Editing Julian Beck (section)

== Career ==
Beck co-directed the Living Theatre until his death. The group's primary influence was [[Antonin Artaud]], who espoused the [[Theatre of Cruelty]], which was supposed to shock the audience out of complacency. This took different forms. In one example, from [[Jack Gelber]]'s ''[[The Connection (play)|The Connection]]'' (1959), a drama about drug addiction, actors playing [[Substance dependence|junkie]]s wandered the audience demanding money for a fix.
The Living Theatre moved out of New York in 1964, after the [[Internal Revenue Service]] (IRS) shut it down when Beck failed to pay $23,000 in back taxes. After a sensational trial in which Beck and Malina represented themselves, they were found guilty by a jury.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Johnston |first1=Richard |title=Jury Finds Becks Guilty in Tax Case; Living Theater Couple Face Fines and Jail Terms |url=https://nyti.ms/3A6insR |work=The New York Times|date=May 26, 1964 |volume=113|issue=38839 |page=L45 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Weber |first1=Bruce |title=Judith Malina, Founder of the Living Theater, Dies at 88 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/11/theater/judith-malina-founder-of-the-living-theater-dies-at-88.html |work=The New York Times |date=10 April 2015}}</ref>

Beck's philosophy of theatre carried over into his life. He once said "We insisted on experimentation that was an image for a changing society. If one can experiment in theatre, one can experiment in life." He was indicted a dozen times on three continents for charges such as disorderly conduct, indecent exposure, possession of narcotics, and failure to participate in a civil defense drill.<ref name=obit/>

Besides his theatre work, Beck published several volumes of poetry reflecting his [[anarchism|anarchist]] beliefs; two non-fiction books: ''The Life of the Theatre'' and ''Theandric''; and made several film appearances, with small roles in ''[[Oedipus Rex (1967 film)|Oedipus Rex]]'' (1967), ''[[Love and Anger (film)|Love and Anger]]'' (1969), ''[[The Cotton Club (film)|The Cotton Club]]'' (1984), and ''[[9½ Weeks]]'' (1986). He had a role as the main antagonist in ''[[Poltergeist II: The Other Side]]'' (1986), which was released posthumously. Beck also appeared in an episode of ''[[Miami Vice]]'' that aired 13 days after his death.