Editing Julian Beck

{{Short description|American actor, stage director, poet, and painter (1925–1985)}}
{{for|the American judge and legislator |Julian Beck (judge)}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| image         = JulianBeck.jpg
| alt           =
| caption       =
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1925|5|31}}
| birth_place   = New York City, U.S. <!-- No boroughs/neighborhoods, just cities per format -->
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|1985|9|14|1925|5|31}}
| death_place   = New York City, U.S.
| resting_place = [[Cedar Park Cemetery, New Jersey]]
| occupation    = {{hlist|Actor|stage director|poet|painter}}
| years_active  = 1943–1985
| spouse        = {{Marriage|[[Judith Malina]]|1948}}
| children      = 2
}}
'''Julian Beck''' (May 31, 1925 – September 14, 1985) was an American actor, stage director, poet, and painter. He is best known for co-founding and directing [[the Living Theatre]], as well as his role as Reverend Henry Kane, the malevolent preacher in the supernatural horror film ''[[Poltergeist II: The Other Side]]'' (1986)

== Early life ==
Beck was born on May 31, 1925, in the [[Washington Heights, Manhattan]], to Mabel Lucille (née Blum), a teacher, and Irving Beck, a businessman. He was named after Julia Beck (née Blum), his mother's sister and his father's first wife, who had died in the [[influenza pandemic of 1918]].<ref>[[John Tytell]], ''The Living Theatre: Art, Exile, and Outrage'', [[Grove Press]], New York, 1995, {{ISBN|0-8021-1558-6}}, p. 11</ref>

He briefly attended Yale University, but withdrew to pursue writing and art. He was an [[Abstract expressionism|abstract expressionist]] painter in the 1940s, but his career turned upon meeting his future wife. In 1943, he met [[Judith Malina]] and quickly came to share her passion for theatre; they founded [[The Living Theatre]] in 1947.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gussow |first1=Mel |title=The Living Theater Returns to Its Birthplace |url=https://nyti.ms/3A6lrVP |work=[[The New York Times]] |volume=133|issue=45924 |date=January 15, 1984 |page=H6}}</ref>

== 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.

== Personal life ==
Beck and Malina had an [[open marriage]], and Beck had a long-term relationship with Ilion Troya, a male actor in the company. Malina and Beck shared a lover in Lester Schwartz,<ref>[[John Tytell]], ''The Living Theatre: Art, Exile, and Outrage'', Grove Press, New York, 1995, {{ISBN|0-8021-1558-6}}, p. 120</ref> a shipyard worker who was the third husband of [[Andy Warhol]] acolyte [[Dorothy Podber]].<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1579445/Dorothy-Podber.html Obituary of Dorothy Podber], ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', February 26, 2008</ref> Beck and Malina had two children, Garrick and Isha.

=== Death ===
Beck was diagnosed with stomach cancer in late 1983, and he died two years later on September 14, 1985 at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, aged 60.<ref name=obit>{{cite news |last1=Freedman |first1=Samuel |title=Julian Beck, 60, Is Dead; Founded Living Theater |url=https://nyti.ms/3k6WhkI |work=The New York Times |volume=134 |issue=46535 |date=September 17, 1985 |language=en}}</ref>

In 2004, 19 years after his death, Beck was inducted into the [[American Theater Hall of Fame]]. Judith Malina was inducted to the Hall of Fame the same year.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://old.post-gazette.com/ae/20040128fameweb0128p1.asp|title=Theater honors put women in the spotlight|work=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]|date=January 28, 2004|access-date=May 4, 2014|archive-date=March 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304060009/http://old.post-gazette.com/ae/20040128fameweb0128p1.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Filmography ==
* ''Narcissus'' (1958) – Narration (voice)
* ''The Queen of Sheba Meets the Atom Man'' (1963)
* ''[[Oedipus Rex (1967 film)|Oedipus Rex]]'' (1967) – Tiresia
* ''Après la Passion selon Sade'' (1968)
* ''[[Candy (1968 film)|Candy]]'' (1968)
* ''[[Love and Anger (film)|Love and Anger]]'' (1969) – Dying Man (segment "Agonia")
* ''[[Signals Through the Flames]]'' (1983), a documentary about The Living Theatre.
* ''[[The Cotton Club (film)|The Cotton Club]]'' (1984) – Sol Weinstein
* ''[[Miami Vice]]'' (1985) – J.B. Johnston ("Prodigal Son" episode)
* ''[[9½ Weeks]]'' (1986) – Dinner Guest (posthumous release)
* ''[[Poltergeist II: The Other Side]]'' (1986) – Rev. Henry Kane (posthumous release)

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* [http://drs.library.yale.edu:8083/HLTransformer/HLTransServlet?stylename=yul.ead2002.xhtml.xsl&pid=beinecke:livingtheatre&query=living%20theater%20records&clear-stylesheet-cache=yes&hlon=yes&filter=&hitPageStart=1 Living Theater Records, circa 1947-2007] (344 boxes) are housed in the [[Yale University Library|Yale University]] [[Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library]].
* [http://norman.hrc.utexas.edu/fasearch/findingaid.cfm?eadid=01089&showrequest=1 Julian Beck Collection], at the [[Harry Ransom Center]] at the [[University of Texas at Austin]].

== External links ==
{{commons category|Julian Beck}}
* [http://www.nypl.org/archives/4493 Living Theatre records, 1945–1991], held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, [[New York Public Library for the Performing Arts]]
* {{IMDb name|65191}}
* {{iobdb name|15749}}
* {{Find a Grave|7026602}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beck, Julian}}
[[Category:1925 births]]
[[Category:1985 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American Jews]]
[[Category:20th-century American LGBTQ people]]
[[Category:20th-century American male actors]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American poets]]
[[Category:20th-century anarchists]]
[[Category:American anarchist writers]]
[[Category:American bisexual artists]]
[[Category:American bisexual male actors]]
[[Category:American bisexual writers]]
[[Category:American LGBTQ male artists]]
[[Category:American LGBTQ painters]]
[[Category:American LGBTQ poets]]
[[Category:American male film actors]]
[[Category:American people of Jewish descent]]
[[Category:American theatre directors]]
[[Category:Bisexual Jews]]
[[Category:Bisexual male artists]]
[[Category:Bisexual male writers]]
[[Category:Bisexual painters]]
[[Category:Bisexual poets]]
[[Category:Burials at Cedar Park Cemetery (Emerson, New Jersey)]]
[[Category:Deaths from stomach cancer in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Jewish American male actors]]
[[Category:Jewish American painters]]
[[Category:Jewish American poets]]
[[Category:Jewish anarchists]]
[[Category:Jews from New York (state)]]
[[Category:LGBTQ people from New York (state)]]
[[Category:LGBTQ theatre directors]]
[[Category:Male actors from Manhattan]]
[[Category:People from Washington Heights, Manhattan]]
[[Category:Poets from New York (state)]]
[[Category:Writers from Manhattan]]