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Bill O'Brien | |
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| Alma mater | University of Northern Iowa |
| Occupation | Actor |
Bill O'Brien is an American television series actor and the Senior Advisor for Program Innovation at the National Endowment for the Arts.
O'Brien was appointed to serve as Deputy Chairman of Grants and Awards for the National Endowment for the Arts [1] shortly after the election of President Barack Obama in 2008. [1]
During his time at the NEA, O'Brien led the Walter Reed/NEA Healing Arts Partnership (including Operation Homecoming). This initiative explored the role of the arts in assisting the healing of military service members recovering from traumatic brain injuries and psychological health issues. He also led the State Department's Declaration of Learning initiative.[ citation needed ]
O'Brien graduated with a degree in Musical Theater from the University of Northern Iowa in 1985. [2] [3] He was nominated as the NEA's Director of Theater and Musical Theater [3] in July 2006. In 2007, he designed and initiated the NEA National New Play Development program, which was administered by Arena Stage and featured the NEA Outstanding New American Play and Distinguished New Play Development selections.[ citation needed ]
Before joining the NEA, he served for seven years as producing director and managing director for Deaf West Theater (DWT). [3] While there, he received a Tony and a Drama Desk nomination for producing the Broadway sign language production of Big River and received three Ovation Award nominations for his work on the production of Big River at Deaf West as producer, sound designer, and lead actor. The production won three Best Musical awards (Ovation, LADCC, and Back Stage Garland Awards), and the cast of Big River was awarded the 2004 Tony Honor for Excellence in Theatre. Other productions he produced for Deaf West include A Streetcar Named Desire (Ovation Award for Best Play) and Oliver! (Ovation Award for Best Musical).[ citation needed ]
O'Brien has also served as executive vice president on the executive board of the National Alliance for Music Theater and as a task force member, conference speaker, and grant panelist with Theater Communications Group, both national service organizations for the theater and musical theater fields.[ citation needed ]
O'Brien has performed onstage in 48 states in numerous national touring and regional productions and was an American College Theater Festival Irene Ryan Acting Competition National Finalist.[ citation needed ]
O'Brien has recurred in all seven seasons as Kenny, the ASL interpreter of Joey Lucas (Marlee Matlin), on The West Wing . [4] He learned ASL when working at the National Technical Instituate of the Deaf.
Additional Actor/Singer/Composer/Songwriter Credits
