Delbert, No Strings, Fifty-Fourth Street Theatre, New York City, 1962
Sergeant, Dynamite Tonite, Actors Studio, New York City, 1963
Constable Kentinov, Alexander Lomov, and Trotsky, The Passion of JosefD., Ethel Barrymore Theatre, 1964
Brecht on Brecht, Playhouse in the Park, Philadelphia, PA, 1964
Title role, Enrico IV, Henry Miller Theatre, Milwaukee, WI, 1964,then Harper Theatre, Chicago, IL, 1964
A Wen and Orange Souffle (double bill), Loft, New York City, 1965
Bob McKelloway, Mary, Mary, Bucks County Playhouse, New Hope, PA,1965
Various roles, Postmark Zero, Brooks Atkinson Theatre, New York City, 1965
M. Berenger, Pedestrian in the Air, Goodman Theatre, Chicago, 1966
Mr. Antrobus, The Skin of Our Teeth, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Stockbridge, MA, 1966
Shylock, The Merchant of Venice, Berkshire Theatre Festival, 1966
Sergeant, Dynamite Tonite, Yale Repertory, New Haven, CT, 1966, later Martinique Theatre, New York City, 1967
Henry David Thoreau, At This Hour, Nassau Community College, LongIsland, NY, 1967
Theseus and Oberon, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Theatre de Lys, NewYork City, 1967
Ensemble, The World of Kurt Weill (revue), Ravinia Festival, Chicago, 1967, then Bijou Theatre, New York City, 1979
Arthur Landau, The Latent Heterosexual, Huntington Hartford Theatre, Los Angeles, 1968
William Clark Brackman, God Bless, Yale Repertory Theatre, 1968
Various roles, Story Theatre--Grimm's Fairy Tales, Yale RepertoryTheatre, 1968
Ensemble, A Kurt Weil Cabaret (revue with Martha Schlamme), Yale RepertoryTheatre, 1968, then Guthrie Theatre, Minneapolis, MN, 1977, then Bijou Theatre, New York City, 1979, then Aspen Music Festival, 1979 and 1980, then Roundabout Stage One, New York City, 1981, then Harold Clurman Theatre, 1984-1985, later Israel Festival, Jerusalem, 1985
The Golden Goose, Yale Repertory Theatre, 1968-1969
Various roles, Metamorphoses, Yale Repertory Theatre, 1969
Dionysus, The Bacchae, Yale Repertory Theatre, 1969
Title role, Greatshot, Yale Repertory Theatre, 1969
Ensemble, Whores, Wars and Tin Pan Alley (revue with Schlamme), The Bitter End, New York City, 1969, then Sheridan Square Playhouse, later Macloren Playhouse, Hollywood, CA, 1970
Maurice, Crimes and Crimes, Yale Repertory Theatre, 1970
Khlestakov, The Government Inspector, Yale Repertory Theatre, 1970
Title role, Don Juan, Yale Repertory Theatre, 1970
Various roles, Olympian Games, Yale Repertory Company at John DrewTheatre, Easthampton, NY, 1970
Three Stories by Philip Roth, Yale Repertory Company at John DrewTheatre, 1970
The questioner, A Place without Doors (English translation of L'amante anglaise), Long Wharf Theatre, New Haven, CT, 1970, and StaircaseTheatre, New York City, 1970, later Goodman Theatre, 1971-1972
Dr. Nakamura, Happy End, Yale Repertory Theatre, 1971-1972
Title role, Gimpel the Fool, Yale Repertory Theatre, 1971
Pietro, If I Married You for the Fun of It, Yale Repertory Theatre, 1972
Husband, Life Is A Dream, Yale Repertory Theatre, 1972
Title role, Macbeth, Yale Repertory Theatre, 1973
Prospero, The Tempest, Yale Repertory Theatre, 1973
Warrington and the judge, Lear (by Edward Bond), Yale Repertory Theatre, 1973
Various characters, Watergate Classics, Yale Repertory Theatre, 1973
Kirilov, The Possessed, Yale Repertory Theatre, 1974
Aekos, The Frogs, Yale Repertory Theatre, 1974

Sergeant, Dynamite Tonite!, Yale Repertory Theatre, 1976
Shakespeare, Bingo: Scenes of Money and Death, Yale Repertory Theatre, 1976
Title role, Ivanov, Yale Repertory Theatre, 1976
Grandfather, White Marriage, Yale Repertory Theatre, 1977
Kochkariev, Marriage, Guthrie Theatre, 1977
(With Martha Schlamme) Schlamme and Epstein Sing Bernstein and Blitzstein, Aspen Music Festival, HB Studio, New York City, and American Repertory Theatre, Cambridge, MA, 1981
Blondin, Crossing Niagara, Manhattan Theatre Club/Downstage, New York City, 1981
Vershinin, Three Sisters, American Repertory Theatre, 1982
Pastor Manders, Ghosts, American Repertory Theatre, 1982
Sir Peter Teazle, School for Scandal, American Repertory Theatre,1982
Reader, Ohio Impromptu, Harold Clurman Theatre, New York City, 1983-1984 and Mark Taper Forum New Theatre For Now, 1984, then Israel Festival,Jerusalem, 1985
Director/Protagonist, Catastrophe, Harold Clurman Theatre, 1983-1984 and Mark Taper Forum New Theatre For Now, 1984, then Israel Festival, 1985
What Where, Harold Clurman Theatre, 1983-1984 and Mark Taper ForumNewTheatre For Now, 1984, then Israel Festival, 1985
The Value of Names, Hartford Stage Company, 1983-1984
Various roles, Dead End Kids: A History of Nuclear Power, Mark Taper Forum New Theatre for Now, 1983-1984
Hamm, Endgame, Samuel Beckett Theatre, and Cherry Lane Theatre, then New Mayfair Theatre, Santa Monica, CA, all 1984, later Israel Festival, 1985
Androcles, Androcles and the Lion, Hartford Stage Company, 1985-1986
Dr. Bonfant, The Waltz of the Toreadors, Roundabout Theatre, New York City, 1985-1986
Soloist, Songs of Innocence and Experience, Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York City, 1987
Mr. Bonaparte, Golden Boy, Williamstown Theatre Festival, MA, 1987
Mr. ShuFu, The Good Woman of Setzuan, American Repertory Theatre,1987
Father, Six Characters in Search of an Author, American RepertoryTheatre, 1987
Henry Howe, Right You Are If You Think You Are, American RepertoryTheatre, 1987
Singer, Lotte Lenya Tribute, Kurt Weill Festival, Merkin Hall, NewYork City, 1987
Serebriakoff, Uncle Vanya, American Repertory Theatre, 1988
Father, Six Characters, Joyce Theatre, New York City, 1988
Glagoliev, Platonov, American Repertory Theatre, 1988
Senator Bunting, Representative Moss, and Wylie Slaughter, Mastergate, American Repertory Theatre, 1988
Various roles, In Twilight, American Repertory Theatre, 1989
Harpagon, The Miser, American Repertory Theatre, 1989
Jonathan Jeremiah Peachum, The Threepenny Opera, National Theatre,Washington, DC, and Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, New York City, 1989
Marquis de Sade, Marat/Sade, Williamstown Theatre Festival, 1990
Herman Glogauer, Once in a Lifetime, American Repertory Theatre, 1990
Arnold Rubek, When We Dead Awaken, American Repertory Theatre, 1991
Gloucester, King Lear, American Repertory Theatre, 1991
When the World Was Green (A Chef's Fable), Signature Theatre, NewYork City, 1996
Lee Strasberg, Nobody Dies on Friday, 1998
Shabelsky, Ivanov, American Repertory Theatre, 1999
Camillo, The Winter's Tale, American Repertory Theatre, 2000
Eric Honecker, Full Circle, American Repertory Theatre, 2000
Tiresias, Antigone, American Repertory Theater, 2000-2001
Morrie, Tuesdays with Morrie (workshop production), Eugene O'NeillTheater Center, CT, 2001
Leander, Lysistrata, Loeb Drama Center, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 2002
McLeavy, Loot, Williamstown Theatre Festival--Main Stage, Williamstown, MA, 2002
Morrie, Tuesdays with Morrie, Minetta Lane Theater, New York City,2002-
Major Tours
Lord Rivers, Richard III, Biarritz American University, U.S. Army,European cities, 1945-1946
Sganarelle, The Doctor in Spite of Himself, U.S. cities, 1951
Ensemble, A Kurt Weill Cabaret (revue), United States, South America, and Israel, 1967-1985
A Place without Doors, U.S. cities, 1971
King Stag, American Repertory Theatre, Madrid, Spain, 1988
Also toured with the French Mime Theatre of Etienne Decroux, Europe and the Middle East, 1947-51; toured with Marcel Marceau and His Partners, 1955.
Stage Director
On the Harmfulness of Tobacco, National Theatre of the Deaf, Waterford, CT, 1967, then Hunter College Playhouse, New York City, 1967, later theForum, Lincoln Center, New York City, 1968, and closing in Los Angeles, 1968
The Rivals, Yale Repertory Theatre, New Haven, CT, 1970-1971
The Seven Deadly Sins, Yale Repertory Theatre, 1970-1971
Macbeth, Yale Repertory Theatre, 1973
In the Clap Shack, Yale Repertory Theatre, 1973
(With Moni Yakim) The Tempest, Yale Repertory Theatre, 1973
The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahogany, Yale Repertory Theatre,1974
Colette, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Stockbridge, MA, 1974
A Midsummer Night's Dream, Yale Repertory Theatre, 1975
(With Walt Jones) Dynamite Tonite!, Yale Repertory Theatre, 1975
Troilus and Cressida, Yale Repertory Theatre, 1976
Julius Caesar, Yale Repertory Theatre, 1976
The Pretenders, Guthrie Theatre, Minneapolis, MN, 1977-1979
The Rivals, Guthrie Theatre, 1977-1979
The Beggars Opera, Guthrie Theatre, 1977-1979
A Midsummer Night's Dream, American Repertory Theatre, Cambridge,MA, 1979, 1980-1981
The Seven Deadly Sins, American Repertory Theatre, 1980-1981
The Marriage of Figaro, American Repertory Theatre, 1980-1981
The Boys From Syracuse, American Repertory Theatre, 1982 and 1983
Old Times, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Williamstown, MA, 1983
Endgame, Samuel Beckett Theatre, Cherry Lane Theatre, both New York City, and New Mayfair Theatre, Santa Monica, CA, all 1984, then Israel Festival, 1985
The Importance of Being Earnest, Yale Repertory Theatre, 1985-1986
Heartbreak House, Yale Repertory Theatre, 1987
Stage Work
Other
Set and set design, Ah, Wilderness!, Lenox Hill Playhouse, 1947
Assistant director, Miss Julie and The Stronger (double bill), Phoenix Theatre, 1956
Film Appearances
Voice of bookseller, Beauty and the Beast (also known as Beautyand the Beast: Special Edition), Buena Vista, 1991
Uncle Alfred, Never Met Picasso, Turbulent Arts, 1997
Leonard Carver, Alma Mater, 2002
Television Appearances
Series
Host, From China to U.S., 1978
Phillip Manning, The Doctors, NBC, 1981-1982
Movies
Lou Rosenberg, Doing Life (also known as Truth or Die), NBC, 1986
Specials
Voice, Africans in America--America's Journey Through Slavery, PBS, 1998
Voice, Jubilee Singers: Sacrifice and Glory, PBS, 2000
Episodic
(Television debut) "The Ballad of Yermo Red," Studio One, CBS, 1956
"The Fault in Our Stars," Naked City, 1961
Dr. Kaplan, "Who's the Fairest One of All?," Great Ghost Tales, 1961
"Maggie, Queen of the Jungle," Mr. Broadway, 1964
Dr. Chester, "Prescription for Death," Law & Order, NBC, 1990
Also appeared as Son, "Therese Raquin," Play of the Week, WNET; Lucky, "Waiting for Godot," Play of the Week, WNET; Noah, "Prayers Fromthe Ark," Look Up and Live, CBS; in Terezin Requiem, CBS; Story Theatre--Grimm's Fairy Tales, PBS; Lamp Unto My Feet, CBS; The Eternal Light, CBS; Omnibus, NBC; The Ed Sullivan Show,CBS; Ellery Queen, NBC; Accent, CBS; Histoire du Soldat.
RECORDINGS
Recorded Waiting for Godot (original cast recording), Columbia Records; Pictures in the Hallway, Spoken Arts Records; Blitzstein by Blitzstein, Caedmon Records; The Soldier's Tale, Kapp Records; No Strings (original cast recording), RCA Victor; also recorded a series of plays by Samuel Beckett for radio, 1988-90.
SIDELIGHTS
Favorite roles: Lucky in Waiting for Godot; Pirandello's Henry IV.

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