Stephen T. Blackehart (born December 1, 1967) is an American character actor, author, and producer.
Education
Blackehart began his artistic education at the
University of South Florida
The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF is ...
under BAFTA-winning character actor
Paul Massie
Paul Massie (born Arthur Dickinson Massé; July 7, 1932June 8, 2011) was a Canadian actor and academic. He later became a theater professor at the University of South Florida in the 1970s. He remained on faculty until his retirement as professor ...
, before moving overseas to attend the
London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) is a drama school located in Hammersmith, London. It is the oldest specialist drama school in the British Isles and a founding member of the Federation of Drama Schools.
LAMDA's Principal is ...
.
While at LAMDA, in addition to the normal study-and-performance curriculum, Blackehart studied swordsmanship under renowned fight masters Rodney Cottier and John Waller, and went on to attain an advanced certification from the Society of British Fight Directors (now called the
BASSC). Upon returning to the U.S., he became an active member of Manhattan's Westside
Repertory
A repertory theatre is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation.
United Kingdom
Annie Horniman founded the first modern repertory theatre in Manchester after withdrawing ...
Theatre (at the time the oldest classical theater company in the city), and by day studied at
HB Studio
The HB Studio (Herbert Berghof Studio) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization offering professional training in the performing arts through classes, workshops, free lectures, theater productions, theater rentals, a theater artist residency progra ...
under
Uta Hagen
Uta Thyra Hagen (12 June 1919 – 14 January 2004) was a German-American actress and theatre practitioner. She originated the role of Martha in the 1962 Broadway premiere of ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' by Edward Albee, who called her "a p ...
and with character actor
William Hickey.
Career
Blackehart first became known for playing Benny Que in the
cult classic
A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...
film ''
Tromeo and Juliet
''Tromeo and Juliet'' is a 1997 American independent transgressive romantic black comedy film and a loose adaptation of William Shakespeare's ''Romeo & Juliet'' from Troma Entertainment. The film was directed by Lloyd Kaufman from a screenplay ...
'', though he has since acted in a mixture of
B-movies
A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double featur ...
(''
Retro Puppet Master
''Retro Puppet Master'' (also known as ''Retro Puppetmaster'') is a 1999 American direct-to-video horror film written by Charles Band, Benjamin Carr and David Schmoeller, and directed by David DeCoteau (as Joseph Tennent). It is the seventh film ...
'', ''
The Land That Time Forgot'') and mainstream films, many of which are associated with
James Gunn
James Francis Gunn Jr. (born August 5, 1966) is an American filmmaker and executive. He began his career as a screenwriter in the mid-1990s, starting at Troma Entertainment with ''Tromeo and Juliet'' (1997). He then began working as a director ...
(''
The Belko Experiment
''The Belko Experiment'' is a 2016 American horror thriller film directed by Greg McLean and written by James Gunn, who also produced the film with Peter Safran. It stars John Gallagher Jr., Tony Goldwyn, Adria Arjona, John C. McGinley, Melon ...
'',
''Super'',
''Guardians of the Galaxy'', ''
The Suicide Squad''),
whom he met while working on ''Tromeo''.
In addition to his film work, Blackehart has acted in TV series including ''
Grey's Anatomy
''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series that premiered on March 27, 2005, on ABC as a mid-season replacement. The series focuses on the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings as they develop into se ...
'', ''
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'', and ''
The Orville
''The Orville'' is an American science fiction comedy-drama television series created by Seth MacFarlane, who also stars as series protagonist Ed Mercer, an officer in the Planetary Union's line of exploratory space vessels in the 25th century ...
''. He was a regular on the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
'', where he originated the role of Felix, the French Trickster.
In 2004, Blackehart produced
''. It was subsequently picked up for distribution by
's distinction as a "Collector's Series" disc immediately upon its video release.
It was also voted #2 by the editors of
in their list of ''Best DVDs of the Year - Comedy'', and completely sold out of all copies within the first day of release.
In 2008 and 2009, he produced the comedy web series ''
.
In November 2014, he published a collection of novellas entitled ''A Stranger to the Darklands and Other Tales''.
. It has been reported that Blackehart was born as Stefano Brando and is the son of late actor
, though Blackehart denies that he is related.