THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITYOFFICE OF NEWS AND INFORMATION3003 N. Charles Street, Suite 100Baltimore, Maryland 21218-3843Phone: (410) 516-7160 / Fax (410) 516-5251
April 25, 2001FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEMEDIA CONTACT: Glenn Small(410) 516-6094
JOHN ASTIN STARS IN NEW ROLE AS COLLEGE PROFESSORBest Known as Gomez Addams on the "Addams Family" television series.
[Note: A video on Astin's course is available on line]
Nearly 50 years after he walked the leafy grounds of Johns Hopkins University's Homewood campus as a student, actor John Astin has returned to Baltimore to teach as a visiting professor at the university where he graduated in 1952.
"The marble steps in Gilman Hall are a little more worn, but they're the same steps," Astin said recently, after finishing with students in his Acting and Directing Workshop course. He has 50 students in three sections.
"These students are really showing me something," Astin said. "I'm inspired by them."
Through intensive scene work, Astin has been pushing his students to open up emotionally and strive for performances that are natural. He's had them study a number of plays and several texts. The culminating project for the semester will be performances of several plays written by other Johns Hopkins students.
Those performances will be on Thursday, May 3, and on Sunday, May 6, in the new black box theater of the Mattin Center, a student arts and activities center. The performances are free and open to the public.
While he is only scheduled to teach this semester, Astin said he would like to return, perhaps as soon as next spring, to teach another course at Hopkins.
Astin is, of course, best known as Gomez Addams, the lovable, slightly crazed patriarch of the original "Addams Family" television series, the myriad repeats of which have led to the frequent reference to Astin as a "pop-culture icon." Gomez remains one of his favorite TV characterizations, along with Buddy Ryan in "Night Court" and the title role in "Evil Roy Slade."
Among Mr. Astin's films are "West Side Story," "That Touch of Mink" with Doris Day and Cary Grant, "The Wheeler Dealers," "Move Over Darling," "Candy," "Viva Max," "Pepper," "Get to Know Your Rabbit," "The Brothers O'Toole," "Freaky Friday," "European Vacation," "Nightlife," "Gremlins II," "Stepmonster," "Huck and the King of Hearts," Peter Jackson's "The Frighteners," and "Betaville."
Astin received an Academy Award nomination for "Prelude," a short film he wrote, produced and directed. He was nominated for an Ace Award for his work on "Tales from the Crypt," and received an Emmy nomination as the cartoon voice of Gomez on ABC-TV's animated "The Addams Family." His voice is popular on radio and in animation series. He served for four years on the board of directors of the Writers Guild of America West, and is active in community affairs in Los Angeles and Santa Monica, Calif.
He was born in Baltimore and grew up in Washington, D.C. After he graduated from Hopkins, he did graduate work in English literature at the University of Minnesota. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Valerie. He has five sons and a 4-year-old granddaughter.
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