Michael Jeter

Michael Jeter (/ˈdʒiːtər/; August 26, 1952 – March 30, 2003) was an American actor. Known for his career on stage and screen, Jeter played diverse characters, taking on roles ranging from eccentric and pretentious to weak and ineffectual. He won a Tony Award and a Primetime Emmy Award. He portrayed Herman Stiles on the sitcom Evening Shade from 1990 until 1994.

Michael Jeter
Jeter at the 44th Emmy Awards in 1992
Born	(1952-08-26)August 26, 1952 Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, U.S.
Died	March 30, 2003(2003-03-30) (aged 50) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Alma mater	Memphis State University
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1977–2003
Partner	Sean Blue (1995–2003)

Jeter was born in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee. He studied at Memphis State University and later pursued a career in acting. He made his Broadway debut acting in the musical Once in a Lifetime (1979), followed by G. R. Point. For his role as Otto Kringelein in the musical Grand Hotel (1989) he received a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical. Jeter also portrayed Giuseppe Zangara in the musical Assassins (1989).

Jeter gained fame for his roles in The Fisher King (1991) and The Green Mile (1999). His other notable film roles include in Zelig (1983), Miller's Crossing (1990), Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993), Air Bud (1997), Mouse Hunt (1997), Patch Adams (1998), Jurassic Park III (2001), Open Range (2003), and The Polar Express (2004). He also appeared on Sesame Street's Elmo's World as the other Mister Noodle from 2000 to 2003.

Early life and education

Jeter was born in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee on August 26, 1952. His mother, Virginia (née Raines; May 6, 1927 – May 21, 2019), was a housewife. His father, William Claud Jeter (March 10, 1922 – March 1, 2010), was a dentist.^[1] Jeter had one brother, William, and four sisters, Virginia, Amanda, Emily, and Lori.^[2] Jeter was a student at Memphis State University (now the University of Memphis) when his interests changed from medicine to acting. He performed in several plays and musicals at the Circuit Theatre and its sister theatre, the Playhouse on the Square, in midtown Memphis. He left Memphis to further pursue his stage career in Baltimore, Maryland.

Career

Jeter's woebegone look, extreme flexibility, and high energy led Tommy Tune to cast him in the off-Broadway play Cloud 9 in 1981.^[3] Much of his work specialised in playing eccentric, pretentious, or wimpy characters, as in The Fisher King, Waterworld, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Green Mile and Drop Zone. Occasionally, Jeter was able to stray from type for more diverse characters, such as those he portrayed in Jurassic Park III, Air Bud, and Open Range. Jeter is perhaps most known for his role as convicted felon Eduard Delacroix in The Green Mile, a role for which he was nominated along with the rest of the cast for a Screen Actors Guild Award.

In The Fisher King, Jeter portrayed "an unnamed homeless cabaret singer", and "shimmies across the screen with boundless confidence, turning what might have been a grotesque, or at least merely humorous, part into something noble, even indomitable... In a film unafraid of big acting, Jeter goes bigger than anyone."^[4]

He also played Mr. Noodle's brother, Mister Noodle, on Sesame Street from 2000 to 2003. He appeared in an episode of Touched by an Angel in 1999 as Gus, an insurance salesman who arrives in Las Vegas, in the episode "The Man Upstairs".^[5] His last two appearances were in the films Open Range and The Polar Express. Both films were in post-production at the time of his death and, when released, contained a dedication to his memory.^[6][7] The season 35 premiere of Sesame Street, a special entitled "The Street We Live On", was similarly dedicated to Jeter.

Personal life and death

Jeter was gay and met his partner Sean Blue in 1995; they were together until Jeter's death in 2003. Blue died in 2020 in a motorcycle accident.

Jeter was HIV-positive and disclosed his diagnosis in a 1997 interview on Entertainment Tonight. Despite this, he remained healthy for many years.^[8] Jeter also announced while accepting his 1990 Tony that he had recovered from substance abuse.^[9]

On March 30, 2003, Jeter was found dead by Blue at his home in Hollywood Hills, California. He was 50 years old.^[10] Blue said that Jeter died of complications after an epileptic seizure. Jeter was cremated, and his ashes were given to charity.^[11]

Acting credits

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1979	Hair	Woodrow Sheldon
1981	Ragtime	Special Reporter
1982	Soup for One	Mr. Kelp
1983	Zelig	Freshman No. 2
1986	The Money Pit	Arnie
1989	Dead Bang	Dr. Alexander Krantz
	Tango & Cash	Floyd Skinner
1990	Just Like in the Movies	Vernon
	Miller's Crossing	Adolph
1991	The Fisher King	Homeless Cabaret Singer
1993	Bank Robber	Night Clerk No. 1
	Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit	Father Ignatius
1994	Drop Zone	Earl Leedy
1995	Waterworld	Gregor
1997	Air Bud	Norm Snively
	Mouse Hunt	Quincy Thorpe
1998	Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas	Dr. L. Ron Bumquist	Drug expert / guest speaker
	The Naked Man	'Sticks' Varona
	Thursday	Dr. Jarvis
	Zack and Reba	Oras
	Patch Adams	Rudy
1999	True Crime	Dale Porterhouse
	Jakob the Liar	Avron
	The Green Mile	Eduard Delacroix
2000	South of Heaven, West of Hell	Uncle Jude
	The Gift	Gerald Weems
2001	Jurassic Park III	Udesky
2002	Welcome to Collinwood	'Toto'
2003	Open Range	Percy	Posthumous release
2004	The Polar Express	Steamer	Voice Posthumous release; final film role Dedicated in memory

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1979	My Old Man	George Gardner	Television film
1980	Another World	Arnie Gallo	Unknown episodes
	From Here to Eternity	Private Ridgley
	Lou Grant	Max Galt	Episode: "Dogs"
1981	Alice at the Palace	Caterpillar / Dormouse	Television film
1986	Night Court	Confessing Crook	Episode: "The Night Off"
1987	Designing Women	Calvin Klein	Episode: "Old Spouses Never Die – Part 1"
1988	Crime Story	Senator Michael Gaspari	Episode: "The Hearings"
	Hothouse	Dr. Art Makter	7 episodes
1990–1994	Evening Shade	Herman Stiles	98 episodes
1993–1995	Picket Fences	Peter Lebeck	3 episodes
1993	Tales of the City	Carson Callas
	Gypsy	Goldstone	Television film
1994	Aladdin	Runtar	Voice Episode: "StinkerBelle"
1995	Chicago Hope	Bob Ryan	Episode: "A Coupla Stiffs"
1996	Dream On	Dr. Enoch	Episode: "Finale with a Vengeance"
	Suddenly Susan	Lawrence Rosewood	Episode: "Dr. No"
	Mrs. Santa Claus	Arvo	Television film
	The Boys Next Door	Arnold Wiggins
1997	Duckman	Dr. William Blay	Voice Episode: "Ajax & Ajaxer"
	Second Noah	The Chicken Man	Episode: "Diving In"
	Murphy Brown	Vic	Episode: "You Don't Know Jackal"
	Johnny Bravo	Lawrence the Camel	Voice Episode: "Blarney Buddies/Over the Hump/Johnny Meets Farrah Fawcett"
1998–1999	The Wild Thornberrys	Biederman	Voice 4 episodes
1998	Veronica's Closet	Edwin Murloff	Episode: "Veronica's Blackout"
	The Ransom of Red Chief	Bill Driscoll	Television film
1999	Touched by an Angel	Gus Zimmerman	Episode: "The Man Upstairs"
2000–2003	Sesame Street	Mr. Noodle's Brother, Mister Noodle	Elmo's World segments
2002	Taken	William Jeffries	Episode: "Taken"
	Hey Arnold!	Nate Horowitz	Voice Episode: "Gerald's Game/The Fishing Trip"

Theater

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1978	Once in a Lifetime	Jolson / Bellboy	Circle in the Square
1979	G.R. Point	Straw	Playhouse Theatre, Broadway
1980	Alice in Concert	Ensemble	The Public Theatre
1981	Cloud 9	Betty / Gerry	Lucille Lortel's Theatre de Lys
1982	Greater Tuna	Performer	Circle in the Square Downtown
1989	Grand Hotel	Otto Kringelein	Martin Beck Theatre, Broadway
	Assassins	Giuseppe Zangara	Playwrights Horizons

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Project	Result	Ref.
1991	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series	Evening Shade	Nominated
1992				Won	[12]
1993				Nominated
		Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series	Picket Fences	Nominated
1995			Chicago Hope	Nominated
1992	Golden Globe Award	Best Actor in a Supporting Role – Television	Evening Shade	Nominated
1999	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Ensemble in a Motion Picture	The Green Mile	Nominated
1990	Tony Award	Best Featured Actor in a Musical	Grand Hotel	Won	[13]
	Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical		Won	[14]
	Outer Critics Circle Award	Outstanding Actor in a Musical		Won
	Clarence Derwent Prize			Won
1979	Theatre World Award		G.R. Point	Won

References

1. "William Claude Jeter (1943)". University of Tennessee. March 10, 2010. Archived from the original on March 5, 2014. Retrieved February 28, 2014.
2. "Michael Jeter, 50, Dies; Won Acting Prizes". The New York Times. April 2, 2003. Retrieved February 28, 2014.
3. "Cloud 9". Lortel Archives. Archived from the original on February 28, 2014. Retrieved February 28, 2014.
4. Koresky, Michael. "Michael's Turn: Michael Jeter in The Fisher King". The Criterion Collection. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
5. "Touched By An Angel Episode 516: "The Man Upstairs"". Touched.com. February 21, 1999. Archived from the original on December 3, 2012. Retrieved February 23, 2013.
6. Rooney, David (October 24, 2004). "Review: 'The Polar Express'". Variety. Retrieved February 28, 2014.
7. Open Range film credits.
8. "Healthy Despite His Hiv, Jeter Says It's Nothing To Hide". Sun Sentinel. December 6, 1999. Archived from the original on September 15, 2018. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
9. Ferber, Lawrence (May 13, 2003). "In memoriam. Michael Jeter". The Advocate (889). Here Publishing: 62. ISSN 0001-8996.
10. Cosgrove-Mather, Bootie (August 31, 2004). "Actor Michael Jeter Dead At 52". CBS News. Retrieved February 28, 2014.^{[dead link]}
11. "Corrections". The Advocate. Here. September 17, 2004. p. 6. Retrieved February 28, 2014.
12. "'Sesame Street' actor Michael Jeter dies". United Press International, Inc. Los Angeles. April 1, 2003. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
13. "Michael Jeter: Biography". MSN Entertainment. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved February 28, 2014.
14. Michael Jeter, 50; 'Mr. Noodle' on Sesame Street by Myrna Oliver, Times Staff Writer, Los Angeles Times, April 1, 2003.

External links

• Michael Jeter at IMDb
• Michael Jeter at the Internet Broadway Database
• Michael Jeter at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Michael Jeter at AllMovie