Jenifer Estess
Encyclopedia
Jenifer Estess was a Moline, Illinois
-born theatre producer. She began her career as an actor after graduating from New York University
with a B.A.
in drama
. She was a co-founder of the Naked Angels (theater company)
theatre company in Manhattan
; she was its producing director until 1993. She also helped found the Nantucket Film Festival and the New York Women's Film Festival.
Her memoir, Tales from the Bed: Living, Dying and Having It All, was published in 2004 and became a television movie
starring Laura San Giacomo
. She also started Project A.L.S., which raises funds for finding a cure for Lou Gehrig's disease, from which she suffered. She helped raise over $17,000,000 (USD) for the Project.
In 2000, she testified before Senator Arlen Specter’s sub-committee on Labor, Health, Human Services and Education. “My life and millions of others are in the hands of Congress. We are already seeing the incredible potential of stem cells to replace what is destroyed in ALS, but we need the federal government to mentor research along in the most responsible, humane way.” Pointing out that, “non-profits like Project A.L.S. and private industry have started stem cell replacement on the right track,” she urged Congress to “do the right thing and take us to the next level with this life-saving science.”
on December 16, 2003, aged 40.
Moline, Illinois
Moline is a city located in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States, with a population of 45,792 in 2010. Moline is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring East Moline and Rock Island in Illinois and the cities of Davenport and Bettendorf in Iowa. The Quad Cities has a population of...
-born theatre producer. She began her career as an actor after graduating from New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
with a B.A.
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
. She was a co-founder of the Naked Angels (theater company)
Naked Angels (theater company)
Naked Angels is an American theater company founded in 1986 and based in New York City. It was named after John Tytell’s book about the Beat Generation, Naked Angels...
theatre company in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
; she was its producing director until 1993. She also helped found the Nantucket Film Festival and the New York Women's Film Festival.
Her memoir, Tales from the Bed: Living, Dying and Having It All, was published in 2004 and became a television movie
Television movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
starring Laura San Giacomo
Laura San Giacomo
Laura San Giacomo is an American actress known for playing the role of Maya Gallo on the NBC sitcom Just Shoot Me! and Kit De Luca in the film Pretty Woman, and Cynthia in sex, lies, and videotape as well as other work on television and in films...
. She also started Project A.L.S., which raises funds for finding a cure for Lou Gehrig's disease, from which she suffered. She helped raise over $17,000,000 (USD) for the Project.
In 2000, she testified before Senator Arlen Specter’s sub-committee on Labor, Health, Human Services and Education. “My life and millions of others are in the hands of Congress. We are already seeing the incredible potential of stem cells to replace what is destroyed in ALS, but we need the federal government to mentor research along in the most responsible, humane way.” Pointing out that, “non-profits like Project A.L.S. and private industry have started stem cell replacement on the right track,” she urged Congress to “do the right thing and take us to the next level with this life-saving science.”
Death
Jenifer Estess died from A.L.S.Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis , also referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a form of motor neuron disease caused by the degeneration of upper and lower neurons, located in the ventral horn of the spinal cord and the cortical neurons that provide their efferent input...
on December 16, 2003, aged 40.
Sources
- Jenifer Estess, 40; Fought Lou Gehrig's Disease, The New York Times, December 17, 2003