Andre Gregory
Gregory was born in Paris, France, in 1934 to Russian Jewish parents. He studied at Harvard University, where he was affiliated with Adams House. During the 1960s and 1970s, Gregory directed a number of avant-garde productions developed through ensemble collaboration, the most famous of which was Alice in Wonderland (1970), based on Lewis Carroll's two classic Alice books. He founded his own theatrical company, The Manhattan Project, in 1968. In 1975 he directed Our Late Night, the first produced play by Wallace Shawn, which began a long working relationship between the two men. Shortly afterward, Gregory's growing misgivings about the role of theatre in modern life, and what he felt was a trend toward fascism in the United States, led him to abruptly abandon theatre and leave the country. As described in the film My Dinner with Andre (1981), he traveled to Poland at director Jerzy Grotowski's invitation, where he developed a number of experimental theatrical events for private audiences. He spent several years in a variety of esoteric spiritual communities (such as Findhorn) developing an interest and practice in what could be called New Age beliefs. Although Gregory left the theatre in 1975, he has returned several times to direct small productions, usually for invited audiences. These included a long-running workshop of Uncle Vanya (adapted by David Mamet), which was developed from 1990 to 1994 and featured Shawn and Julianne Moore. Though never publicly performed, it was released as the film Vanya on 42nd Street by Gregory and Louis Malle. He appeared as himself, directing the play featured within the film. Gregory also directed a radio production of Shawn's play, The Designated Mourner, in 2002. He has had occasional film roles as a character actor, including John the Baptist in The Last Temptation of Christ and Reverend Spellgood in The Mosquito Coast, and as Dante, a restaurateur, alongside Rosanna Arquette, David Bowie, and Buck Henry in The Linguini Incident. His best-known film performance was as the title character in My Dinner with Andre (1981), directed by Louis Malle, in which he and Wallace Shawn, playing characters based on themselves, have a long conversation over dinner. They discuss Gregory's spiritual sojourn in Europe and his doubts about the future of theatre and of Western civilization in general. He appeared with Goldie Hawn in Protocol (1984). In 1988 he played the father in Some Girls, with Jennifer Connelly and Patrick Dempsey. In 1993, he performed in the movie Demolition Man with Sylvester Stallone. Returning to theatre, Gregory directed Shawn's play Grasses of a Thousand Colors, which premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in London in May 2009. He next worked with Shawn on a new version of Ibsen's The Master Builder. This resulted in the film Fear of Falling (2013), directed by Jonathan Demme. The film was retitled A Master Builder at its opening in New York in June 2014. In 2013, he directed Grasses of a Thousand Colors and The Designated Mourner, starring Shawn in a co-production between Theatre for a New Audience and The Public Theater in New York. A 2013 documentary about Gregory's life, Andre Gregory: Before and After Dinner, was directed by his wife, Cindy Kleine. He and Kleine discussed it on the May 3, 2013, episode of Charlie Rose.
Simon Phoenix, a violent criminal cryogenically frozen in 1996, escapes during a parole hearing...
Movie pageMy Dinner with Andre
as Andre GregoryWallace Shawn and Andre Gregory share life stories and anecdotes over the course of an evening...
Movie pageJesus, a humble Judean carpenter beginning to see that he is the son of God, is drawn into...
Movie pageThe Shadow
as BurbankBased on the 1930's comic strip, puts the hero up against his arch enemy, Shiwan Khan, who plans...
Movie pageCelebrity
as John PapadakisThe career and personal life of writer Lee are at a standstill, so he divorces his bashful wife,...
Movie pageSome Girls
as Mr. D'ArcWhile on Christmas break, college student Michael journeys to Quebec City to spend time with his...
Movie pageStreet Smart
as Ted AveryA New York journalist lies when his fake story about a pimp describes a real pimp up for murder.
Movie pageThe Bonfire of the Vanities
as Aubrey BuffingAfter his mistress runs over a black teen, a Wall Street hotshot sees his life unravel in the...
Movie pageAuthor! Author!
as J.J.A broadway playwright is burning the candle at both ends. He is dealing with pressure from a...
Movie pageThe Mosquito Coast
as Reverend SpellgoodAllie Fox, an American inventor exhausted by the perceived danger and degradation of modern...
Movie pageA Master Builder
as Knut BrovikA successful, ego-maniacal architect who has spent a lifetime bullying his wife, employees and...
Movie pageVanya on 42nd Street
as HimselfAn uninterrupted rehearsal of Chekhov's 1899 play "Uncle Vanya" played out by a company of...
Movie pageProtocol
as Nawaf Al KabeerA Washington waitress saves the Emir of Ohtar's life, launching her diplomatic career and a scandal.
Movie pageGoodbye Lover
as Rev. FinlaysonPolice investigate when a man having an affair with his brother's wife disappears suddenly.
Movie pageThe Linguini Incident
as DanteA waitress, a barman and an underwear designer try to rob the New York restaurant where two of...
Movie pageLast Summer in the Hamptons
as Ivan AxelrodHelena Mora, the head of an eccentric theatrical family, has decided to sell her large estate in...
Movie pageWho Is Henry Jaglom?
as SelfHailed by some as a cinematic genius, a feminist voice and a true maverick of American cinema,...
Movie pageHudson River Blues
as uncreditedHoping to help their marriage, a Manhattan lawyer (Rya Kihlstedt) brings her burned-out husband...
Movie pageFollies: In Concert
as Dimitri WeismannA backstage documentary film including footage from the legendary 1985 concert performance of...
Movie pageAlways … But Not Forever
as Party PhilosopherA middle-aged couple, on the verge of proceeding with a divorce, find themselves questioning...
Movie pageThe Soldier's Tale
as Narrator (voice)A soldier, returning home from war, chances upon a stranger who offers to buy his violin. The...
Movie pageAlice in Wonderland
as Mad HatterFrom the elaborate Broadway revival of the 1932 Eva Le Gallienne/Florida Friebus production...
Movie pageAndré Gregory and Wallace Shawn
as uncreditedIn this hour-long piece, recorded in 2009, filmmaker Noah Baumbach talks with his friends the...
Movie pageGreat Performances
as Mad HatterThe best in the performing arts from across America and around the world including a diverse...
TV Show pageGreat Performances
as DimitriThe best in the performing arts from across America and around the world including a diverse...
TV Show page