Henry Bean (born August 3, 1945) is an American screenwriter, film director, film producer, novelist, and actor. Best known as a screenwriter, Bean wrote the screenplays for '' Internal Affairs'', '' Deep Cover'', ''

Venus Rising ''Venus Rising'' is a 1995 erotic science fiction film directed by Leora Barish and Edgar Michael Bravo and starring Billy Wirth, Audie England, Costas Mandylor, Morgan Fairchild, Meredith Salenger, Jessica Alba, and Joel Grey. Plot summary Ev ...

'', ''

The Believer Believer(s) or The Believer(s) may refer to: Religion * Believer, a person who holds a particular belief ** Believer, a person who holds a particular religious belief *** Believers, Christians with a religious faith in the divine Christ *** Beli ...

'', ''

Basic Instinct 2 ''Basic Instinct 2'' (also known as ''Basic Instinct 2: Risk Addiction'') is a 2006 erotic thriller film and the sequel to 1992's ''Basic Instinct''. The film was directed by Michael Caton-Jones and produced by Mario Kassar, Joel B. Michaels, a ...

'', and ''

Noise Noise is unwanted sound considered unpleasant, loud or disruptive to hearing. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrations through a medium, such as air or water. The difference arise ...

''. Bean directed ''The Believer'' and ''Noise''. He also acted in ''The Believer'', and was a producer on ''Deep Cover'' and ''Noise''.

Life

Bean was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, to Fahny (née Schorr) and Donald Bean (a lawyer). Bean is

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

. He received a BA from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

in 1967; and a MA from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

in 1973.

Career

Bean's 1983 novel ''False Match'' won a

PEN Center USA PEN Center USA was a branch of PEN, an international literary and human rights organization. It was one of two PEN International Centers in the United States, the other being the PEN America in New York City. On March 1, 2018, PEN Center USA unifi ...

award for "First Fiction". ''The Believer'' was awarded the dramatic Grand Jury Prize at the 2001

Sundance Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

; the Golden St. George at the

23rd Moscow International Film Festival The 23rd Moscow International Film Festival was held from 21 to 30 June 2001. The Golden St. George was awarded to the American film '' The Believer'' directed by Henry Bean. Jury * Margarethe von Trotta (Germany – President of the Jury) * Jia ...

.; and Bean was named a "Breakthrough Director" at the Gotham Independent Film Awards in 2001. Bean was the inspiration for the

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

of ''Noise''. He was so tired of constant noise around him and his home in New York City that he decided to take the law into his own hands. If a

car alarm A car alarm is an electronic device installed in a vehicle in an attempt to discourage theft of the vehicle itself, its contents, or both. Car alarms work by emitting high-volume sound (often a vehicle-mounted siren, klaxon, pre-recorded verbal ...

was going off and the owner of the vehicle didn't rectify the situation, Bean would break into the car to disable the offending car alarm. Bean was eventually arrested and jailed. He admits to doing it a few more times since. Bean was a co-writer on two episodes in the second season of ''

The OA ''The OA'' is an American mystery drama television series with science fiction, supernatural, and fantasy elements. ''The OA'' debuted on Netflix on December 16, 2016. Created and executive produced by Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij, the series ...

''.

Personal life

Bean married Nancy Eliason on January 3, 1968; they divorced February 14, 1970. He married screenwriter

Leora Barish Leora is a Hebrew female given name, which means "light unto me" or "I have light". Alternative spellings may be Liora or Liorah. The name can be a diminutive form of Eleanor. A male variant is Leor. The name Leora may refer to: People *Leora Ausl ...

on March 23, 1980.

Filmography

References

External links

* * 1945 births Living people American male film actors American male screenwriters Male actors from Philadelphia Film directors from Pennsylvania 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors Jewish American male actors Jewish American novelists Screenwriters from Pennsylvania 21st-century American Jews {{US-film-director-1940s-stub