Alan Myerson (born July 1, 1940) is an American film and television director.
Myerson began working in theatre in New York City, then directing The Second City in Chicago. He founded the improvisational comedy troupe The Committee in San Francisco in 1963. He directed films in the 1970s and 1980s, and has directed over 200 television episodes for shows such as Ally McBeal , Boston Public , Friends , Boy Meets World , The Larry Sanders Show , Picket Fences , Miami Vice, Laverne & Shirley , Rhoda , The Bob Newhart Show , and Busting Loose . He has taught acting at UC Berkeley, SF State, and directing at Maine Media Workshops. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California, and has received nominations for Emmy, DGA, and CableACE awards. [1] His son, Lincoln Myerson, is an improvisational performer. [2]
Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted, created spontaneously by the performers. In its purest form, the dialogue, action, story, and characters are created collaboratively by the players as the improvisation unfolds in present time, without use of an already prepared, written script.
The Larry Sanders Show is an American television sitcom set in the office and studio of a fictional late-night talk show. Created by Garry Shandling and Dennis Klein, the show ran for six seasons and 90 episodes on the HBO cable television network from August 15, 1992, to May 31, 1998.
Alan Cumming is a Scottish actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen, he has received numerous accolades including a BAFTA Award, a New York Emmy Award, two Tony Awards, and an Olivier Award. He received the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance for the West End production of Accidental Death of an Anarchist (1991). His other Olivier-nominated roles were in The Conquest of the South Pole (1988), La Bête (1992), and Cabaret (1994). Cumming won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for reprising his role as the Emcee on Broadway in Cabaret (1998). His other performances on Broadway include Design for Living (2001), and Macbeth (2013).
Christopher Joseph Isaak is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional actor. Noted for his reverb-laden rockabilly revivalist style and wide vocal range, he is popularly known for his breakthrough hit and signature song "Wicked Game"; as well as international hits such as "Blue Hotel", "Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing", and "Somebody's Crying".
Stephen Fisher, known professionally as Fisher Stevens, is an American actor, director, producer and writer. As an actor, he is best known for his portrayals of Ben in Short Circuit (1986) and Short Circuit 2 (1988). He is also a documentary filmmaker, winning the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for The Cove (2009). He also directed the documentaries Crazy Love (2007) and Before the Flood (2016).
Barbara Eden is an American actress and singer, who starred as the title character in the sitcom I Dream of Jeannie (1965–1970). Her other roles included Roslyn Pierce opposite Elvis Presley in Flaming Star (1960), Lieutenant (JG) Cathy Connors in Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961), and a single widowed mother, Stella Johnson, in the film Harper Valley PTA (1978) and in the television series of the same name.
Marv Newland is an American-Canadian filmmaker, specialized in animation.
Howard Hesseman was an American actor known for his television roles as burned-out disc jockey Dr. Johnny Fever on WKRP in Cincinnati and the lead role of history teacher Charlie Moore on Head of the Class. He appeared regularly on television and in film from the 1970s to 2010s, with his other noteworthy roles including Sam Royer in the last two seasons of One Day at a Time and a supporting role as Captain Pete Lassard in the film Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment.
Robert Martin Culp was an American actor and screenwriter widely known for his work in television. Culp earned an international reputation for his role as Kelly Robinson on I Spy (1965–1968), the espionage television series in which co-star Bill Cosby and he played secret agents. Before this, he starred in the CBS/Four Star Western series Trackdown as Texas Ranger Hoby Gilman in 71 episodes from 1957 to 1959. The 1980s brought him back to television as FBI Agent Bill Maxwell on The Greatest American Hero. Later, he had a recurring role as Warren Whelan on Everybody Loves Raymond, and was a voice actor for various computer games, including Half-Life 2. Culp gave hundreds of performances in a career spanning more than 50 years.
William Russ is an American actor and television director. He played Alan Matthews on the sitcom Boy Meets World (1993–2000) and appeared in the television series Wiseguy, the soap operas Another World and The Young and the Restless and the feature films The Right Stuff (1983), Pastime (1990) and American History X (1998).
Blake Sennett is an American musician and actor who served as the lead guitarist for indie rock band Rilo Kiley, as well as the lead singer/lead guitarist for his alt-rock side project the Elected. Until 2017 he led Night Terrors of 1927 with Jarrod Gorbel. In addition to being a musician, Sennett was a teen actor, appearing on the television shows Salute Your Shorts and Boy Meets World. As an actor, Sennett originally went by the names Blake Soper and Blake Swendson.
Chauncey Leopardi is an American actor known for playing Michael "Squints" Palledorous in the 1993 film The Sandlot and Alan White in the 1999 series Freaks and Geeks.
Peter Baldwin Bonerz is an American actor and director.
Paul Willson is an American film, television and voice actor who played Paul Krapence on Cheers.
David George Arkin was an American actor, known for his numerous supporting appearances in the films of Robert Altman. These roles were part of Altman's frequent ensemble and included Staff Sergeant Vollmer in M*A*S*H, Harry in The Long Goodbye (1973), Norman in Nashville (1975), and The Mailman/The Police Officer in Popeye (1980).
Deborah May is an American actress and model. May won the Miss Indiana beauty pageant in 1970.
Lawrence Alan Hankin is an American character actor. He has had major film roles as Charley Butts in Escape from Alcatraz (1979), Ace in Running Scared (1986), and Carl Alphonse in Billy Madison (1995). He had smaller roles as Doobie in Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Sergeant Larry Balzak in Home Alone, Mr. Heckles in Friends, and Joe in Breaking Bad and El Camino.
Theodore Jonas Flicker was an American playwright, theatrical producer, television and film director, actor, television writer, screenwriter, author and sculptor.
Phil Leeds was an American character actor. He is best known for appearing in many movies and television series, including guest appearances in The Dick Van Dyke Show, Maude, Friends, Barney Miller, The Golden Girls, Everybody Loves Raymond, Boy Meets World and more.
The Committee was a San Francisco-based improvisational comedy group founded by Alan Myerson and Jessica Myerson. The Myersons were both alums of The Second City in Chicago. The Committee opened April 10, 1963 at 622 Broadway in a 300-seat Cabaret theater that used to be an indoor bocce ball court in San Francisco's North Beach.