(2013)"It is a huge honor to present Terry with The Active Arts Award this year. He was my acting teacher, as well as several others in the Active family. As a teacher, he has made a mark on the theatre and film landscape that is second to none. As an Artistic Director, he has kept a candle burning bright on 26th Street for decades. He is a true treasure in our industry."
Terry Schreiber has been Artistic Director of the T. Schreiber Studio since 1969. After graduating from St. Thomas University in St. Paul, Minnesota, Terry came to NYC as an actor. For ten years, Terry studied and worked on Broadway and Off-Broadway, appearing in regional theatre, summer stock, television and films. Terry transitioned to teaching and directing in 1969 and has since directed over 100 plays, including three Broadway plays, five plays in Japan and various Regional Theaters throughout the US and one production a year for T. Schreiber Studio. Terry has spent 45 years teaching acting in NY, L.A., France, Chile, and Japan.
(2012)Austin Pendleton is a graduate of Yale University, where he was a member of Scroll and Key Society. As a stage actor, he has appeared in The Last Sweet Days of Isaac (for which he won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Performance and an Obie Award ), The Diary of Anne Frank, Grand Hotel, Goodtime Charley, The Little Foxes, The Sunset Limited, Fiddler on the Roof, and Up from Paradise. Pendleton penned the plays Uncle Bob, Booth, and Orson's Shadow, all of which were staged off-Broadway. His direction of Elizabeth Taylor and Maureen Stapleton in Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes garnered him a Tony Award nomination. Additional directing credits include Spoils of War by Michael Weller, The Runner Stumbles by Milan Stitt, and The Size of the World by Charles Evered.
Pendleton served as Artistic Director for Circle Repertory Company and is an ensemble member of the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago. He began his artistic relationship at Steppenwolf by directing Ralph Pape's Say Goodnight, Gracie for the 1979-80 season. In addition to directing at Steppenwolf, Mr. Pendleton has appeared for them as an actor in Uncle Vanya, Valparaiso and Educating Rita. For the New York Shakespeare Festival/Public Theater, Austin has appeared with Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline in Bertholt Brecht's Mother Courage and Her Children, and as Friar Lawrence in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
Pendleton currently teaches acting at the HB Studio and directing at The New School, both in Greenwich Village. He also has a lengthy and diverse on-camera career. There is a documentary film in production on Austin's life and work called The Austin Pendleton Project: Where The Work Is co-directed by Gene Gallerano and David H. Holmes.
(2011)"We are thrilled to present Estelle Parsons with the first Active Arts Award," says Nathaniel Shaw, Artistic Director of The Active Theater. "Ms. Parsons has left an indelible mark on the American theater landscape and, in doing so, has positively influenced the community in which we work and create."
Estelle Parsons, most recently starring on Broadway in the Manhattan Theater Club production of David Lindsay-Abaire’s Good People, has enjoyed a lengthy and successful television, film, and stage career since the 1950s. Her first foray into the business began when she was hired by NBC's "The Today Show," where she became the first female political news reporter on network television. In 1956, Estelle appeared in her first stage performance in the Broadway production of Happy Hunting. Since then, she has gone on either to star in or direct over 25 plays. Most notably, she was nominated for the Tony Award ® for her performances in The Seven Descents of Myrtle (1968), Miss Reardon Drinks a Little (1971), Miss Margarida's Way (1978), and Mornings at Seven (2002). She triumphantly returned to Broadway in 2008 as the star of August: Osage County and subsequently toured the United States and Canada in the production. In 2004, she was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.
Ms. Parson's film career began in Ladybug, Ladybug in 1963 and continued with 15 more roles over the next 30 years. Her performance in Bonnie & Clyde garnered her an Academy Award ® (1967), and she was nominated again the following year for her work in Rachel, Rachel (1968). On television, Estelle appeared in "All in the Family" but is best remembered as the mother of Roseanne on the hit sitcom of the same name, logging over 50 episodes during the show's nine year run. In addition to her acclaimed performances, Estelle has taught acting at Columbia and Yale and served as the Artistic Director of the Actors Studio from 1996 to 2001.
