John A. Ferraro (April 5, 1946 – December 7, 2010) was an American

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

stage director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

and

television director A television director is in charge of the activities involved in making a television program or section of a program. They are generally responsible for decisions about the editorial content and creative style of a program, and ensuring the prod ...

. His credits as a director included ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) a ...

'', as well as Broadway and

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 ...

plays. Ferraro was born in

Paterson, New Jersey Paterson ( ) is the largest City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Wayne, New Jersey Wayne is a Township (New Jersey), township in Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. Home to William Paterson University and located less than from Midtown Manhattan, the township is a bedroom suburb of New York ...

, where he attended

Wayne Valley High School Wayne Valley High School is a comprehensive four-year public high school, in Wayne, in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. The school serves students in ninth through twelfth grades as one of the two secondary schools of the Wayne Pu ...

. Ferraro received a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

fine arts In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork ...

from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

. He had been a resident of

North Haledon, New Jersey North Haledon (pronounced North HAIL-don) is a borough in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 8,417,New York Shakespeare Festival Shakespeare in the Park (or Free Shakespeare in the Park) is a theatrical program that stages productions of Shakespearean plays at the Delacorte Theater, an open-air theater in New York City's Central Park. The theater and the productions are ...

, as well as the theatrical production of ''Our Late Night''. Ferraro also embarked in a career in stage and television direction. His

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 ...

credits included ''

Saved From Obscurity Save, SAVE, or Saved may refer to: Places *Save (Garonne), a river in southern France *Save River (Africa), a river in Zimbabwe and Mozambique *Sava, a river in Eastern Europe also known as Save *Savè, Benin, a commune and city * Save, Govuro ...

'' in 1988. Ferraro worked as an associate director of the Broadway production of ''

The Pirates of Penzance ''The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, W. S. Gilbert. Its official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 ...

'' in the 1980s and directed ''

Crazy He Calls Me "Crazy He Calls Me" is a 1949 jazz standard. It was composed by Carl Sigman, with lyrics by Bob Russell. Notable recordings American jazz singer Billie Holiday recorded it. Other artists to record the song include Dinah Washington (with Clifford ...

'' in 1992. Ferraro's television direction credits included episodes of the PBS children's shows, ''

Shining Time Station ''Shining Time Station'' is an American children's television series jointly created by British television producer Britt Allcroft and American television producer Rick Siggelkow. The series was produced by Quality Family Entertainment (the Ame ...

'' and ''

''. He also directed television episodes of

The WB Television Network The WB Television Network (for Warner Bros., or the "Frog Network", for its former mascot, Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network launched on broadcast television on January 11, 1995, as a joint venture between the Warner Bro ...

's ''

Smart Guy ''Smart Guy'' is an American sitcom television series centering on the exploits of child prodigy T.J. Henderson (Tahj Mowry), who moves from being an elementary school student in the fourth grade to a high school student in the tenth grade, atte ...

'',

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programming ...

's ''The Higgins Boys and Gruber'' and

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

's off-Broadway production of ''Reno: In Rage and Rehab''. Ferraro joined the faculty of the

USC School of Cinematic Arts The University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts (SCA) houses seven academic divisions: Film & Television Production; Cinema & Media Studies; John C. Hench Division of Animation + Digital Arts; John Wells Division of Writing for Sc ...

in 2003. Ferraro died on December 7, 2010, of colon cancer at

USC University Hospital The Keck Hospital of USC, formerly USC University Hospital, is a private 401–licensed bed teaching hospital of the University of Southern California (USC). The hospital is part of the USC Keck School of Medicine, it is located on the USC Heal ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

at the age of 64. He was survived by his wife, Karen Emounts and his son Gregory Ferraro

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ferraro, John A. 1946 births 2010 deaths American male stage actors American theatre directors American television directors University of Southern California faculty Actors from Paterson, New Jersey People from North Haledon, New Jersey People from Wayne, New Jersey Tisch School of the Arts alumni Deaths from cancer in California Deaths from colorectal cancer Wayne Valley High School alumni