Fisher Stevens
Fisher Stevens (born Steven Fisher; November 27, 1963) is an American actor, director, producer and writer. As an actor, he is best known for his portrayals of Ben Jabituya in Short Circuit (renamed "Ben Jahveri" in the sequel), Chuck Fishman on the 1990s television series Early Edition, and villainous computer genius Eugene "The Plague" Belford in Hackers. His most recent successes include winning the 2010 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for The Cove and the 2008 Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary Feature for Crazy Love. In addition, he has directed the Leonardo DiCaprio-produced documentary Before the Flood, executive produced by Martin Scorsese, which screened at the Toronto International Film Festival and by National Geographic on October 21, 2016.
Fisher Stevens | |
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Stevens in 2016 | |
Born | Steven Fisher November 27, 1963 |
Occupation | Actor, director, producer, writer |
Years active | 1981–present |
Early life
Fisher Stevens was born Steven Fisher in Chicago, the son of Sally, a painter and AIDS activist, and Norman Fisher, a furniture executive.[1]
Stevens grew up in the Chicago, Illinois area, living in Hyde Park, Highland Park, and Evanston[2] and describes himself as a "white Jewish kid from Chicago."[3] His parents divorced when he was 13, after which he moved to New York with his mother.[2] In the past, Stevens battled with Hodgkin's disease.[1]
At age 16, Stevens landed his first movie role, acting in the horror film The Burning. He completed one year at New York University before deciding to pursue acting full time.[2]
Career
He co-founded the Naked Angels Theater Company with longtime friends Rob Morrow, Nicole Burdette, Pippin Parker, Charles Landry, Nancy Travis and Ned Eisenberg in 1986. He also co-founded Greene Street Films, a film-production company located in Tribeca, New York City, in 1996. Stevens performed as Edgar Allan Poe on Lou Reed's album The Raven in 2003. He is an accomplished harmonica player.
As an actor, he is known for his roles as Chuck Fishman on Early Edition, Seamus O'Neill on Key West, Eugene "The Plague" Belford in Hackers, Iggy in Super Mario Bros., Hawk Ganz in The Flamingo Kid, and his role as Ben Jabituya/Jahveri in Short Circuit and Short Circuit 2, respectively.[3] His television credits include Columbo, Frasier, Friends, Law & Order, Key West, Damages, and Lost. He appeared on two episodes of the television series Numb3rs.[4]
Fisher also has a Broadway and off-Broadway career spanning nearly three decades. He played Jigger Craigin in the 1994 Lincoln Center revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel. He had an early success in the 1982 Broadway production of Torch Song Trilogy playing David, the adopted son of the gay protagonist played by the show's writer Harvey Fierstein, and the original Broadway production of Brighton Beach Memoirs, where he succeeded Matthew Broderick in the starring role of Eugene. Throughout his career, he has acted in and directed more than 50 stage productions.[5]
In 2010, Fisher co-founded a new media and documentary film company, Insurgent Media, with Andrew Karsch and Erik H. Gordon.
In June 2010, Stevens made his major theatrical directing debut with John Leguizamo's one-man show, Ghetto Klown (originally called Klass Klown), which eventually ran on Broadway from March to July 2011.[6][7] The two had appeared together in a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream at The Public Theater about 20 years earlier. On July 13, 2012, PBS debuted Tales From a Ghetto Klown, a documentary about the development of the show which prominently features Stevens.[8]
In 2010, Stevens won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for co-producing The Cove.[9]
He directed the 2012 crime story Stand Up Guys, starring Al Pacino and Christopher Walken. He teamed up with Alexis Bloom to direct the film Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016.
Filmography
Film
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1981 | The Burning | Woodstock | |
1983 | Baby It's You | Stage Manager | |
1984 | The Brother from Another Planet | Card Trickster | |
1984 | The Flamingo Kid | Hawk Ganz | |
1985 | My Science Project | Vince Latello | |
1986 | Short Circuit | Ben Jabituya | |
1986 | The Boss' Wife | Carlos Delgado | |
1988 | Short Circuit 2 | Ben Jahveri | |
1989 | Bloodhounds of Broadway | Hotfoot Harry | |
1990 | Point of View | Performer | |
1990 | Reversal of Fortune | David Marriott | |
1991 | The Marrying Man | Sammy | |
1991 | Mystery Date | Dwight | |
1992 | Lift | Joe | Short |
1992 | Bob Roberts | Rock Bork | |
1992 | Hero | Dir. of Channel 4 Crash Feature | Cameo |
1993 | When the Party's Over | Alexander | |
1993 | Super Mario Bros. | Iggy | |
1994 | Nina Takes a Lover | Paulie | |
1994 | Only You | Larry | |
1995 | Cold Fever | Jack | |
1995 | Hackers | The Plague | |
1996 | The Pompatus of Love | Sitcom Star | |
1997 | Four Days in September | Mowinkel | |
1999 | Taxman | Kenneth Green | |
1999 | The Tic Code | Morris | |
2000 | Sam the Man | Sam Manning | |
2000 | Lisa Picard is Famous | Fisher Stevens | |
2001 | 3 A.M. | Haplin | |
2001 | Prison Song | Prosecutor | |
2001 | Piñero | Public Theatre Cashier | |
2002 | Undisputed | Ratbag | |
2003 | Kill the Poor | Stuffed Shirt | |
2003 | Uptown Girls | Fisher Stevens | |
2003 | Anything Else | Manager | |
2003 | Easy Six | Officer Donny | |
2003 | Reply | Blu (voice) | |
2004 | On the Couch | Gary | Short |
2005 | Factotum | Manny | |
2005 | Undiscovered | Garret Schweck | |
2005 | Slow Burn | Alan Turlock | |
2006 | Kettle of Fish | Bruce | |
2007 | Red Angel | David | Short |
2007 | Awake | Dr. Puttnam | |
2010 | Fake | Tom Kozinski | |
2010 | Rio Sex Comedy | Fish/Tourist Guide | |
2010 | Rising Stars | Mo | |
2010 | The Experiment | Archaleta | |
2010 | Henry's Crime | Eddie's Vibes | |
2012 | One for the Money | Morty Beyers | |
2012 | LOL | Roman | |
2013 | Movie 43 | Vrankovich/Minotaur | |
2014 | The Grand Budapest Hotel | M. Robin | |
2014 | Mission Blue | Himself | Documentary |
2014 | United Passions | Carl Hirschmann | |
2016 | Hail, Caesar! | Communist Writer | |
2018 | Isle of Dogs | Scrap (voice) | |
2019 | Motherless Brooklyn | Lou | |
2021 | The French Dispatch | Legal Advisor | Completed |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1980 | One Life to Live | Unknown role | |
1983 | Ryan's Hope | Henry Popkin | |
1984 | CBS Schoolbreak Special | Gary Gordon | Season 1, episode 4 |
1986 | Tall Tales & Legends | Indian Chief | Episode: Ponce de Leon |
1989 | Columbo | Alex Brady | Episode: Murder, Smoke and Shadows |
1990 | The Young Riders | Bulldog | Episode: Bull Dog |
1991 | General Motors Theatre | Wally Zuckerman | Episode: It's Called the Sugar Plum |
1993 | Key West | Seamus O'Neill | 13 episodes |
1995 | Friends | Roger | Episode: The One with the Boobies |
1995 | Homicide: Life on the Street | Jonathan Heine | Episode: Autofocus |
1995 | Law & Order | Ross Fineman | Episode: Angel |
1996 | The Right To Remain Silent | Dale Meyerson | Television Movie |
1996–2000 | Early Edition | Chuck Fishman | 48 episodes |
2000 | The Hunger | Max Armstrong | Episode: The Suction Method |
2001 | Frasier | Dr. Sheldon Morey | Episode: The Wizard and Roz |
2001 | 100 Centre Street | Ben Berkowitz | Episode: Queenie's Running |
2001 | Jenifer | Dr. Aaron Sanders | Television Movie |
2002 | Is It College Yet? | (voice) | Television Movie |
2002 | Hack | Donnie Franco | Episode: Favors |
2003 | The Lives They Lived | Narrator | Television Movie |
2004 | Hope & Faith | Nick Spinelli | Episode: The Diner Show |
2004 | Dr. Vegas | Charlie | Episode: Dead Man, Live Bet |
2004–2007 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Performer | 2 episodes |
2008 | It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia | Lyle Korman | Episode: Paddy's Pub: The Worst Bar in Philadelphia |
2008–2010 | Lost | George Minkowski | 6 episodes |
2009 | Medium | Neal Greybridge | Episode: Medium is the Message |
2009 | Numb3rs | John Buckley | 2 episodes |
2009 | The Green Teem | Jack Fisher | Television Movie |
2010 | Ugly Betty | Mr. Z | Episode: Back in her Place |
2010 | The Mentalist | Tolman Bunting | Episode: 18-5-4 |
2011 | Californication | Zig Semetauer | Episode: Monkey Business |
2011 | Damages | Therapist | 4 episodes |
2012–2016 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Various | 2 episodes |
2015 | Elementary | Marty Ward | Episode: Under My Skin |
2015–2020 | The Blacklist | Marvin Gerard | 7 episodes |
2016 | The Night Of | Saul the Pharmacist | 3 episodes |
2017 | Red Oaks | Jerry | Episode: "Summer in the City" |
2017 | Vice Principals | Brian Biehn | 4 episodes |
2017–2020 | The Good Fight | Gabriel Kovac | 3 episodes |
2019–present | Succession | Hugo Baker | 5 episodes |
Director
Year | Title | Notes |
---|---|---|
1995 | Call of the Wylie | |
1996 | Phinehas | |
1998–1999 | Early Edition | 2 episodes |
2002 | Just a Kiss | |
2007 | Crazy Love | co-directed with Dan Klores |
2010–2011 | John Leguizamo - Ghetto Klown | opened on Broadway March 2011 |
2012 | Stand Up Guys | |
2016 | Before the Flood | [10] |
2016 | Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds | |
2019 | And We Go Green | |
2021 | Palmer | |
Producer
Year | Title | Notes |
---|---|---|
2000 | Sam the Man | |
2001 | The Château | |
2001 | Piñero | |
2002 | Swimfan | |
2003 | Uptown Girls | |
2004 | Yes | |
2005 | Slow Burn | |
2006 | A Prairie Home Companion | |
2006 | Once in a Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos | |
2006 | Wedding Daze | |
2007 | Crazy Love | |
2007 | Meet Bill | |
2007 | Feast of Love | |
2007 | Awake | |
2008 | The Midnight Meat Train | |
2009 | The Grean Teem | |
2009 | Balls Out: Gary the Tennis Coach | |
2009 | Tenderness | |
2009 | The Cove | |
2011 | Blank City | |
2011 | Hollywood Renegade | |
2011 | Bad Trip | |
2011 | Mission Blue | |
2012 | Beware of Mr. Baker | |
2015 | Racing Extinction | |
2016 | Sky Ladder: The Art of Cai Guo-Qiang | |
2016 | Before the Flood | |
2020 | Tiger King | |
Writer
- Sam the Man (2000, story)
- The Grean Teem (2009, story)
Narrator
- Secondhand Souls: A Novel by Christopher Moore
- A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore
- Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore
- The Highest Tide: A Novel by Jim Lynch
Awards and nominations
Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
Academy Award | Best Documentary Feature | The Cove | Won | |
Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Documentary Series | American Masters | Nominated | |
Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking | Racing Extinction | Nominated | ||
Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds | Nominated | |||
Outstanding Directing for a Documentary Program | Nominated | |||
Cannes Film Festival | Golden Eye | Nominated | ||
Toronto International Film Festival | People's Choice Award | Before the Flood | Nominated | |
References
- Lipton, Michael A. (July 13, 1992). "The Two Lives of Catwoman – Couples, Batman Returns, Fisher Stevens, Michelle Pfeiffer". People. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
- Johnson, Steven (June 26, 1986). "FISHER STEVENS SCOOTS INTO THE LIMELIGHT 'SHORT CIRCUIT' ROLE PUTS CHICAGO NATIVE ON FAST TRACK". Chicago Tribune. p. 11.
- Steve Weinstein (August 2, 1988). "Shooting Stars: 'Short Circuit's' Stevens No Foreigner to Ethnic Roles". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 7, 2011. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
- Fisher Stevens at IMDb
- "Biography for Fisher Stevens". Internet Movie Database.
- Hurwitt, Robert (June 3, 2010). "John Leguizamo goes deeper, darker in 'Klown'". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
- Isherwood, Charles (March 22, 2011). "A Queens Guy Toughs It Out in Hollywood". The New York Times. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
- Aucoin, Don (July 12, 2012). "In 'Tales From a Ghetto Klown,' Broadway minus the glitz". The Boston Globe.
- "Nominees & Winners for the 82nd Academy Awards | Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences". Oscars.org. Archived from the original on April 8, 2010. Retrieved April 7, 2011.
- "Before the Flood [programme note]". Toronto International Film Festival. 2016. Archived from the original on August 27, 2016. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fisher Stevens. |