Career Wallace Shawn

1 career

1.1 playwright
1.2 acting
1.3 voice acting

career
playwright

shawn s plays, such marie , bruce (1978), portrayed emotional , sexual conflicts in absurdist style, language both lyrical , violent. in conversation andre gregory, parts of used create dinner andre, shawn referred these plays depicting interior life raging beast. critical response extremely polarized: critics hailed shawn major writer, while john simon called marie , bruce garbage , described shawn 1 of unsightliest actors in city . 1977 play thought in 3 parts caused controversy in london when production investigated vice squad , attacked in parliament after allegations of pornographic content.

his later plays became more overtly political, drawing parallels between psychology of characters , behavior of governments , social classes. among best-known of these aunt dan , lemon (1985) , designated mourner (1997). shawn s political work has invited controversy, presents audience several contradictory points of view, such aunt dan , lemon, shawn described cautionary tale against fascism. monologue fever, created shawn performed small audiences in apartments, describes person becomes sick while struggling find morally consistent way live when faced injustice, , harshly criticizes record of united states in supporting oppressive anti-communist regimes. in 1997, shawn discussed political nature of aunt dan , lemon, fever , designated mourner in interview. in interview shawn talked extensively patrick mcgrath thematic developments between 3 plays, own views on marxist, communist , socialist politics, relevance american liberalism, , how government , individual responsibilities finding solutions dichotomy between rich , poor in world take hold in characters presented in plays. shawn s 4 plays have been adapted films: designated mourner (basically film version of david hare s stage production), marie , bruce, dinner andre , fever. oscar winner vanessa redgrave stars in fever (2004), first aired on hbo on june 13, 2007.

shawn has written political commentary nation, , in 2004 published one-issue-only progressive political magazine final edition, features interviews , articles jonathan schell, noam chomsky, mark strand , deborah eisenberg. shawn credited translator of bertolt brecht s threepenny opera, opened @ studio 54 in manhattan on march 25, 2006. appears briefly in voice-over during song futility of human endeavor . published first nonfiction work, essays, on september 1, 2009. collection of essays expresses perceptions of politics , other subjects reflect aspect of life.

acting

shawn s involvement theater began in 1970 when met andre gregory, has since directed several of plays. stage actor, has appeared in own plays , other projects gregory. made film debut in 1979, playing diane keaton s former husband in woody allen s manhattan , insurance agent in bob fosse s jazz. best-known film roles include earl in strange invaders (1983) , mr. hall in clueless (1995). after seeing performance in dinner andre (1981), casting director janet hirshenson fond of delivery of word inconceivable cast him vizzini in princess bride (1987). other roles include baron von westphalen in southland tales, on gossip girl cyrus rose, , in haunted mansion (2003) ezra.

his rare non-comedic film roles include 2 collaborations andre gregory , louis malle: semiautobiographical dialogue dinner andre, , combined production-and-backstage-drama of uncle vanya titled vanya on 42nd street. shawn quite appears on television, has appeared in many genres , series. has had recurring roles grand nagus zek in star trek: deep space nine, stuart best in murphy brown, jeff engels in cosby show, dr. howard stiles in crossing jordan, arnie ross in taxi, charles lester in wife, , reprisal of role mr. hall in clueless (based on film). appeared in 1985 music video chaka khan s night . on february 4, 2010, shawn appeared alan rubin in daily show jon stewart. appeared in vegas vacation (1997) marty. shawn s latest film opened in birthplace in new york in june 2014 titled master builder.

shawn honored in 2005 pen/laura pels international foundation theater award master american dramatist.

voice acting

shawn voice actor animated films , television series, including rex in toy story franchise, mr. gilbert huph in incredibles, principal mazur in goofy movie, bertram in family guy, munk in happily n ever after, , caricature of himself in bojack horseman.

in fox , hound, going voice boomer, dropped out , replaced paul winchell. in cats & dogs: revenge of kitty galore, shawn replaced jon lovitz voice of calico. coincidentally, lovitz , shawn both appeared in never woman.