Jeremy Geidt | |
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| Born | Charles Jeremy Wollaston Geidt (1930-02-25)25 February 1930 London, England |
| Died | 6 August 2013(2013-08-06) (aged 83) Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation(s) | Actor and acting coach |
| Known for | Founding member of theAmerican Repertory Theater & theYale Repertory Theatre |
Charles Jeremy Wollaston Geidt[1] (25 February 1930 – 6 August 2013) was a British-born American stage actor, comedian and acting coach. He was a Professor of Acting atYale University, and later atHarvard University, being a founding member of both theAmerican Repertory Theater and theYale Repertory Theatre.[2]
Jeremy Geidt was born in London in 1930, to financier Frederick Bernard Geidt,MC (1892-1955) and (Caroline) Audrey Willmer (1897-1992), daughter of Charles P. White,MVO, a physician to theRoyal Family.[3][4] His first cousin, Mervyn Bernard Geidt (1926-1991), was father ofChristopher Geidt, Baron Geidt, private secretary toElizabeth II from 2007 to 2017.[5]
Diagnosed asdyslexic in his youth, he leftWellington College at the age of 16. He auditioned and was accepted intoThe Old Vic School, where he would later teach underMichel Saint-Denis. He married, had a daughter with actressPatricia Kneale,[2] and divorced. Around 1961, after appearing in stage and television productions, he began to tour with the satirical ensemble "The Establishment", comprising Geidt,Eleanor Bron,John Bird andJohn Fortune.[6] The group toured in the U.S., where he met his second wife Jan Graham in Washington, D.C.[2]
Geidt stayed in the States, becoming a founding member of the Yale Repertory Theatre in 1966.[2] He became a professor of acting atYale University'sSchool of Drama. He went on to become a founding member of the American Repertory Theater and an acting instructor at itsInstitute for Advanced Theater Training. He was also taught acting atHarvard University in 1998.[2] Of his students in his 2000American Repertory Theater acting workshop, Geidt stated, "I'm hoping they come away with their imaginations touched, enlarged and having experienced something that is, hopefully, joyful...with something they found within themselves — or in the text — that they didn't know they had."[7]
Around 2000, Geidt was diagnosed with cancer. However, he refused to stop performing.[2] On 6 August 2013, he suffered a heart attack and died at his home inCambridge, Massachusetts. He was 83 years old and is survived by his wife Jan, their two daughters, and his daughter by Kneale.[2]
Although Geidt preferred a life on the stage,[2] he appeared in minor roles in several television series, films, and videos including:[8]
The BTCA presented select awards in memory of longtime ART company member Jeremy Geidt, the legendary Julie Harris and the Huntington Theatre Company's former Artistic Director Nicholas Martin.
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