Actor Biography Worksheet

Jot down answers to the following questions as you research.  Be sure to maintain a working bibliography of materials that you use for your report, whether book, magazine or web site.  For your bibliography, list as follows

Name of text or web site (include web address), Author, date of publishing.

Example:  Ellen Terry by Nina Auerbach.  1987

                 The Ellen Terry Tribute Page (http://www.ellenterry.org/) by Rian Keating

                              (no date given)

Name of actor:                                                            Dates of birth/death:

Country of origin:

Family Background (Did the actor grow up in a theatrical environment?  How supportive was the actor's family to his/her career choice?)

Economic status (of the family, and how the actor's economic condition changed throughout her/his life):

Education & Schooling  (Give the actor's academic background -- did the actor graduate from high school or college?):

First thought of going into theatre (how did the actor become attracted to theatre):

Theatre Training (did the actor go to an acting school, work in summer stock, as an apprentice in a repertory company or a combination of ways?  Did the actor have one particular teacher who helped her/him?  Did the actor study one particular type of acting method?  What was the method?):

Describe the actor's work -- what was unique or special about this actor?

First professional job (describe how this actor got his/her first chance on stage and how s/he was received):

Major roles:

Successes:  Acclaim & Awards received (did success change the actor in any way?):

Failures:  Career obstacles or problems (how did the actor deal with failure?):

Did the actor do other things during his/her career (writing, directing, producing, designing, etc?):

Most important things to remember about this actor: