Andre Gregory

Andre Gregory

Born: May 11, 1934
in Paris, France
Gregory was born in Paris, France, in 1934 to Russian Jewish parents. He studied at Harvard University, where he was affiliated with Adams House.

During the 1960s and 1970s, Gregory directed a number of avant-garde productions developed through ensemble collaboration, the most famous of which was Alice in Wonderland (1970), based on Lewis Carroll's two classic Alice books. He founded his own theatrical company, The Manhattan Project, in 1968. In 1975 he directed Our Late Night, the first produced play by Wallace Shawn, which began a long working relationship between the two men.

Shortly afterward, Gregory's growing misgivings about the role of theatre in modern life, and what he felt was a trend toward fascism in the United States, led him to abruptly abandon theatre and leave the country. As described in the film My Dinner with Andre (1981), he traveled to Poland at director Jerzy Grotowski's invitation, where he developed a number of experimental theatrical events for private audiences. He spent several years in a variety of esoteric spiritual communities (such as Findhorn) developing an interest and practice in what could be called New Age beliefs.

Although Gregory left the theatre in 1975, he has returned several times to direct small productions, usually for invited audiences. These included a long-running workshop of Uncle Vanya (adapted by David Mamet), which was developed from 1990 to 1994 and featured Shawn and Julianne Moore. Though never publicly performed, it was released as the film Vanya on 42nd Street by Gregory and Louis Malle. He appeared as himself, directing the play featured within the film. Gregory also directed a radio production of Shawn's play, The Designated Mourner, in 2002.

He has had occasional film roles as a character actor, including John the Baptist in The Last Temptation of Christ and Reverend Spellgood in The Mosquito Coast, and as Dante, a restaurateur, alongside Rosanna Arquette, David Bowie, and Buck Henry in The Linguini Incident.

His best-known film performance was as the title character in My Dinner with Andre (1981), directed by Louis Malle, in which he and Wallace Shawn, playing characters based on themselves, have a long conversation over dinner. They discuss Gregory's spiritual sojourn in Europe and his doubts about the future of theatre and of Western civilization in general.

He appeared with Goldie Hawn in Protocol (1984). In 1988 he played the father in Some Girls, with Jennifer Connelly and Patrick Dempsey. In 1993, he performed in the movie Demolition Man with Sylvester Stallone.

Returning to theatre, Gregory directed Shawn's play Grasses of a Thousand Colors, which premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in London in May 2009. He next worked with Shawn on a new version of Ibsen's The Master Builder. This resulted in the film Fear of Falling (2013), directed by Jonathan Demme. The film was retitled A Master Builder at its opening in New York in June 2014.

In 2013, he directed Grasses of a Thousand Colors and The Designated Mourner, starring Shawn in a co-production between Theatre for a New Audience and The Public Theater in New York.

A 2013 documentary about Gregory's life, Andre Gregory: Before and After Dinner, was directed by his wife, Cindy Kleine. He and Kleine discussed it on the May 3, 2013, episode of Charlie Rose.

Movies for Andre Gregory...

A Master Builder
Title: A Master Builder
Character: Knut Brovik
Released: November 11, 2013
Type: Movie
A successful, ego-maniacal architect who has spent a lifetime bullying his wife, employees and mistresses wants to make peace as his life approaches its final act.
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Andre Gregory: Before and After Dinner
Title: Andre Gregory: Before and After Dinner
Character: Self
Released: April 3, 2013
Type: Movie
BEFORE AND AFTER DINNER is an exploration of the life and work of Andre Gregory, groundbreaking director, actor, artist, and raconteur, filmed by prize-winning documentarian Cindy Kleine, his wife. Through her close-up lens, Cindy introduces us to this cultural icon and master storyteller, and tells the unusual story of a good marriage that thrives in collaboration, art, and humor, celebrating the great vitality of the later years in life. The film touches on universal questions. Where does art come from? What experiences shape the life, the preoccupations, and the work of an artist? Drawing on the work Andre has created over a lifetime, and exploring the nature of the life that underlies the work, BEFORE AND AFTER DINNER is about how and why artists create.
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André Gregory and Wallace Shawn
Title: André Gregory and Wallace Shawn
Released: January 1, 2009
Type: Movie
In this hour-long piece, recorded in 2009, filmmaker Noah Baumbach talks with his friends the writer-actors André Gregory and Wallace Shawn about their experiences making My Dinner with Andre. Baumbach speaks first with Gregory, and then with Shawn.
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Goodbye Lover
Title: Goodbye Lover
Character: Rev. Finlayson
Released: April 16, 1999
Type: Movie
Police investigate when a man having an affair with his brother's wife disappears suddenly.
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Celebrity
Title: Celebrity
Character: John Papadakis
Released: September 7, 1998
Type: Movie
The career and personal life of writer Lee are at a standstill, so he divorces his bashful wife, Robin, and dives into a new job as an entertainment journalist. His assignments take him to the swankiest corners of Manhattan, but as he jumps from one lavish party to another and engages in numerous empty romances, he starts to doubt the worth of his work. Meanwhile, top TV producer Tony falls for Robin and introduces her to the world of celebrity.
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Hudson River Blues
Title: Hudson River Blues
Released: December 12, 1997
Type: Movie
Hoping to help their marriage, a Manhattan lawyer (Rya Kihlstedt) brings her burned-out husband (Robert Stanton) to her mother's home upstate.
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Who Is Henry Jaglom?
Title: Who Is Henry Jaglom?
Character: Self
Released: July 8, 1997
Type: Movie
Hailed by some as a cinematic genius, a feminist voice and a true maverick of American cinema, dismissed by others as a voyeuristic fraud and the "world's worst director," Henry Jaglom obsessively confuses and abuses the line between life and art. Featuring scores of interviews (including Orson Welles, Dennis Hopper, Milos Forman and Peter Bogdanovich) and rare behind-the-scenes footage, this hilarious documentary explores the fascinating question of Who Is Henry Jaglom?
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Last Summer in the Hamptons
Title: Last Summer in the Hamptons
Character: Ivan Axelrod
Released: November 22, 1995
Type: Movie
Helena Mora, the head of an eccentric theatrical family, has decided to sell her large estate in the Hamptons because of her recent money troubles. Before she completes the sale, she wants to have one last gathering of family and friends, with dramatic performances. Bringing everyone together, though, creates rivalries and tension, especially for Oona, a temperamental but successful movie actress who seeks the approval of her creative peers.
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Vanya on 42nd Street
Title: Vanya on 42nd Street
Character: Himself
Released: October 19, 1994
Type: Movie
An uninterrupted rehearsal of Chekhov's 1899 play "Uncle Vanya" played out by a company of actors. The setting is their run down theater with an unusable stage and crumbling ceiling. The play is shown act by act with the briefest of breaks to move props or for refreshments. The lack of costumes, real props and scenery is soon forgotten.
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The Shadow
Title: The Shadow
Character: Burbank
Released: July 1, 1994
Type: Movie
Based on the 1930's comic strip, puts the hero up against his arch enemy, Shiwan Khan, who plans to take over the world by holding a city to ransom using an atom bomb. Using his powers of invisibility and "The power to cloud men's minds", the Shadow comes blazing to the city's rescue with explosive results.
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Demolition Man
Title: Demolition Man
Character: Warden William Smithers - Aged
Released: October 8, 1993
Type: Movie
Simon Phoenix, a violent criminal cryogenically frozen in 1996, escapes during a parole hearing in 2032 in the utopia of San Angeles. Police are incapable of dealing with his violent ways and turn to his captor, who had also been cryogenically frozen after being wrongfully accused of killing 30 innocent people while apprehending Phoenix.
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The Linguini Incident
Title: The Linguini Incident
Character: Dante
Released: May 1, 1991
Type: Movie
A waitress, a barman and an underwear designer try to rob a New York restaurant where two of them work.
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The Bonfire of the Vanities
Title: The Bonfire of the Vanities
Character: Aubrey Buffing
Released: December 21, 1990
Type: Movie
After his mistress runs over a black teen, a Wall Street hotshot sees his life unravel in the spotlight; A down-and-out reporter breaks the story and opportunists clamber to use it to their advantage.
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Location Production Footage: The Last Temptation of the Christ
Title: Location Production Footage: The Last Temptation of the Christ
Character: Self
Released: October 7, 1988
Type: Movie
Behind the scenes of 'The Last Temptation of the Christ'
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Some Girls
Title: Some Girls
Character: Mr. D'Arc
Released: September 9, 1988
Type: Movie
While on Christmas break, college student Michael journeys to Quebec City to spend time with his attractive girlfriend, Gabriella. Not long after he arrives, Gabriella breaks up with him, but her two equally gorgeous sisters waste no time showing romantic interest. In the meantime, Michael is left to deal with Gabriella's eccentric grandmother and offbeat father, an academic who spends most of his time naked.
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The Last Temptation of Christ
Title: The Last Temptation of Christ
Character: John the Baptist
Released: May 28, 1988
Type: Movie
Jesus, a humble Judean carpenter beginning to see that he is the son of God, is drawn into revolutionary action against the Roman occupiers by Judas -- despite his protestations that love, not violence, is the path to salvation. The burden of being the savior of mankind torments Jesus throughout his life, leading him to doubt.
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Street Smart
Title: Street Smart
Character: Ted Avery
Released: March 20, 1987
Type: Movie
A New York journalist lies when his fake story about a pimp describes a real pimp up for murder.
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The Mosquito Coast
Title: The Mosquito Coast
Character: Reverend Spellgood
Released: November 26, 1986
Type: Movie
Allie Fox, an American inventor exhausted by the perceived danger and degradation of modern society, decides to escape with his wife and children to Belize. In the jungle, he tries with mad determination to create a utopian community with disastrous results.
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Follies: In Concert
Title: Follies: In Concert
Character: Dimitri Weismann
Released: March 14, 1986
Type: Movie
A backstage documentary film including footage from the legendary 1985 concert performance of Stephen Sondheim's classic musical at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall. The plot of the musical centers around a reunion of showgirls who appeared in an annual Follies extravaganza when it was staged between the wars.
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Always
Title: Always
Character: Party Philosopher
Released: October 4, 1985
Type: Movie
A middle-aged couple, on the verge of proceeding with a divorce, find themselves questioning their decision to separate when fellow friends and neighbors, oblivious to their marital troubles, assemble at their house for a 4th of July Weekend party.
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Protocol
Title: Protocol
Character: Nawaf Al Kabeer
Released: December 21, 1984
Type: Movie
A Washington waitress saves the Emir of Ohtar's life, launching her diplomatic career and a scandal.
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The Soldier's Tale
Title: The Soldier's Tale
Character: Narrator (voice)
Released: January 1, 1984
Type: Movie
A soldier, returning home from war, chances upon a stranger who offers to buy his violin. The stranger is none other than the devil.
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Alice in Wonderland
Title: Alice in Wonderland
Character: Mad Hatter
Released: October 3, 1983
Type: Movie
From the elaborate Broadway revival of the 1932 Eva Le Gallienne/Florida Friebus production comes a whimsical retelling of the Lewis Carroll classic.
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Author! Author!
Title: Author! Author!
Character: J.J.
Released: June 18, 1982
Type: Movie
A broadway playwright is burning the candle at both ends. He is dealing with pressure from a production nearing premiere, a wife who is leaving him, and 5 children 4 of which belong to her.
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My Dinner with Andre
Title: My Dinner with Andre
Character: Andre Gregory
Released: October 11, 1981
Type: Movie
Wallace Shawn and Andre Gregory share life stories and anecdotes over the course of an evening meal at a restaurant.
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Title: Great Performances
Character: Dimitri
Released: January 28, 1971
Type: TV
The best in the performing arts from across America and around the world including a diverse programming portfolio of classical music, opera, popular song, musical theater, dance, drama, and performance documentaries.
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Title: Great Performances
Character: Mad Hatter
Released: January 28, 1971
Type: TV
The best in the performing arts from across America and around the world including a diverse programming portfolio of classical music, opera, popular song, musical theater, dance, drama, and performance documentaries.