Wallace Shawn Biography

Wallace Michael "Wally" Shawn (born November 12, 1943) is an American actor, playwright, and essayist. His best-known film roles include Wally Shawn in My Dinner with Andre (1981), Vizzini in The Princess Bride (1987), and Rex the toy dinosaur in the Toy Story animated film series.

His plays include The Designated Mourner, Aunt Dan and Lemon, and Grasses of a Thousand Colors; he also co-wrote the screenplay for My Dinner with Andre with Andre Gregory, and scripted Vanya on 42nd Street, a film adaptation of Anton Chekov's play Uncle Vanya.

Early life

Shawn was born into a prominent Jewish family in New York City, where he continues to reside. He is the son of William Shawn, the longtime editor of The New Yorker, and journalist Cecille Shawn (née Lyon); his brother, Allen, is a composer. Shawn attended The Putney School, a private liberal arts high school in Putney, Vermont, and graduated with an A.B. in history from Harvard College. He studied economics and philosophy at Oxford, originally intending to become a diplomat; he also traveled to India as an English teacher, on a Fulbright program. Since 1979, Shawn has made a living primarily as an actor.

Career

Playwright

Shawn's early plays, such as Marie and Bruce (1978), portrayed emotional and sexual conflicts in an absurdist style, with language that was both lyrical and violent. In a conversation with Andre Gregory, parts of which were used to create My Dinner with Andre, Shawn referred to these plays as depicting "my interior life as a raging beast." Critical response was extremely polarized: some critics hailed Shawn as a major writer, while John Simon called Marie and Bruce "garbage" and described Shawn as "one of the unsightliest actors in this city". His play A Thought in Three Parts caused a minor uproar in London in 1977 when the production was investigated by a vice squad and attacked in Parliament due to allegedly pornographic content.

His later plays became more overtly political, drawing parallels between the psychology of his characters and the behavior of governments and social classes. Among the best-known of these are Aunt Dan and Lemon (1985) and The Designated Mourner (1997). Shawn's political work has invited controversy, as he often presents the audience with several contradictory points of view, such as Aunt Dan and Lemon, which Shawn described as a cautionary tale against fascism. The monologue The Fever, originally created by Shawn to be performed for small audiences in apartments, describes a person who becomes sick while struggling to find a morally consistent way to live when faced with injustice, and harshly criticizes the record of the U.S. in supporting oppressive anti-communist regimes. In 1997 Shawn discussed the political nature of Aunt Dan and Lemon, The Fever, and The Designated Mourner in an interview. In this interview Shawn talked extensively with Patrick Mcgrath about the thematic developments between the three plays, as well as his own views on Marxist, communist and socialist politics, their relevance to American liberalism, and how government and individual responsibilities for finding solutions to the dichotomy between rich and poor in the world take hold in the characters presented in his plays. Shawn's four plays have been adapted into films: The Designated Mourner (basically a film version of David Hare's stage production), Marie and Bruce, My Dinner With Andre, and The Fever. Oscar winner Vanessa Redgrave stars in The Fever (2004), which first aired on HBO on June 13, 2007.

Shawn has also written political commentary for The Nation, and in 2004 he published the one-issue-only progressive political magazine Final Edition, which features interviews with and articles by Jonathan Schell, Noam Chomsky, Mark Strand, and Deborah Eisenberg. Shawn is credited as translator of Bertolt Brecht's The Threepenny Opera, which opened at Studio 54 in Manhattan on March 25, 2006. He appears briefly in voiceover during "Song about the Futility of Human Endeavor." He published his first non-fiction work, Essays, on September 1, 2009. It is a collection of essays that expresses his perceptions of politics and other subjects that reflect an aspect of his life.

Acting

Shawn's involvement with theater began in 1970 when he met Andre Gregory, who has since directed several of his plays. As a stage actor, he has appeared mostly in his own plays and other projects with Gregory. He made his film debut in 1979, playing Diane Keaton's ex-husband in Woody Allen's Manhattan and an insurance agent in Bob Fosse's All That Jazz. His best-known film roles include Earl in Strange Invaders (1983) and Mr. Hall in Clueless (1995). After seeing his performance in My Dinner With Andre (1981), casting director Janet Hirshenson was so fond of his delivery of the word "inconceivable" that she cast him as the evil Vizzini in The Princess Bride (1987). Other recent roles include Baron Von Westphalen on the 2005 film Southland Tales, in Gossip Girl as Cyrus Rose, and in The Haunted Mansion as Ezra.

His rare non-comic film roles include two collaborations with Andre Gregory and Louis Malle: the semi-autobiographical dialogue My Dinner with Andre, and a combined production-and-backstage-drama of Uncle Vanya titled Vanya on 42nd Street. Shawn quite often appears on television, where he has appeared in many genres and series. He has had recurring roles as the Grand Nagus Zek on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Stuart Best on Murphy Brown, Jeffrey "Jeff" Engels on The Cosby Show, Dr. Howard Stiles on Crossing Jordan, Arnie Ross on Taxi, and a reprisal of his role as Mr. Hall in the television series Clueless, based on the film. He appeared in the 1985 music video for Chaka Khan's "This is My Night." On February 4, 2010, he appeared as Dr. Alan Rubin in The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He appeared in Vegas Vacation (1997) as Marty.

Voice acting

Shawn is also a voice actor for animated films and animated TV series, including the role of the timid Rex in the Toy Story franchise, Mr. Huph in The Incredibles, Principal Mazur in A Goofy Movie, Bertram in Family Guy, and Munk in Happily N'Ever After. In The Fox and the Hound, he was originally to voice Boomer, but was replaced by Paul Winchell. Shawn also replaced Jon Lovitz as Calico in Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore. Coincidentally, Lovitz and Shawn both appeared in I Could Never Be Your Woman.

Personal life

Shawn is the son of William Shawn, the longtime editor of The New Yorker, and journalist Cecille Shawn (née Lyon). His brother, Allen, is a composer. His longtime companion is writer Deborah Eisenberg.

In June 2013, Shawn and numerous other celebrities appeared in a video showing support for Bradley Manning.

Awards and honors

Wallace was honored with the PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award as a Master American Dramatist in 2005.

Filmography

Film
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1979	Manhattan	Jeremiah
1979	Starting Over	Workshop Member
1979	All That Jazz	Assistant Insurance Man
1980	Simon	Eric Van Dongen
1980	Atlantic City	Waiter	Credited as Wally Shawn
1981	Cheaper to Keep Her	Mugger
1981	My Dinner with Andre	Wally Shawn
1981	Strong Medicine		Uncredited
1982	A Little Sex	Oliver
1983	How to Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days	Professor Silverfish
1983	Lovesick	Otto Jaffe
1983	The First Time	Jules Goldfarb
1983	Strange Invaders	Earl
1983	Deal of the Century	Harold DeVoto
1983	Saigon: Year of the Cat	Frank Judd
1984	Crackers	Turtle
1984	The Hotel New Hampshire	Freud
1984	The Bostonians	Mr. Pardon
1984	[[Micki + Maude]]	Dr. Elliot Fibel
1985	Heaven Help Us	Father Abruzzi
1985	Head Office	Mike Hoover
1987	The Bedroom Window	Henderson's Attorney
1987	Radio Days	Masked Avenger
1987	Nice Girls Don't Explode	Ellen
1987	Prick Up Your Ears	John Lahr
1987	The Princess Bride	Vizzini
1988	The Moderns	Oiseau
1989	She's Out of Control	Dr. Fishbinder
1989	Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills	Howard
1989	We're No Angels	Translator
1991	Shadows and Fog	Simon Carr
1992	Unbecoming Age	Dr. Block
1992	Nickel & Dime	Everett Willits
1992	Mom and Dad Save the World	Sibor
1993	The Cemetery Club	Larry
1993	The Meteor Man	Mr. Little
1993	Eligible Dentist
1994	Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle	Horatio Byrd
1994	Vanya on 42nd Street	Vanya
1995	The Wife	Cosmo
1995	Napoleon	Echidna
1995	Canadian Bacon	Canadian Prime Minister
1995	A Goofy Movie	Principal Mazur	Voice only
1995	Clueless	Mr. Wendell Hall
1995	Just Like Dad	Stan Speigel
1995	Toy Story	Rex	Voice only
1996	All Dogs Go to Heaven 2	Labrador MC	Voice only
1996	House Arrest	Victor "Vic" Finley
1997	Vegas Vacation	Marty
1997	Just Write	Arthur Blake
1997	Critical Care	Furnaceman
1998	Blind Men
1998	Noah	Zack
1999	The Diary of the Hurdy-Gurdy Man
1999	My Favorite Martian	Coleye
1999	Toy Story 2	Rex	As Rex the Green Dinosaur Voice only
2000	The Prime Gig	Gene
2001	The Curse of the Jade Scorpion	George Bond
2001	Monsters, Inc.	Rex	Outtakes As Rex the Green Dinosaur Voice only
2002	Sun Gods	Spaulding
2002	Love Thy Neighbor	Clinic Doctor
2002	Personal Velocity: Three Portraits	Mr. Gelb
2002	Mr. St. Nick	Mimir
2003	Monte Walsh	Colonel Wilson
2003	Duplex	Herman
2003	The Haunted Mansion	Ezra
2004	Teacher's Pet	Principal Crosby Strickler	Voice only
2004	Melinda and Melinda	Sy
2004	The Incredibles	Gilbert Huph "Bob Parr's" Boss	Voice only
2004	Karroll's Christmas	Zeb Rosecog
2005	Chicken Little	Principal Fetchit	Voice only
2006	The 12th Man	Marty
2006	Southland Tales	Baron Von Westphalen
2006	Air Buddies	Billy	Voice only
2007	Happily N'Ever After	Munk	Voice only
2007	I Could Never Be Your Woman	Math Teacher	Uncredited
2007	New York City Serenade	Himself
2008	Kit Kittredge: An American Girl	Mr. Gibson
2008	Mia and the Migoo	Migoo	English-language version only Voice only
2009	Capitalism: A Love Story	As himself
2010	Jack and the Beanstalk	Broker / Booker / Lancelot Squarejaw
2010	Furry Vengeance	Dr. Christian Burr
2010	Toy Story 3	Rex	Voice only
2010	Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore	Calico	Voice only Replacing Jon Lovitz
2011	The Speed of Thought	Sandy
2011	Vamps	Dr. Van Helsing
2011	Tower Heist	Mr. McBurns
2011	Hawaiian Vacation	Rex	Voice only
2011	Small Fry	Rex	Voice only
2012	Partysaurus Rex	Rex	Voice only
2012	A Late Quartet	Gideon Rosen
2012	Vamps	Dr. Van Helsing
2013	Admission	Clarence
2013	Wally and Andre Shoot Ibsen	Halvard Solness	Post-production, also screenwriter, third film collaboration with Andre Gregory
2013	Toy Story of Terror	Rex	Voice only, Pre-production

Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1982"1983	Taxi	Arnie Ross	Episode: "Love Un-American Style" Episode: "Arnie Meets the Kids" (as Arnie)
1987"1991	The Cosby Show	Jeffrey "Jeff" Engels	Episode: "Cliff's Mistake" (as Jeffrey Engels) Episode: "The Day the Spores Landed" (as Jeff Engels) Episode: "Cliff's Nightmare" (as Jeffrey Engels; voice) Episode: "The Moves" (as Jeff Engels) Episode: "Olivia's Field Trip" (as Jeffrey Engels)
1992	The Double 0 Kid	Cashpot	Video
1992	Civil Wars	Riley Baker
1992	One Life to Live	Professor Marvel
1993	Matrix	Mr. Gonley
1993	The Pink Panther	The Little Man	1 episode (voice)
1994	The Nanny	Charles Haste	1 episode
1995	Kalamazoo	Bobby	Short
1995	Something Wilder	Roof Inspector	1 episode
1996	Toy Story Treats	Rex	Voice only
1996"1997	Clueless	Mr. Hall	17 episodes
1994"1997	Murphy Brown	Stuart Best	4 episodes
1997	King of the Hill	Philip Ny	1 episode Voice only
1998	The Jungle Book: Mowgli's Story	Tarzan the Chimp	Video Voice only
1998	The Lionhearts		5 episodes
1999	Homicide: Life on the Street	Frank Hopper	1 episode
1993"1999	Star Trek: Deep Space Nine	Grand Nagus Zek	7 episodes
1999	Cosby	Mr. Fleming	2 episodes
2000	Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins	Rex	Video Voice only
2000	Teacher's Pet	Principal Crosby Strickler	Voice only
2001	Ally McBeal	Mr. Dune	1 episode
2001	Blonde	I.E. Shinn
2001	Three Sisters	Dean Webb	1 episode
2003	Stanley	Mr. Goldberg	1 episode Voice only
2002-2004	Teamo Supremo	Gauntlet	1 episode Voice only
2004	Sex and the City	Martin Grable	1 episode
2005	Fat Actress	Dr. Sigmund von Oy	1 episode
2005	Stargate SG-1	Arlos	1 episode
2005	Desperate Housewives	Lonny Moon	1 episode
2001"2006	Crossing Jordan	Dr. Howard Stiles	8 episodes
2001"2011	Family Guy	Bertram	3 episodes Voice only
2006	Tom and Jerry: Shiver Me Whiskers	Purple Pirate Paul / Narrator	Video Voice only
2006	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Film Professor	1 episode
2008	The Return of Jezebel James	Garson Leeds	1 episode
2008	Cashmere Mafia	Animal Handler	1 episode
2008	Scooby-Doo and the Goblin King	Mr. Gibbles	Video Voice only
2009	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Professor Roy Batters	1 episode
2009	Life on Mars	The Sorcerer	1 episode
2008"2009	The L Word	William Halsey	5 episodes
2009	ER	Teddy Lempell	1 episode
2010	The Daily Show with Jon Stewart	Dr. Alan Rubin	1 episode
2010	Damages	Sterling Biddle	1 episode
2008"2013	Gossip Girl	Cyrus Rose	11 episodes
2011	Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness	Taotie	Voice only
2011	Eureka	DoD psychological assessor Warren Hughes	3 episodes
2012	Fish Hooks	Rat King	Episode: Guys' Night Out (Voice Only)
2012"present	The Looney Tunes Show	Speedy Gonzales	Voice Fred Armisen, But was replaced by Shawn in the second season*
2013	The Good Wife	Charles Lester	Episode: Runnin' with the Devil
2013	Adventure Time	Rasheeta	Episode: Puhoy

Video games
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996	Toy Story	Rex	Voice only
	Toy Story Activity Center	Rex	Voice only
2004	The Incredibles	Gilbert Huph	Voice only
2006	Family Guy Video Game!	Bertram	Voice Only
2008	The Princess Bride Game	Vizzini	Voice only
2010	Toy Story 3: The Video Game	Rex	Voice only
2012	Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse	Bertram	Voice only

Writer
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981	My Dinner with Andre
1997	The Designated Mourner		Play Written by
2004	Marie and Bruce		Screenplay
	The Fever		Play Screenplay
2009	Essays		Book collection of essays, by Haymarket Books
2010	Tea Time		Short Script

Himself
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	Charlie Rose		TV series 1 episode
	Showbiz Today		TV series 1 episode
2001	As You Wish: The Story of 'The Princess Bride'
	E! True Hollywood Story		TV series 1 episode
2005	Now		TV series 2 episodes
	Clueless: The Class of '95
2007	Strange Culture
	Up Close with Carrie Keagan		TV series 1 episode
2008	USIDent TV: Surveilling the Southland
	The Windmill Movie
2009	Capitalism: A Love Story
	Made in Hollywood		TV series 1 episode
2010	MindFlux
2012	Up with Chris Hayes		TV series 1 episode

Plays

Play Name	Year
Four Meals in May	1967
The Family Play	1970
The Hotel Play	1970
The Hospital Play	1971
Our Late Night	1975
A Thought in Three Parts	1976
Marie and Bruce	1978
Aunt Dan and Lemon	1985
The Fever	1990
The Designated Mourner	1997; film directed by David Hare, 1998
The Threepenny Opera	2006
Grasses of a Thousand Colors	2008