Anthony Holland (actor)
Encyclopedia
Anthony Holland was an American actor known best for his comic performances in theater, film and television.
Mr. Holland was a member of the original Second City comedy troupe, which he joined after graduating from the University of Chicago and studying acting with Lee Strasberg, during the 1960s. The company was known for its irreverent brand of political humor and included Mike Nichols, Elaine May and Alan Arkin.
Mr. Holland made his Broadway debut in 1963 in Lillian Hellman's comedy My Mother, My Father and Me. His half-dozen subsequent Broadway roles included Division Street and We Bombed in New Haven. He appeared in many regional-theater productions, as well as Off Broadway productions of Brendan Behan's Quare Fellow, Eugène Ionesco's Victims of Duty and Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot
Used Voice and Body.
He gave one of his best performances in The Hunger Artist, Martha Clarke's 1987 adaptation of several stories by Franz Kafka. His soft voice, unpretentiously conversational in tone yet mesmerizingly grave, could be Kafka's, Frank Rich wrote in The New York Times. The civilized Old World cadences of Prague are accelerated just a bit by the gallows humor of the paranoid Jewish ghetto comic. The actor lets his middle-aged body work for him, too.
Holland's screen credits include All That Jazz
, Klute
and Tempest
. He appeared on many television series, ranging from The Mary Tyler Moore Show
and M*A*S*H to Hill Street Blues
and Cagney & Lacey
.
Holland was also a painter, and taught art classes at the University of Chicago. He also wrote three comedies with William M. Hoffman, the author of As Is.
Holland committed suicide while ill with AIDS.
Mr. Holland was a member of the original Second City comedy troupe, which he joined after graduating from the University of Chicago and studying acting with Lee Strasberg, during the 1960s. The company was known for its irreverent brand of political humor and included Mike Nichols, Elaine May and Alan Arkin.
Mr. Holland made his Broadway debut in 1963 in Lillian Hellman's comedy My Mother, My Father and Me. His half-dozen subsequent Broadway roles included Division Street and We Bombed in New Haven. He appeared in many regional-theater productions, as well as Off Broadway productions of Brendan Behan's Quare Fellow, Eugène Ionesco's Victims of Duty and Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot
Waiting for Godot
Waiting for Godot is an absurdist play by Samuel Beckett, in which two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, wait endlessly and in vain for someone named Godot to arrive. Godot's absence, as well as numerous other aspects of the play, have led to many different interpretations since the play's...
Used Voice and Body.
He gave one of his best performances in The Hunger Artist, Martha Clarke's 1987 adaptation of several stories by Franz Kafka. His soft voice, unpretentiously conversational in tone yet mesmerizingly grave, could be Kafka's, Frank Rich wrote in The New York Times. The civilized Old World cadences of Prague are accelerated just a bit by the gallows humor of the paranoid Jewish ghetto comic. The actor lets his middle-aged body work for him, too.
Holland's screen credits include All That Jazz
All That Jazz
All That Jazz is a 1979 American musical film directed by Bob Fosse. The screenplay by Robert Alan Aurthur and Fosse is a semi-autobiographical fantasy based on aspects of Fosse's life and career as dancer, choreographer and director. The film was inspired by Bob Fosse's manic effort to edit his...
, Klute
Klute
Klute is a 1971 film which tells the story of a prostitute who assists a detective in solving a missing persons case. It stars Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, Charles Cioffi and Roy Scheider. The movie was written by Andy Lewis and Dave Lewis and directed by Alan J. Pakula.Klute was the first...
and Tempest
Tempest (1982 film)
Tempest is an American comedy-drama film directed by Paul Mazursky. It is a very loose adaptation of the William Shakespeare play, The Tempest....
. He appeared on many television series, ranging from The Mary Tyler Moore Show
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
The Mary Tyler Moore Show is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns that aired on CBS from 1970 to 1977...
and M*A*S*H to Hill Street Blues
Hill Street Blues
Hill Street Blues is an American serial police drama that was first aired on NBC in 1981 and ran for 146 episodes on primetime into 1987. Chronicling the lives of the staff of a single police precinct in an unnamed American city, the show received critical acclaim and its production innovations ...
and Cagney & Lacey
Cagney & Lacey
Cagney & Lacey is an American television series that originally aired on the CBS television network for seven seasons from October 8, 1981 to May 16, 1988...
.
Holland was also a painter, and taught art classes at the University of Chicago. He also wrote three comedies with William M. Hoffman, the author of As Is.
Holland committed suicide while ill with AIDS.