Jon Robin Baitz (born November 4, 1961) is an American playwright , screenwriter and television producer . He is a two time Pulitzer Prize finalist, as well as a Guggenheim , American Academy of Arts and Letters , and National Endowment for the Arts Fellow .
31-471: Baitz is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: Jon Robin Baitz (born 1961), American playwright, screenwriter, and television producer Rick Baitz (born 1954), American composer See also [ edit ] Taitz [REDACTED] Surname list This page lists people with the surname Baitz . If an internal link intending to refer to
62-558: A Rockefeller Foundation Award and a Drama Desk Award; he is a Guggenheim Fellow, and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for A Fair Country . In 1991, he won a Humanitas Award for the PBS-TV's American Playhouse version of Three Hotels which he also directed. He was also a Pulitzer Prize finalist for Other Desert Cities in 2012. Baitz is Jewish . From 1990 to 2002, Baitz was the romantic partner of actor and director Joe Mantello . The Frightening Frammis Fallen Angels
93-418: A better job of whisking you away from the increasingly unacceptable '90s. These half hours are all too short". Entertainment Weekly magazine's Lisa Schwarzbaum wrote, "One unintended result of all this happy, naughty cigarette-puffing, however, is that, at their weakest, these films look like the work of boys (and don't be fooled, this is a boys' fantasy production) dressed up in their dads' big suits". In
124-566: A bookstore clerk and assistant to two producers, and the experiences became the basis for his first play, a one-acter entitled Mizlansky/Zilinsky . He drew on his own background for his first two-act play, The Film Society , about the staff of a prep school in South Africa. Its 1987 success in Los Angeles led to an Off-Broadway production with Nathan Lane in 1988, which earned him a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding New Play. This
155-409: A hit man by night. His boss ( Peter Coyote ) sends him on a job that makes Lamb confront his conscience. • Awards: One CableACE Awards nomination — Steven Soderbergh, Directing a Drama Series. A police detective ( Eric Stoltz ) investigates the untimely death of a nightclub dancer at a local hang-out but his investigation is called off by the police brass even though the killer
186-510: A kind of short hand. Because you’re a foreigner, an alien really, you have to decode all of the customs and the manners, not just the language. So you begin to feel terribly detached which is not a good thing. And it had that effect upon my writing initially. You start this little dialogue with yourself about what things mean and then suddenly you’re 20-something-years-old and you’re continuing that dialogue on paper. After graduation from high school, Baitz did not attend college, instead he worked as
217-785: A letter to the guild's leaders, stating that his agents at CAA had stuck by him during bad times, including both during, and after the 2007-2008 writers' strike. Baitz, formerly a member of the Writers Guild of America, East , left and maintained financial core status. More recently, Baitz's work in television includes the NBC miniseries The Slap , which he wrote and produced. He wrote and executive produced FX/Hulu's Feud: Capote vs. The Swans with Ryan Murphy , with whom he also collaborated on Doctor Odyssey for ABC, Grotesquerie for FX/Hulu, and All's Fair also for Hulu and starring Kim Kardashian, which shoots in 2024. Baitz has received
248-432: A millionaire who has another lover and is not afraid to show it. • Awards: One CableACE Award — Emmanuel Lubezki, Direction of Photography. One Emmy nomination, Laura Dern, Outstanding Guest Actress/Drama. • Featured Song: Billie Holiday , "Yesterdays." Fixer and bag-man Buzz Meeks ( Gary Busey ) is hired by two of his bosses: the multi-talented Howard Hughes ( Tim Matheson ) and
279-561: A revised version of Mizlansky/Zilinsky , starring Nathan Lane, and directed by Baitz's then-partner Joe Mantello (1998), a new adaptation of Henrik Ibsen 's Hedda Gabler (first at L.A.'s Geffen Playhouse with Annette Bening in 1999, then at Long Island 's Bay Street Theater with Kate Burton in 2000, followed by a Broadway production with the same star the following year), Ten Unknowns (2001), starring Donald Sutherland and Julianna Margulies , and The Paris Letter (2005) with Ron Rifkin and John Glover . His screenplays include
310-510: A specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name (s) to the link. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Baitz&oldid=1038119334 " Category : Surnames Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description is different from Wikidata All set index articles Monitored short pages Jon Robin Baitz Baitz
341-492: Is an American neo-noir anthology television series that ran from August 1, 1993, to November 19, 1995, on the Showtime pay cable station and was produced by Propaganda Films . No first-run episodes were shown in 1994. The series was executive produced by Sydney Pollack and produced by Steve Golin and others. The theme song was written by Elmer Bernstein and the original music was written by Peter Bernstein. Each episode
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#1732855584626372-456: Is based on a story by a noted hardboiled crime writer, including Raymond Chandler , Jim Thompson , Cornell Woolrich , James Ellroy , Evan Hunter , Mickey Spillane , Dashiell Hammett and Walter Mosley . Period torch songs by performers like Patti Page and Billie Holiday were used periodically. In Europe , the show is known as Perfect Crimes and shown in France on Canal + , and in
403-405: Is missing. The Continental Op ( Christopher Lloyd ) is hired by the family to help find their daughter. Philip Marlowe ( Danny Glover ) investigates a series of murders. In South Los Angeles , Fearless Jones ( Bill Nunn ) and Paris Minton ( Giancarlo Esposito ) try to help nightclub jazz singer Deletha ( Cynda Williams ) steal her singing contract from the nightclub manager. Stories from
434-641: Is still on the loose. The life of an ordinary housewife ( Dana Delany ) is transformed when she falls for a mafioso ( Adam Baldwin ). Hollywood actor Rich Thurber ( Bill Pullman ) gets off the bus and enters a bar to quench his thirst. The bar is taken over by tough bank thieves who mistake Thurber for a local politician. A mobster ( Miguel Ferrer ) is hiding out in a hotel room and one by one his friends, like Augie ( Peter Berg ), abandon him. A well known socialite ( Kristin Minter ), known to hang out at nightclubs and involved with gambler Babe McClure ( Michael Rooker ),
465-538: The Houston Chronicle , Louis B. Parks wrote, "The big problem with film noir homages is they usually overdo the ingredients, with none of the subtlety of the great originals. Fallen Angels has a touch of that. But the directors and actors play straight, and the adaptations, taken from the real McCoy writers, are pretty good stuff". In his review for The Washington Post , Tom Shales wrote, "Creating period pieces out of their period seems to be fairly easy now for
496-606: The Los Angeles Police Department whose antics lead to a tragic end when a shakedown plan goes awry. • Awards: One Emmy nomination — Bonnie Bedelia, Outstanding Guest Actress/Drama. Mitch Allison ( Peter Gallagher ) steals $ 25,000 from his con-artist wife Bette ( Nancy Travis ) and jumps on a train hoping to double the money in a gambling scam. • Awards: One CableACE Awards nomination — Isabella Rossellini , Outstanding Actress. Annie ( Laura Dern ) falls in love with
527-485: The United Kingdom . Directors: Writers: First Season (1993) Second Season (1995) Detective Kelley ( Gary Oldman ) is called to investigate the murder of his wife Delia ( Gabrielle Anwar ), a dance-hall hostess. • Awards: Two CableACE Awards — Gary Oldman, Outstanding Actor; Declan Quinn, Direction of Photography. Eve Cressy ( Marg Helgenberger ) is a gangster's moll who awaits
558-441: The mafia gangster Mickey Cohen ( James Woods ). After investigating, Meeks discovers the woman whom they have both fallen crazy in love with. • Awards: Two CableACE Awards nominations — James Woods, Outstanding Actor; Gary Busey, Outstanding Actor. • Notes: James Ellroy said of this episode,"I thought Gary Busey was a bad Buzz Meeks, James Woods an ineffectual Mickey Cohen and Tim Matheson
589-591: The Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater ( Lincoln Center ) in New York on January 13, 2011, starring Stockard Channing , Linda Lavin , Stacy Keach , Thomas Sadoski and Elizabeth Marvel . The play was originally titled Love and Mercy . The production transferred to Broadway , opened at the Booth Theatre on November 3, 2011, with Judith Light replacing Lavin and Rachel Griffiths replacing Marvel. One fan of Other Desert Cities
620-406: The adaptation of his own Substance of Fire (1996), with Tony Goldwyn and Timothy Hutton joining original cast members Rifkin and Parker, and People I Know (2002), which starred Al Pacino . From 2002 to 2005, Baitz had considerable success writing freelance scripts for The West Wing and Alias . In the case of The West Wing , his first draft was so polished that Sorkin himself shot
651-636: The episode “pretty much word for word.” In the summer of 2005, that glimmer of first draft perfection led to his position as creator and executive producer of the ABC TV drama Brothers & Sisters , which premiered in September 2006 and ran for five seasons, ending in May 2011. Baitz was the New School for Drama 's artist in residence for the 2009-2010 school year. His play Other Desert Cities opened Off-Broadway at
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#1732855584626682-736: The film Last Summer in the Hamptons . In 1996 he appeared as Michelle Pfeiffer 's business associate in the film comedy One Fine Day . His semi-autobiographical play A Fair Country was presented Off-Broadway at the Lincoln Center Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater in 1996. The play was one of the three finalists for the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for Drama . The nominating committee said of the play "Written with sharp, pointed dialogue, peopled by vivid characters and played against an international setting of Africa, Europe and Central America." Subsequent stage works include Mizlansky/Zilinsky or "Schmucks,"
713-417: The gifted artisans of Hollywood. Even by today's commonplace high standards, however, the look and feel of the six Fallen Angels films seem transportingly authentic and sensuous, stylized in ways that evoke the milieu without spoofing it. Occasionally, the films veer into the arch and ridiculous, but overall, they at least look darn good". Newsweek magazine's David Gates wrote, "no show this summer will do
744-431: The material for a stage play, earning a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding New Play. In 1993, he co-scripted (with Howard A. Rodman ) " The Frightening Frammis ", which was directed by Tom Cruise and aired as an episode of the Showtime anthology series Fallen Angels . Two years later, Henry Jaglom cast him as a gay playwright who achieves success at an early age - a character inspired by Baitz himself - in
775-681: The return of her lover from prison . She meets hotel detective Tony Reseck ( Bruno Kirby ), whose attempt to protect her ends in violence. • Featured Song: Patti Page , "Why Don't You Love Me." • The episode was filmed at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles , where in 1968 Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated the evening he won the California presidential Democratic Party primary. Streeter ( Joe Mantegna ) and brutal Creighton ( Bonnie Bedelia ) are corrupt cops of
806-462: The second season are reprinted in various volumes: When it debuted, Fallen Angels received mixed to critical notices. In his review for the Associated Press , Scott Williams wrote, "We're asking a lot of TV to deliver entertainment about that stylish, moral abyss. Fallen Angels delivers. It lets us look over the edge and measure our souls against the darkness". The Chicago Sun-Times gave
837-505: The series two out of four stars and Ginny Holbert wrote, "Part of the problem is the series' arch, self-conscious obsession with style. Instead of a '90s interpretation of film noir, Fallen Angels offers contrived, full-color cliche noir, replete with cocked fedoras, plumes of curling smoke and harsh sunlight sliced by venetian blinds". In his review for The New York Times , John J. O'Connor called it, "uneven but diverting, even when just hovering around film-school level". In his review for
868-578: Was born to a Jewish family in Los Angeles, California , the son of Edward Baitz, an executive of the Carnation Company . Baitz was raised in Brazil and South Africa before the family returned to California, where he attended Beverly Hills High School . On speaking about the influence of his time growing up abroad on his life and work, Baitz states: I think what happened was that I felt so foreign so often that I became very adept at observing. I learned
899-576: Was director Roland Emmerich , who then hired Baitz to write the screenplay for his 2015 film Stonewall , based on the Stonewall riots . In 2019, Baitz generated controversy when he became the first member of the WGA to defy the guild's directive that members fire their talent agents, amid ongoing negotiations with the Association of Talent Agents over the practice of packaging . Baitz defended his decision in
930-525: Was followed by The Substance of Fire in 1991 with Ron Rifkin and Sarah Jessica Parker and The End of the Day Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons in 1992, starring Roger Rees . Baitz wrote and directed the two-character play Three Hotels , based on his parents, for a presentation on PBS 's American Playhouse , in March 1991. The cast starred Richard Jordan and Kate Nelligan. He then reworked
961-427: Was great as Howard Hughes ." A boxer's wife ( Mädchen Amick ) is unhappy with her marriage and leaves her husband Matt Cordell ( Kiefer Sutherland ) for another man. Later she wants to give the marriage another chance. Cordell is framed for a murder. • Awards: One CableACE Awards nomination, Frank Pugliese, Screenplay Johnny Lamb ( Brendan Fraser ) has two jobs: he's an elevator operator by day and