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Len Birman is a Canadian American actor, who began his career in Montreal where he was born Leonard Birman on September 28 1932. In his 45 years on stage, screen and radio, he portrayed a wide variety of characters, some of which are the choicest roles in classical as well as contemporary theatre. ==Early life and career== Len is the second son of Maurice Lieb Birman, who was a millinery designer, and Anna Birman, a marriage that was a 70 year long love affair. Len graduated from Baron Byng High School in 1949 as class president, and within months he was captivated by the stage and the discovery of being naturally at home on it. He had been a good student and now had no interest at all in continuing on to college. His earliest influences came by way of the STAGE series, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's radio productions of original plays and international classics beginning in the early '40s. At the time, it was thought of as Canada's National Theatre and was hailed as the best radio drama in the world. So as a long time fan, he was honored and humbled to be joining the remaining members of the troupe when he moved to Toronto in 1962. Len soon became a mainstay playing dozens of pivotal roles. Coincidental with his early appearances in community theatre, CBC/Radio Canada announced plans for their first live English and French television series to be produced in Montreal, dramatized events in the history of the Canadian army. Called ″Dateline″ on the English language channel and ″Je Me Souviens″ on the French language channel, it aired on alternate Friday nights with the same cast. His audition won him his first TV role, that of a wounded British soldier. After the dress rehearsal, the show was found to be long, and the necessary 6 minute cut included his scene. Although he recouped the following week, he felt truly wounded. Len's film experience began almost simultaneously with the arrival of The National Film Board to new headquarters and studios in Montreal. That, together with CBC's new television activity, presented the possibility of acting as a vocation. Until then, radio drama was the only ongoing paid professional work and Birman was to be married in September of 1956. By then, production in both languages was in full flourish, and he and his friends were so engaged in it they formed an ensemble for the stage. Len, together with George Bloomfield, director and M. Charles Cohen, playwright created Domino Productions, for which he produced, played leading roles and exercised his innate talent for art by designing the sets, posters and programs. As a youngster, he had thought he would study art in Paris but his inclination toward theatre proved more persuasive. He had already contributed skits to various annual Variety shows including McGill University's Red And White Revue, YMHA′s Variety Gang and B′nai B′rith′s Notes To You. Len spearheaded the founding of Cafe Andre's ″Up Tempo″, a highly successful satirical revue, which was the first of its kind in Canada and ran well into the '60s. Busy with Domino, he also made TV appearances in minor roles on CBC's Dorchester Theatre, Explorations, Theatre Populaire, Shoestring Theatre, Les Plouffes, A Midsummer Theatre and in 44 episodes of CBC's first filmed series, The Adventures of Radisson which was known asTomahawk in the U.S and as Birman Dies Again in some circles. At this time, (1955-57), he appeared in 3 films for the NFB's Perspective series, and performed his first leading role in a teleplay called Etc...which grew out of Domino and was written by Cohen and directed by Bloomfield for Guest Stage. In 1957, Domino's rehearsal schedule of A View From The Bridge came to a sudden end when it was learned that the American touring company of the same play, starring Luther Adler, was due for a limited run at Her Majesty's Theater,Montreal's main legit house. Word was that casting of the minor roles would be done locally. Len was cast as Mike and later in the tour played Rodolpho, the role he was earlier slated to play with Domino. The following year, he and his wife Jayne, who was also in the cast, moved to New York where they rejoined the company of A View From The Bridge for the preBroadway tour of what was to be the first presentation of the extended version of Arthur Miller's one act play. Sadly, it closed in Washington. That summer Len went off to Nantucket to play the role of Macbeth. Later that year he was invited to join New York's Institute for Advanced Study In Theatre Arts under the tutelage of Jacques Charron of Comedie Francaise, Paris, Yuri Zavadsky of Moscow Art Theatre, and Willie Schmidt of Schiller Theatre, Berlin. On television in New York, he appeared on Armstrong Circle Theatre, Robert Herridge Theatre, All Family Classics, Dupont Show of the Month, Hallmark Hall of Fame, Actors TV Theatre, The Witness and had his first U.S. screen credit for a role on Naked City. Len has also instructed advanced acting students and coached professional actors. He served as guest lecturer and/or instructor at National Theatre School of Canada, Manitoba School of Theatre and Allied Arts, The Okanagan Summer Arts Festival and The Hub Of Hollywood. STAGE CAREER (1955-1995) *Anne of a Thousand Days - Thomas Cromwell *Ring Around The Moon - Messerschmann *Picnic - Hal Carter, his first professional role. Len was paid $20. *Craig's Wife - Eugene *Arsenic and Old Lace - Officer Klein *Another Part of the Forest - Ben Hubbard *A View From The Bridge - Mike / Rodolpho *Bullfight - Domingo Salamanca *The Three Sisters - Vershinin *Macbeth - Macbeth *Love and Intrigue - Worm *Compulsion - Dr. McNarry *Death of a Salesman - Howard Wagner / Biff *Do You Know The Milky Way ? -The Man *(1962-1964): Member of the company of The Stratford Shakespeare Festival Theatre, Ontario, including their widely acclaimed appearance at The World Theatre Festival in Chichester, England under the Artistic Directorship of Sir Laurence Olivier, *The Tempest - Adrian *Macbeth - Caithness/Macbeth *Cyrano de Bergerac - Understudy Cyrano/Actor/ First Cadet/ *Troilus and Cressida - Prologue / Diomedes *Timon of Athens - A Painter *Richard Second - Duke of Aumerle *King Lear - Duke of Burgundy / A Gentleman *A Streetcar Named Desire - Stanley Kowalski *A Yard of Sun - Roberto Bruno *Romeo and Juliet - Mercutio *The Sound of Music - Captain Georg Von Trapp *The Dybbuk - Rabbi Ezrielka *Wild Rose - Moses Lefthand *Tartuffe - Cleante *Sarcophagus - Doctor Sergeyev *Bitter Friends - Schaeffer *A Shadow of Cypress - The Man *Heloise and Abelard,The Letters - Abelard *My Fair Lady - Professor Henry Higgins 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Len Birman」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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