John Getz
Encyclopedia

Personal life

Getz, one of four children, was born in Davenport, Iowa
Davenport, Iowa
Davenport is a city located along the Mississippi River in Scott County, Iowa, United States. Davenport is the county seat of and largest city in Scott County. Davenport was founded on May 14, 1836 by Antoine LeClaire and was named for his friend, George Davenport, a colonel during the Black Hawk...

, and grew up in the Mississippi River Valley. He began acting while attending the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...

, where he helped found the Center for New Performing Arts. He has a daughter, Hannah, from his marriage to playwright Grace McKeaney
Grace McKeaney
Grace McKeaney is an American television writer, playwright and educator.She attended Northwestern University and starred as Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams. She obtained an MFA in playwriting from the Yale School of Drama...

.

Career

Getz dropped out of college to attend the respected American Conservatory Theater
American Conservatory Theater
American Conservatory Theater is a large non-profit theater company in San Francisco, California, that offers both classical and contemporary theater productions. A.C.T. was founded in 1965 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in conjunction with the Pittsburgh Playhouse and Carnegie Tech by theatre and...

 in San Francisco. While working in a winery, he helped found the Napa Valley
Napa County, California
Napa County is a county located north of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is coterminous with the Napa, California, Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2010 the population is 136,484. The county seat is Napa....

 Theater Company. His location in the grape-growing Napa Valley
Napa Valley AVA
Napa Valley AVA is an American Viticultural Area located in Napa County, California, United States. Napa Valley is considered one of the top wine regions in the United States...

 led to Getz' television debut as an Attendant in a made-for-television horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...

. Killer Bees
Killer Bees (1974 film)
Killer Bees is a 1974 made for TV horror movie featuring Gloria Swanson that originally aired on ABC on February 26, 1974. The film, which was directed by Curtis Harrington, had a very small cast, including Kate Jackson, Craig Stevens, John Getz, and Edward Albert.-Plot:Madame von Bohlen , a...

(1974
1974 in television
The year 1974 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1974.For the American TV schedule, see: 1974-75 American network television schedule.-Events:...

) starred icon
Cultural icon
A cultural icon can be a symbol, logo, picture, name, face, person, building or other image that is readily recognized and generally represents an object or concept with great cultural significance to a wide cultural group...

 of silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...

 Gloria Swanson
Gloria Swanson
Gloria Swanson was an American actress, singer and producer. She was one of the most prominent stars during the silent film era as both an actress and a fashion icon, especially under the direction of Cecil B. DeMille, made dozens of silents and was nominated for the first Academy Award in the...

, as well as Craig Stevens
Craig Stevens (actor)
Craig Stevens was an American motion picture and television actor.-Early and personal life:Born Gail Shikles, Jr., in Liberty, Missouri, his father was a high school teacher....

 (Peter Gunn
Peter Gunn
Peter Gunn is an American private eye television series which aired on the NBC and later ABC television networks from 1958 to 1961. The show's creator was Blake Edwards...

), Kate Jackson
Kate Jackson
Kate Jackson is an American actress, director, and producer, perhaps best known for her role as Sabrina Duncan in the popular 1970s television series Charlie's Angels...

 (Charlie's Angels
Charlie's Angels
Charlie's Angels is a television series about three women who work for a private investigation agency, and is one of the first shows to showcase women in roles traditionally reserved for men...

), and Edward Albert
Edward Albert
Edward Albert was an American film and television actor. He was also known as Edward Laurence Albert, Laurence Edward Albert and occasionally Eddie Albert, Jr.-Early life:Albert was born Edward Laurence Heimberger in Los Angeles, California, to actor Eddie...

 (Butterflies Are Free
Butterflies Are Free
Butterflies Are Free is a 1972 film based on a play by Leonard Gershe. The 1972 film was produced by M.J. Frankovich, released by Columbia Pictures, directed by Milton Katselas and adapted for the screen by Gershe. It was released on 6 July, 1972 in the USA.Goldie Hawn and Edward Albert starred...

). Getz moved on to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, where he became active in local theater while doing an 18-month stint as "Neil Johnson" on the daytime drama
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...

 Another World
Another World (TV series)
Another World is an American television soap opera that ran on NBC from May 4, 1964 to June 25, 1999. It ran for a total of 35 years. It was created by Irna Phillips along with William J...

.

Getz appeared in The Happy Hooker (1975) and followed up with several other roles before starring in the Coen Brothers
Coen Brothers
Joel David Coen and Ethan Jesse Coen known together professionally as the Coen brothers, are American filmmakers...

' neo-noir
Neo-noir
Neo-noir is a style often seen in modern motion pictures and other forms that prominently utilize elements of film noir, but with updated themes, content, style, visual elements or media that were absent in films noir of the 1940s and 1950s.-History:The term Film Noir was coined by...

 thriller Blood Simple
Blood Simple
Blood Simple is a 1984 neo-noir crime film. It was the directorial debut of Joel Coen and the first major film of cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld, who later became a noted director...

(1984
1984 in film
-Events:* The Walt Disney Company founds Touchstone Pictures to release movies with subject matter deemed inappropriate for the Disney name.* Tri-Star Pictures, a joint venture of Columbia Pictures, HBO, and CBS, releases its first film....

). He plays the doomed lover of a married woman (Frances McDormand
Frances McDormand
Frances Louise McDormand is an American film and stage actress. She has starred in a number of films, including her Academy Award-winning performance as Marge Gunderson in Fargo, in 1996...

), who woefully misinterprets his increasingly complex circumstances.

In 1985
1985 in television
The year 1985 involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1985.For the American TV schedule, see: 1985-86 United States network television schedule.-Events:*January 1 – VH1 launches in the United States....

, he co-starred in the well-loved, if not well-known, police drama MacGruder and Loud
MacGruder and Loud
MacGruder and Loud is an American crime drama from Aaron Spelling Productions that aired on ABC in 1985.The series starred John Getz and Kathryn Harrold as married police officers Malcolm MacGruder and Jenny Loud in a Los Angeles Police Department-styled police agency...

. There were high hopes for the show; and the pilot was given the coveted post-Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...

 time slot, contributing to its strong debut in the ratings. However, ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

 rescheduled it repeatedly and finally relegated it to the "graveyard slot", 10:00 PM EST, Monday night. In 1998
1998 in television
The year 1998 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1998.For the American TV schedule, see: 1998–99 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:-1950s:...

, he co-starred in Maggie
Maggie (1998 TV series)
Maggie is an American comedy television series starring Ann Cusack. The series premiered August 18, 1998, on Lifetime Television.-Cast and characters:...

as the title character's husband, "Dr. Arthur Day". Getz has guest-starred in many television series, including the long-running Three's Company
Three's Company
Three's Company is an American sitcom that aired from March 15, 1977, to September 18, 1984, on ABC. It is based on the British sitcom, Man About the House....

(1980
1980 in television
The year 1980 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1980.For the American TV schedule, see: 1980-81 American network television schedule.-Events:...

) as Lee Tripper, brother of Jack Tripper
Jack Tripper
Jack Tripper is a fictional character on the sitcoms Three's Company and Three's a Crowd, based upon the character, Robin Tripp, of Man About the House and Robin's Nest. Jack was played by the late John Ritter.-Introduction:...

 played by the late John Ritter
John Ritter
Jonathan Southworth "John" Ritter was an American actor, voice over artist and comedian perhaps best known for having played Jack Tripper and Paul Hennessy in the ABC sitcoms Three's Company and 8 Simple Rules, respectively...

. More recently, he has guest-starred in How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother is an American sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 19, 2005, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays.As a framing device, the main character, Ted Mosby with narration by Bob Saget, in the year 2030 recounts to his son and daughter the events that led to his meeting...

, Prison Break
Prison Break
Prison Break is an American television serial drama created by Paul Scheuring, that was broadcast on the Fox Broadcasting Company for four seasons, from 2005 until 2009. The series revolves around two brothers; one has been sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit, and the other devises an...

, and Private Practice.

A bearded Getz also appeared in The Fly
The Fly (1986 film)
The Fly is a 1986 science fiction horror film co-written and directed by David Cronenberg. Produced by 20th Century Fox, and Brooksfilms, the film stars Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis and John Getz. It is a remake of the 1958 film of the same name, but retains only the basic premise of a scientist...

(1986
1986 in film
-Events:*April 12 - Actor Morgan Mason marries The Go-Go's Belinda Carlisle.*April 26 - Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger marries television journalist Maria Shriver.*May - Actress Heather Locklear marries Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee....

) and The Fly II
The Fly II
The Fly II is a 1989 American science fiction horror film starring Eric Stoltz and Daphne Zuniga. It was directed by Chris Walas as a sequel to the 1986 Academy Award-winning movie The Fly. Stoltz's character in this sequel is the adult son of Seth Brundle, the scientist-turned-'Brundlefly', played...

(1989
1989 in film
-Events:* Batman is released on June 23, and goes on to gross over $410 million worldwide.* Actress Kim Basinger and her brother Mick purchase Braselton, Georgia, for $20 million...

) as Stathis Borans, a somewhat less than likeable science magazine editor who pays a heavy price for his curiosity. Also in 1989, he played a Marine Corps Major in Born on the Fourth of July
Born on the Fourth of July (film)
Born on the Fourth of July is a 1989 American film adaptation of the best selling autobiography of the same name by Vietnam War veteran Ron Kovic. Tom Cruise plays Kovic, in a performance that earned him his first Academy Award nomination. Oliver Stone co-wrote the screenplay with Kovic, and also...

. In 1991
1991 in film
The year 1991 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*April 28 - Bonnie Raitt marries actor Michael O'Keefe in New York* Terminator 2: Judgment Day, became one of the landmarks for science fiction action films with its groundbreaking visual effects from Industrial Light & Magic.*November...

, Getz appeared as the unpleasant boyfriends of professional women in Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead
Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead
Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead is a 1991 comedy film directed by Stephen Herek starring Christina Applegate.Applegate stars as a teenager whose mother leaves for a two-month summer vacation in Australia, putting all five siblings in the care of a strict tyrannical elderly babysitter...

and Curly Sue
Curly Sue
Curly Sue is a 1991 comedy film starring James Belushi, Alisan Porter and Kelly Lynch. The film was written and directed by John Hughes. Music for the movie was provided by Georges Delerue, with the end title song "You Never Know" performed by Ringo Starr....

. In 1990
1990 in film
The year 1990 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* CGI technique is expanded with motion capture for CGI characters, used in Total Recall .* The first digitally-manipulated matte painting is used, in Die Hard 2....

, Getz appeared as a crime boss
Crime boss
A crime boss or boss is a person in charge of a criminal organization. A boss typically has absolute or near-absolute control over his subordinates, is greatly feared by his subordinates for his ruthlessness and willingness to take lives in order to exert his influence, and profits come from the...

 in the Charlie Sheen
Charlie Sheen
Carlos Irwin Estevez , better known by his stage name Charlie Sheen, is an American film and television actor. He is the youngest son of actor Martin Sheen....

 and Emilio Estevez
Emilio Estevez
Emilio Estevez is an American actor, film director, and writer. He started his career as an actor and is well-known for being a member of the acting Brat Pack of the 1980s, starring in The Breakfast Club and St. Elmo's Fire...

 spoof Men At Work
Men at Work (film)
Men at Work is a 1990 American action comedy film written and directed by Emilio Estevez, and starring Estevez and his real life brother Charlie Sheen.-Plot:...

.

In 2007
2007 in film
This is a list of major films released in 2007.-Top grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the USA in 2007...

, he had a role in David Fincher
David Fincher
David Andrew Leo Fincher is an American film and music video director. Known for his dark and stylish thrillers, such as Seven , The Game , Fight Club , Panic Room , and Zodiac , Fincher received Academy Award nominations for Best Director for his 2008 film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and...

's film Zodiac
Zodiac (film)
Zodiac is a 2007 American mystery-thriller film directed by David Fincher and based on Robert Graysmith's non-fiction book of the same name. The Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros...

. Also in 2007, he appeared in Bill Guttentag
Bill Guttentag
Bill Guttentag is a two-time Oscar winning documentary and feature film writer-producer-director.-Career:In 1988, Guttentag won an Oscar for Best Documentary with his HBO film "You Don't Have to Die," telling the story of one boy's battle against cancer...

 and Dan Sturman's documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

 Nanking
Nanking (film)
Nanking is a 2007 film about the 1937 Nanking Massacre committed by the Japanese army in the former capital city Nanjing, China. The film draws on letters and diaries from the era as well as archive footage and interviews with surviving victims and perpetrators of the massacre...

as George Ashmore Fitch
George Ashmore Fitch
George Ashmore Fitch was an American Protestant missionary in China, the Young Men's Christian Association, Nanking Safety Zone International Committee Administrative Director, and the grandfather of politician George B. Fitch....

, head of the local YMCA and Administrative Director of the International Committee for the Nanking Safety Zone. Fitch documented atrocities committed during the massacre and toured the U.S. in 1938, lecturing on the subject. Getz' most recent role is in David Fincher
David Fincher
David Andrew Leo Fincher is an American film and music video director. Known for his dark and stylish thrillers, such as Seven , The Game , Fight Club , Panic Room , and Zodiac , Fincher received Academy Award nominations for Best Director for his 2008 film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and...

's film The Social Network
The Social Network
The Social Network is a 2010 American drama film directed by David Fincher and written by Aaron Sorkin. Adapted from Ben Mezrich's 2009 book The Accidental Billionaires, the film portrays the founding of social networking website Facebook and the resulting lawsuits...

(2010
2010 in film
The year 2010 saw many new films released worldwide. 2010 saw a dramatic increase and prominence in the use of 3D-technology in filmmaking and film releases after the success of Avatar in the format, with releases such as Alice in Wonderland, Clash of the Titans, Jackass 3D, all animated films and...

), based on the 2009 book
2009 in literature
The year 2009 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*8 October - Romanian-born German novelist Herta Müller wins the 2009 Nobel Prize in Literature....

 The Accidental Billionaires about the founding of Facebook. He also recently completed filming the suspense thriller Elevator, in which he plays a Wall Street executive trapped in an elevator with a group of strangers, one of whom has a bomb. Written and produced by Marc Rosenberg
Marc Rosenberg (screenwriter)
Marc Rosenberg is an American screenwriter and producer, with professional roots in Australia. He was born and raised in Houston, Texas, and graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in Government. Following graduation, he hitchhiked through Europe and Asia, settling for a...

 and directed by Stig Svendsen, Elevator is expected to be released in 2011.

External links

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