Andre Gregory

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 avantgarde productions developed through ensemble collaboration the most famous of which was Alice in Wonderland 1970 based on Lewis Carrolls 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 Gregorys 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 Grotowskis 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 longrunning 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 Shawns 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 bestknown 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 Gregorys 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 Shawns 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 Ibsens 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 coproduction between Theatre for a New Audience and The Public Theater in New York A 2013 documentary about Gregorys 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