Houseman, John

orig. Jacques Haussmann

(born Sept. 22, 1902, Bucharest, Rom.—died Oct. 31, 1988, Malibu, Calif., U.S.) Romanian-born U.S. producer and actor. Educated in England, in 1924 he immigrated to the U.S. In 1934 he directed the opera Four Saints in Three Acts, and three years later he and Orson Welles founded the Mercury Theatre. After moving to Hollywood in the 1940s he produced 19 films, including Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948), They Live by Night (1949), and Lust for Life (1956). He also produced and directed Broadway plays and TV specials (winning three Emmy Awards) and directed the American Shakespeare Festival. His most notable acting role was in the film The Paper Chase (1973, Academy Award) and the later TV series of the same name.

Houseman, John (b. Jacques Haussman) (1902–88) stage and film director, producer, and actor; born in Bucharest, Rumania. Educated in England, he arrived in America in 1925 representing his father's grain business. He began to devote himself to writing and translating, then moved over to the theater, coming to notice with his directorial debut, Four Saints in Three Acts (1934). He joined the Federal Theater Project, then cofounded with Orson Welles the Mercury Theatre (1937) and was closely associated with several of Welles's early productions, including Citizen Kane. After serving during World War II as chief of the overseas radio division of the Office of War Information, he commuted between Hollywood and New York as a producer and director. In the early 1970s he served as director of the new acting school and touring company of the Juilliard Academy and then enjoyed an unexpected new life as an actor after his role as the acerbic law professor in The Paper Chase (1973).