Bern Cohen (New York City, 1949)Mandy Actors
is an American actor and educator. He spent many years in the New York City education system before returning to acting in 2005.

Early years

Cohen grew up in New York's Al Smith Projects on South Street in

Chinatown, Manhattan Manhattan's Chinatown () is a Neighborhoods in Manhattan, neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City, bordering the Lower East Side to its east, Little Italy, Manhattan, Little Italy to its north, Civic Center, Manhattan, Civic Center to its ...

. After attending

Valley Stream South High School Valley Stream South High School (VSSHS) is a combined public junior and senior high school located in South Valley Stream, New York, in southwest Nassau County on Long Island. The school was established in 1955. The high school is one of three h ...

, he attended

Adelphi University Adelphi University is a private university in Garden City, New York. Adelphi also has centers in Manhattan, Hudson Valley, and Suffolk County. There is also a virtual, online campus for remote students. It is the oldest institution of higher ed ...

on full

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

and started his New York professional acting career while still in college.

Career in education

By age 26, Cohen decided to leave acting in favor of a more involved role in parenting his two children. He went into education and was a fourth-grade teacher before teaching secondary Remedial Reading and becoming an administrator. He earned two

graduate degree Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor's) degree. The organization and struc ...

s in education administration and

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

and

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...

. Cohen led seven group trips to the

Amazon Rainforest The Amazon rainforest, Amazon jungle or ; es, Selva amazónica, , or usually ; french: Forêt amazonienne; nl, Amazoneregenwoud. In English, the names are sometimes capitalized further, as Amazon Rainforest, Amazon Forest, or Amazon Jungle. ...

and wrote three college textbooks in the fields of

bilingual education In bilingual education, students are taught in two (or more) languages. It is distinct from learning a second language as a subject because both languages are used for instruction in different content areas like math, science, and history. The t ...

, school evaluation, and

race relations Race relations is a sociological concept that emerged in Chicago in connection with the work of sociologist Robert E. Park and the Chicago race riot of 1919. Race relations designates a paradigm or field in sociology and a legal concept in the ...

. He was President of BCR&D, a large private

research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...

group that specialized in assessing public education programs. In New York City, he was a District Director of Instruction in two school districts and eventually served in that capacity for the entire New York City school system. He was assigned to take over and lead several low-achieving New York schools and became known for his ability to turn failing schools into successful schools with demanding academic models and supportive behavior remediation.

Acting career

Cohen took early retirement from his academic career to return to acting studies with Penny Templeton and Ruth Nerkin, and rejoined the New York acting corps. He is a member of the

Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...

Equity Equity may refer to: Finance, accounting and ownership * Equity (finance), ownership of assets that have liabilities attached to them ** Stock, equity based on original contributions of cash or other value to a business ** Home equity, the dif ...

, and

AFTRA The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) was a performers' union that represented a wide variety of talent, including actors in radio and television, radio and television announcers and newspersons, singers and recording ar ...

. He created the role of Morris Bober in the first stage adaptation of

Bernard Malamud Bernard Malamud (April 26, 1914 – March 18, 1986) was an American novelist and short story writer. Along with Saul Bellow, Joseph Heller, and Philip Roth, he was one of the best known American Jewish authors of the 20th century. His baseba ...

's '' The Assistant'' at New York's Turtle Shell Theater. He appeared in several other

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

shows and 15 films since retiring as a high school principal in 2005. Cohen played Rebbe Horowitz in the 2010 Sundance Festival selection, ''

Holy Rollers #REDIRECT Holy Roller #REDIRECT Holy Roller {{R from other capitalisation ... {{R from other capitalisation ...

''. His other principal film roles include ''

Tickling Leo Tickling Leo is a 2009 independent drama film about three generations of a Jewish family whose silence about their past has kept them apart. The film was directed by Jeremy Davidson, and stars Lawrence Pressman, Daniel Sauli, Annie Parisse, Eli W ...

'' with

Eli Wallach Eli Herschel Wallach (; December 7, 1915 – June 24, 2014) was an American film, television, and stage actor from New York City. From his 1945 Broadway debut to his last film appearance, Wallach's entertainment career spanned 65 years. Origina ...

, ''

27 Dresses ''27 Dresses'' is a 2008 American romantic comedy film directed by Anne Fletcher, written by Aline Brosh McKenna, and starring Katherine Heigl and James Marsden. The film was released in Australia on January 10, 2008, and in the United States on J ...

'' with

Katherine Heigl Katherine Marie Heigl ( ; born November 24, 1978) is an American actress and former fashion model. She played Dr. Izzie Stevens on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television medical drama ''Grey's Anatomy'' from 2005 to 2010, a role tha ...

, ''Fallen Star'' (formerly '' Goyband'') with

Tovah Feldshuh Terri Sue "Tovah" Feldshuh (born December 27, 1948) is an American actress, singer, and playwright. She has been a Broadway star for more than four decades, earning four Tony Award nominations. She has also received two Emmy Award nominations f ...

, and ''

Brooklyn Rules ''Brooklyn Rules'' is a 2007 American crime drama film directed by Michael Corrente, written by Terence Winter and starring Alec Baldwin, Scott Caan, Freddie Prinze Jr., Jerry Ferrara and Mena Suvari. The plot follows a group of lifelong friends ...

'' with

Alec Baldwin Alexander Rae Baldwin III (born April 3, 1958) is an American actor, comedian, and producer. In his early career, Baldwin played both leading and supporting roles in a variety of films such as Tim Burton's ''Beetlejuice'' (1988), Mike Nichol ...

Filmography

*2018: ''

To Dust ''To Dust'' is a 2018 American comedy-drama film directed by Shawn Snyder and starring Géza Röhrig and Matthew Broderick, Leo Heller and Sammy Voit. It was produced by Emily Mortimer, Alessandro Nivola and Ron Perlman. The film premiered at the ...

'' as Reb Goshen *2016: ''

Shooting Clerks ''Shooting Clerks'' is a 2023 British-American biographical comedy-drama film directed by Christopher Downie and starring Brian O'Halloran, Mark Frost, Jason Mewes, Scott Schiaffo, Matthew Postlethwaite and Kevin Smith. It was produced by Auld R ...

'' as Thomas Burke *2016: ''Brooklyn Tide'' as Mr. Blake *2015: ''Mad Full of Dreams'' as Lowenstein *2014: ''Frank vs. God'' as Rabbi Grossman *2012: '' Doctor Bello'' as Dr. Bernstein *2011: ''

Identical Two things are identical if they are the same, see Identity (philosophy). Identical may also refer to: * ''Identical'' (Hopkins novel), a 2008 young adult novel by Ellen Hopkins * ''Identical'' (Turow novel), a 2013 legal drama novel by Scott T ...

'' as Rabbi Resnikoff *2011: ''

Project Nim Neam "Nim" Chimpsky (November 19, 1973 – March 10, 2000) was a chimpanzee and the subject of an extended study of animal language acquisition at Columbia University. The project was led by Herbert S. Terrace with the linguistic analysis head ...

'' as Dr. Lemmon *2010: ''

Holy Rollers #REDIRECT Holy Roller #REDIRECT Holy Roller {{R from other capitalisation ... {{R from other capitalisation ...

'' as Rebbe Horowitz *2009: ''

'' as Yosef Gottleib *2006: ''

The Minority ''The Minority'' is a 2007 American film written and directed by Dwayne Buckle and starring Billoah Greene as Jake Jackson. The Minority was Dwayne Buckle's first feature-length film which was shot in New York City. The movie had its theatrical m ...

'' as Dr. Berger

References

Notes

Sources

* "Bilingual Education Models", ''NY Times'' * ''Who's Who in Education'' * ''BACKSTAGE'', March, 2009 * ''Times Herald Record'', June, 2005 * ''Rockland Review'', August, 2009

External links

Home Page
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Bern Male actors from New York City Adelphi University alumni City College of New York alumni Teachers College, Columbia University alumni Living people 1949 births