Michael Cristofer (born January 22, 1945) is an American actor, playwright, and filmmaker. He received the

Pulitzer Prize for Drama The Pulitzer Prize for Drama is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It is one of the original Pulitzers, for the program was inaugurated in 1917 with seven prizes, four of which were a ...

and the

Tony Award for Best Play The Tony Award for Best Play (formally, an Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre) is an annual award given to the best new (non-musical) play on Broadway, as determined by Tony Award voters. There was no award in the Tonys' first year ...

for '' The Shadow Box'' in 1977. From 2015 to 2019, he played the role of Phillip Price in the television series ''

Mr. Robot ''Mr. Robot'' is an American drama thriller television series created by Sam Esmail for USA Network. It stars Rami Malek as Elliot Alderson, a cybersecurity engineer and hacker with social anxiety disorder, clinical depression, and dissoci ...

''.

Life and career

Cristofer was born Michael Procaccino in

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County, New Jersey, Mercer County. It was the federal capital, capital of the United States from November 1 until D ...

, the son of Mary and Joseph Procaccino. He started his theatrical career as an actor, primarily on stage. He also started writing plays. He has also written numerous screenplays for film. Cristofer was awarded a

and a

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

for the Broadway production of his play '' The Shadow Box'' (1977). Other plays include ''Breaking Up'' at Primary Stages; ''Ice'' at Manhattan Theatre Club; ''Black Angel'' at Circle Repertory Company; ''The Lady and the Clarinet'' (starring

Stockard Channing Stockard Channing (born Susan Antonia Williams Stockard; February 13, 1944) is an American actress. List of awards and nominations received by Stockard Channing, Her accolades include three Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, and a nomination for an Acade ...

), produced by the Mark Taper Forum, Long Wharf Theater, Off-Broadway and on the London Fringe; and ''Amazing Grace'' (1996; starring Marsha Mason), which received the American Theater Critics Award as the best play produced in the United States during the 1996–1997 season. Cristofer's film work includes the screenplays for ''The Shadow Box'', directed by

Paul Newman Paul Leonard Newman (January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008) was an American actor, film director, race car driver, philanthropist, and activist. He was the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Paul Newman, numerous awards ...

(

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Janua ...

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...

nomination); ''

Falling in Love Falling in love is the development of strong feelings of attachment and love, usually towards another person. The term is metaphorical, emphasizing that the process, like the physical act of falling, is sudden, uncontrollable and leaves the ...

''; ''

The Witches of Eastwick ''The Witches of Eastwick'' is a 1984 novel by American writer John Updike. A sequel, '' The Widows of Eastwick'', was published in 2008. Plot The story, set in the fictional Rhode Island town of Eastwick in the early 1970s, follows the witc ...

'', adapted from the novel by

John Updike John Hoyer Updike (March 18, 1932 – January 27, 2009) was an American novelist, poet, short-story writer, art critic, and literary critic. One of only four writers to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction more than once (the others being Booth Tar ...

; '' The Bonfire of the Vanities,'' adapted from the novel by

Tom Wolfe Thomas Kennerly Wolfe Jr. (March 2, 1930 – May 14, 2018)Some sources say 1931; ''The New York Times'' and Reuters both initially reported 1931 in their obituaries before changing to 1930. See and was an American author and journalist widely ...

and directed by

Brian De Palma Brian Russell De Palma (; born September 11, 1940) is an Americans, American film director and screenwriter. With a career spanning over 50 years, he is best known for work in the suspense, Crime film, crime, and psychological thriller genres. ...

; '' Breaking Up'', and '' Casanova''. His directing credits include '' Gia'', starring

Angelina Jolie Angelina Jolie ( ; born Angelina Jolie Voight, , June 4, 1975) is an American actress, filmmaker, and humanitarian. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Angelina Jolie, numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards ...

Mercedes Ruehl Mercedes J. Ruehl ( ; born February 28, 1948) is an American screen, stage, and television actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Tony Award. Ruehl won the Academy Award f ...

and

Faye Dunaway Dorothy Faye Dunaway (born January 14, 1941) is an American actress. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Faye Dunaway, many accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, ...

, which was nominated for five Emmy Awards and for which he won a Directors Guild Award. He next directed '' Body Shots'' and ''

Original Sin Original sin () in Christian theology refers to the condition of sinfulness that all humans share, which is inherited from Adam and Eve due to the Fall of man, Fall, involving the loss of original righteousness and the distortion of the Image ...

'', released in 2001. For eight years, he worked as artistic advisor and finally co-artistic director of River Arts Repertory in Woodstock, New York, a company which produced plays by writers such as Richard Nelson, Mac Wellman, and Eric Overmeyer, including the American premiere of

Edward Albee Edward Franklin Albee III ( ; March 12, 1928 – September 16, 2016) was an American playwright known for works such as ''The Zoo Story'' (1958), ''The Sandbox (play), The Sandbox'' (1959), ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' (1962), ''A Delicat ...

's '' Three Tall Women'', a production that later moved to Off-Broadway. Also at River Arts, he wrote stage adaptations of the films '' Love Me or Leave Me'' and ''

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

''. He directed Joanne Woodward in his adaptation of

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright, poet and actor. Ibsen is considered the world's pre-eminent dramatist of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama." He pioneered ...

's ''

Ghosts In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

''. His most recent work for the theater, ''The Whore and Mr. Moore'', premiered at Dorset Theatre Festival's 2012 summer season. He collaborated with trumpeter

Terence Blanchard Terence Oliver Blanchard (born March 13, 1962) is an American jazz trumpeter and composer. He has also written two operas and more than 80 film and television scores. Blanchard has been nominated for two Academy Awards for Original Score for ''B ...

, writing the libretto for '' Champion'', a boxing opera in jazz music based on the life of prize fighter Emile Griffith. It premiered in June 2013 at Opera Theater of St. Louis. His work ''Execution of the Caregiver'' is based on the true story of a woman in South Carolina who killed her mother, fiancé and several people for whom she purportedly was caring. After a 15-year hiatus, Cristofer returned to his acting career, appearing in ''

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

'' ( New York Shakespeare Festival), ''Trumpery'' by Peter Parnell, '' Three Sisters'' (Williamstown Theater), ''Body of Water'' (with Christine Lahti), and the Broadway revival of ''

A View from the Bridge ''A View from the Bridge'' is a play by American playwright Arthur Miller. It was first staged on September 29, 1955, as a one-act verse drama with '' A Memory of Two Mondays'' at the Coronet Theatre on Broadway. The run was unsuccessful, ...

'' (starring Liev Schreiber and

Scarlett Johansson Scarlett Ingrid Johansson (; born November 22, 1984) is an American actress and singer. The List of highest-paid film actors, world's highest-paid actress in 2018 and 2019, she has been featured multiple times on the Forbes Celebrity 100, ''F ...

). He recently appeared in ''The Other Woman'' (with

Natalie Portman Natalie Hershlag{{efn, Some Hebrew sources claim that her birth name was "Neta-Lee Hershleg" ({{langx, he, נטע-לי הרשלג) and later, her first name was Americanized to "Natalie". {{Cite news , last=Shamir , first=Oron , date=August ...

), and created the role of Gus in

Tony Kushner Anthony Robert Kushner (born July 16, 1956) is an American author, playwright, and screenwriter. Among his stage work, he is most known for ''Angels in America'', which earned a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award, as well as its subsequent acclaime ...

's '' The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures'' at the Public Theater. In 2010, Cristofer was a cast member on ''

Rubicon The Rubicon (; ; ) is a shallow river in northeastern Italy, just south of Cesena and north of Rimini. It was known as ''Fiumicino'' until 1933, when it was identified with the ancient river Rubicon, crossed by Julius Caesar in 49 BC. The ri ...

'', in which he played Truxton Spangler. In 2012, he played Jerry Rand on '' Smash''. In 2013–2014, he played millionaire witch-hunter Harrison Renard in '' American Horror Story: Coven''. In 2015, Cristofer made guest appearances in four episodes of season one of ''

'' as Phillip Price, the shadowy CEO of the sinister E Corp, and he became a cast member in season two, three, and four.

Works

Plays

* '' The Shadow Box'' (1975) * ''Black Angel'' (1978) * ''The Lady and the Clarinet'' (1980) * ''Breaking Up'' (1990) * ''The Blues Are Running'' (1996) * '' Man in the Ring'' (2016)

Films

Acting roles

Television

Acting roles

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cristofer, Michael 1945 births 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American male actors 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American dramatists and playwrights 21st-century American male actors 21st-century American male writers American male dramatists and playwrights American male film actors American male screenwriters American male television actors American opera librettists American people of Spanish descent Directors Guild of America Award winners Film directors from New Jersey Living people Male actors from Trenton, New Jersey Pulitzer Prize for Drama winners Screenwriters from New Jersey Writers from Trenton, New Jersey Writers Guild of America Award winners