Mark Hammer, 69, actor, teacher died
wazzzy
Mark Hammer, 69, who acted at Arena Stage and taught drama at Catholic
University and whose work spanned theater, film and television, died
Feb. 15 at Christ Hospital in Jersey City. He had complications of
renal failure, diabetes and sepsis.
Mr. Hammer, a talented character actor of expansive range, performed
at Arena Stage from 1973 to 1991 and taught scores of students at
Catholic from 1966 to 1989. His theater career took him to stages
throughout the United States and the world. He appeared on and off
Broadway as King Creon opposite Diana Riggs in "Medea" and as the
aging Father Lux in the 2003 New York premiere of the LAByrinth
Theater Company's "Our Lady of 121st Street."
He also specialized in Shakespeare and appeared numerous times in New
York Shakespeare Festival productions in Central Park. He narrated
recordings of more than 60 classic and contemporary novels, including
works by William Faulkner, Elmore Leonard and James Lee Burke.
In 70 productions over 18 years with Arena Stage, Mr. Hammer played
such roles as Sheridan Whiteside in "The Man Who Came to Dinner,"
Captain Shotover in George Bernard Shaw's "Heartbreak House," Pozzo in
Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot" and prosecutor Tom Norman in
Emily Mann's "Execution of Justice."
Guy Bergquist, Arena Stage facility project director, was the producer
of the theater when Mr. Hammer was a company member. "He was a
talented actor, a key leader of the ensemble group and great educator
of the craft of acting," Bergquist said. "He was as genuinely warm and
engaging off-stage as the characters he portrayed on."
Mr. Hammer was twice nominated for the Helen Hayes Award, for Joshua/
Cathy in "Cloud Nine" and Old Ekdal in Lucien Pintilie's staging of
"The Wild Duck." He traveled with Arena Stage productions to Russia
with "Inherit the Wind" and "Our Town"; China with "You Can't Take It
with You" and "After the Fall"; and Israel with "The Crucible."
In 1980, Mr. Hammer took on his first leading role at Arena Stage when
he played tyrannical Sheridan Whiteside. Washington Post reviewer
James Lardner praised Mr. Hammer for mastering his character.
"At first the quips roll too effortfully off Hammer's tongue, and the
wit sounds like store-bought goods," Lardner wrote. "But as the play
gets cooking, Hammer becomes steadily more spontaneous and energetic;
and when he fumes, snarls, grunts, wheezes with displeasure, or blows
Machiavellian smoke rings in the air -- as he will do from time to
time -- he is a roly-poly, despotic delight."
Mr. Hammer once described acting as "the spirit's response to the
body's mortality -- live enough lives within the span of the one life
endows, and you've beaten the game." He said theater was "one of
humanity's communal responses to its awareness of mortality."
"Theater is, among other things, an extraordinary means of stationary
travel," he wrote, "and as a tour guide to inner worlds of unique
human identities, I am committed, by purpose as well as preference, to
the pursuit of 'the undiscovered self.' Each role I undertake must
introduce me and my audience to a stranger -- a self none of us has
met before."
Mr. Hammer was born April 28, 1937, in San Jose and graduated from
Stanford University in 1959. He received a master's degree in fine
arts in theater from Catholic University in 1962 and was enrolled for
a year in the doctoral program in theater at Stanford. At Stanford, he
edited a humor magazine, the Stanford Chapparal.
For more than four decades, Mr. Hammer taught acting, improvisation,
comedy technique and dramatic literature.
He was a co-founder and, from 1966 to 1989, co-chairman of the Master
of Fine Art Professional Actor Training Program at Catholic
University.
With fellow Arena Stage company members Halo Wines and Stanley
Anderson, he also founded An Acting Workshop, an intensive summer
program in Washington. He did other teaching stints at the Stella
Adler Conservatory, New York University, Boston University and
Colorado College.
An ardent student of comedy, Mr. Hammer possessed an extensive private
collection of written humor, including anthologies dating from the
U.S. colonial period to the present, anthologies and critical studies
of comic folklore and folktales from all over the world, and textbooks
on comic theory and the techniques of acting and writing comedy for
all media.
His film credits included appearances in "Meet the Parents" (2000),
"Kiss of Death" (1995), "Year of the Dragon" (1985), "Raise the
Titanic" (1980) and "Being There" (1979). In 2003, he played Kirk
Douglas's older brother in "It Runs in the Family." On television, he
played recurring roles on "Law & Order" and "One Life to Live."
His marriages to Edna Joyce Clark Hammer and Carolyn Swift Jones
Hammer ended in divorce.
Survivors include two children from his first marriage, David Hammer
of the District and Kate Hammer of London; and a granddaughter.
Mr. Hammer, who moved from Washington in 1989 and lived in Weehawken,
N.J., continued to act and teach in spite of the amputation of both
legs due to complications of diabetes and an automobile accident in
2001.
He told an interviewer in 2003: "I'm always on the lookout for roles
that I can do. I'm just trying to cram as many lives as I can into the
one I've been given."
Hyfler/Rosner
"wazzzy" <enter...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>
> He also specialized in Shakespeare and appeared numerous
> times in New
> York Shakespeare Festival productions in Central Park. He
> narrated
> recordings of more than 60 classic and contemporary
> novels, including
> works by William Faulkner, Elmore Leonard and James Lee
> Burke.
>
He was an amazing reader. Odd, unexpected and completely
riveting. This is the year we've lost all these great
readers. Patrick Tull, David Case, Kate Fleming.
wazzzy
Mark Hammer, veteran actor
THESPIAN AND S.J. NATIVE HAD BROADWAY, TV AND FILM ROLES
By Joshua Molina
Mercury News
San Jose Mercury News
Article Launched:03/27/2007 01:51:14 AM PDT
A master actor, Mark Hammer earned accolades for his performances on
stage and in television and movies.
But it was as a boy growing up in San Jose where Mr. Hammer really
perfected his craft.
"I believe he honed his acting skills by shedding tears and pointing
fingers at me blaming me for things he had done," said his brother,
Phil Hammer. "He was a fabulous actor."
Mark Hammer, a character actor, a man of many faces on stage, died
Feb. 15 in New Jersey. He was 69.
Born in San Jose, he received his undergraduate degree from Stanford
University in 1959. Three years later, he earned a master's degree in
fine arts from the Catholic University of America.
Phil Hammer remembers that at Stanford, his brother showed the
diversity of his talents writing for the Stanford Chaparral, the
campus humor magazine.
"His untapped talent was as a humor writer," Phil Hammer said. But his
brother enjoyed acting more and chose to pursue it as his career.
He acted on stage around the country and the world, appearing on and
off Broadway. He appeared in the Shakespearean classics "Macbeth,"
"Henry VIII" and "The Taming of Shrew" and in hundreds of other
performances.
He spent most of his career as a performer and teacher at Arena Stage
in Washington, D.C.
During that period, he was twice nominated for the Helen Hayes Award
for performances in "Cloud Nine and "The Wild Duck," according to
friend Craig Wroe. Mr. Hammer also performed in international shows
for Arena Stage, traveling to Russia, China and Israel.
He had small parts in the movies "Meet the Parents," "Being There" and
"It Runs in the Family," among others. He also had recurring roles on
television's "One Life To Live" and "Law & Order," Wroe said.
Toward the latter part of his career, Mr. Hammer developed diabetes,
which resulted in the amputation of one of his legs. About 10 years
ago, he was hit head-on in his car by someone who fell asleep at the
wheel. The accident caused his other leg to be amputated.
"Despite all those things he continued to act, and he acted in a
wheelchair," Phil Hammer said. "People considered him one of the most
remarkable, courageous people they had ever known."
After the accident, Mr. Hammer began to focus more on another one of
his loves - audio readings.
He narrated more than 60 novels, including "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's
Nest," "Of Mice and Men" and "Cool Hand Luke."
"They are just wonderful to hear," Phil Hammer said of his brother's
readings, especially children's books.
"He was especially devoted to our kids and our grandchildren," Hammer
said, and made special recordings of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"
and "The Night Before Christmas" for the family.
Mr. Hammer had two children and was divorced twice.
Phil Hammer's wife, former San Jose Mayor Susan Hammer, said her
brother-in-law "was just marvelous in the way he interacted with
kids."
She said her last memory of Mr. Hammer was a few years ago in New
York, when she gave him a hug goodbye before he motored off on his
wheelchair.
She was impressed with his courage and resilience in the face of
personal tragedy.
"He didn't give up until the very end," she said. "He was an amazing
guy, a wonderful, wonderful performer. He really got into his
character, and I think the audience felt that."
MARK HAMMER
Born: April 28, 1937
Died: Feb. 15 in New Jersey
Survived by: Son David Hammer, daughter Kate Hammer and granddaughter,
Audrey.
Services: 6 p.m., May 7, Hartke Theatre, Catholic University,
Washington, D.C.
Memorial: Actors' Fund of America, 729 Seventh Ave., 10th Floor, New
York, N.Y. 10019, or by telephone to Judy Fish at the Actors' Fund:
(212) 221-7300, extension 127.
Brad Ferguson
wazzzy <enter...@gmail.com> wrote:
> During that period, he was twice nominated for the Helen Hayes Award
> for performances in "Cloud Nine and "The Wild Duck," according to
> friend Craig Wroe. Mr. Hammer also performed in international shows
> for Arena Stage, traveling to Russia, China and Israel.
>
> He had small parts in the movies "Meet the Parents," "Being There" and
> "It Runs in the Family," among others. He also had recurring roles on
> television's "One Life To Live" and "Law & Order," Wroe said.
Here he is:
http://www.wnyc.org/img/22440/0
On L&O he played the same arraignment judge in four episodes from 1991
to 2003.
Hyfler/Rosner
"Brad Ferguson" <thir...@frXOXed.net> wrote in message >
> Here he is:
>
> http://www.wnyc.org/img/22440/0
>
> On L&O he played the same arraignment judge in four
> episodes from 1991
> to 2003.
I got a very nice note from his daughter thanking me for
praising his audiobooks. They're out there reading us.