Julian Beck (May 31, 1925 – September 14, 1985) was an American actor, stage director, poet, and painter. He is best known for co-founding and directing The Living Theatre, as well as his role as Reverend Henry Kane, the malevolent preacher in the 1986 movie '' Poltergeist II: The Other Side''. The Living Theatre and its founders were the subject of the 1983 documentary ''

Signals Through The Flames ''Signals Through the Flames'' is a 1983 documentary film on the work of Julian Beck and Judith Malina as the founders of The Living Theatre performance company. The title of the film is taken from the work of Antonin Artaud in his book on theatre ...

''.

Early life

Beck was born on May 31, 1925, in the

Washington Heights, Manhattan Washington Heights is a neighborhood in the uppermost part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is named for Fort Washington, a fortification constructed at the highest natural point on Manhattan by Continental Army troops to defen ...

, to Mabel Lucille (), a teacher, and Irving Beck, a businessman. He briefly attended

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

, but dropped out to pursue writing and art. He was an abstract expressionist painter in the 1940s, but his career turned upon meeting his future wife. In 1943, he met Judith Malina and quickly came to share her passion for theatre; they founded The Living Theatre in 1947.

Career

Beck co-directed the Living Theatre until his death. The group's primary influence was Antonin Artaud, who espoused the

Theatre of Cruelty The Theatre of Cruelty (french: Théâtre de la Cruauté, also french: Théâtre cruel) is a form of theatre generally associated with Antonin Artaud. Artaud, who was briefly a member of the surrealist movement, outlined his theories in '' The The ...

, which was supposed to shock the audience out of complacency. This took different forms. In one example, from

Jack Gelber Jack Gelber (April 12, 1932 – May 9, 2003) was an American playwright best known for his 1959 drama '' The Connection'', depicting the life of drug-addicted jazz musicians. The first great success of the Living Theatre, the play was transl ...

's '' The Connection'', a drama about

drug addiction Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to engage in certain behaviors, one of which is the usage of a drug, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use oft ...

, actors playing junkies wandered the audience demanding money for a fix. The Living Theatre moved out of New York in 1964, after the Internal Revenue Service shut it down when Beck failed to pay $23,000 in back taxes. After a sensational trial in which Beck and Malina represented themselves, they were found guilty by a jury. Beck's philosophy of theatre carried over into his life. He once said, "We insisted on experimentation that was an image for a changing society. If one can experiment in theatre, one can experiment in life." He was indicted a dozen times on three continents for charges such as

disorderly conduct Disorderly conduct is a crime in most jurisdictions in the United States, the People's Republic of China, and Taiwan. Typically, "disorderly conduct" makes it a crime to be drunk in public, to " disturb the peace", or to loiter in certain are ...

, indecent exposure, possession of narcotics, and failing to participate in a civil defense drill. Besides his theatre work, Beck published several volumes of

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

reflecting his anarchist beliefs, two non-fiction books: ''The Life of the Theatre'' and ''Theandric'' and had several film appearances, with small roles in '' Oedipus Rex'' (1967), '' Love and Anger'' (1969), '' The Cotton Club'' (1984), '' 9½ Weeks'' (1986), and his role as the main antagonist in '' Poltergeist II: The Other Side'' (1986). Beck also appeared in an episode of ''

Miami Vice ''Miami Vice'' is an American crime drama television series created by Anthony Yerkovich and produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series stars Don Johnson as James "Sonny" Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs, two M ...

'' that was aired 13 days after his death.

Personal life

Beck and Malina were life partners in an

open marriage Open marriage is a form of non-monogamy in which the partners of a dyadic marriage agree that each may engage in extramarital sexual relationships, without this being regarded by them as infidelity, and consider or establish an open relatio ...

, and Beck had a long-term relationship with Ilion Troya, a male actor in the company. Malina and Beck shared a lover in Lester Schwartz, a bisexual shipyard worker who was the third husband of

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the Art movement, visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore th ...

acolyte Dorothy Podber. Beck and Malina had "two offstage children", Garrick and Isha.

Death

Beck was diagnosed with stomach cancer in late 1983, and died two years later on September 14, 1985, at Mount Sinai Hospital in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, aged 60. He was survived by his wife, their two children, Garrick and Isha, and a brother. He was interred at Cedar Park Cemetery, in Emerson, New Jersey. In 2004, 19 years after his death, Beck was posthumously inducted into the

American Theater Hall of Fame The American Theater Hall of Fame in New York City was founded in 1972. Earl Blackwell was the first head of the organization's Executive Committee. In an announcement in 1972, he said that the new ''Theater Hall of Fame'' would be located in the ...

. Judith Malina was also inducted to the Hall of Fame that same year.

Filmography

*''Narcissus'' (1958) - Narration (voice) *''The Queen of Sheba Meets the Atom Man'' (1963) *'' Oedipus Rex'' (1967) - Tiresia *''Après

la Passion selon Sade (The Passion according to Sade) is an opera by Sylvano Bussotti who also wrote the libretto, and was the set designer and director. The subtitle is "mistero da camera", describing it as a chamber mystery play. It was Bussotti's first work for the ...

'' (1968) *'' Candy'' (1968) *'' Love and Anger'' (1969) - Dying Man (segment "Agonia") *'' The Cotton Club'' (1984) - Sol Weinstein *''

'' (1985) - J.B. Johnston ("Prodigal Son" episode) *'' 9½ Weeks'' (1986) - Dinner Guest *'' Poltergeist II: The Other Side'' (1986) - Rev. Henry Kane (final film role)

References

External links

Living Theatre records, 1945-1991
held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division,

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, is located in Manhattan, New York City, at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on the Upper West Side, between the Metro ...

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Beck, Julian 1925 births 1985 deaths 20th-century American male actors 20th-century American poets American anarchists American male film actors American theatre directors Bisexual male actors Bisexual writers Burials at Cedar Park Cemetery (Emerson, New Jersey) Deaths from cancer in New York (state) Deaths from stomach cancer Jewish American artists Jewish American male actors Jewish American writers Jewish anarchists Jewish painters Jewish poets LGBT Jews LGBT theatre directors LGBT people from New York (state) American LGBT poets American LGBT writers Male actors from New York City People from Washington Heights, Manhattan Poets from New York (state) Writers from Manhattan American bisexual actors