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Scott Ellis

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Scott Ellis
Born (1957-04-19) April 19, 1957 (age 68)
EducationArt Institute of Chicago (BFA)
Occupation(s)Director, executive producer, actor
Years active1980–present

Scott Ellis (born April 19, 1957) is an American stage director, actor, and television director.

Life and career

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Ellis graduated from Goodman School of Drama at the Art Institute of Chicago (now at DePaul University) in Chicago.[1] He also graduated from James W. Robinson Secondary School, in Fairfax, Virginia, in 1975. He studied acting at HB Studio[2] in New York City. Ellis has a twin brother named Mark Ellis, who is the Executive Director of the International Bar Association.

Before he became a director, Ellis was a successful stage actor; he performed on Broadway in the original casts of the 1980 original musical Musical Chairs and The Rink with Liza Minnelli and Chita Rivera.[3][4]

He has directed numerous Off-Broadway and Broadway productions, as well as the New York City Opera Company revivals at the New York State Theater of A Little Night Music (1990) and 110 in the Shade (1992).

Ellis has been the Associate Artistic Director for the Roundabout Theatre since 1998.[5]

He has been nominated for the Tony Award as Best Director nine times for a revival of She Loves Me (1994), Steel Pier (1997), a revival of 1776 (1998), Twelve Angry Men (2005), Curtains (2007), a revival of The Mystery of Edwin Drood (2013), a revival of You Can't Take It with You (2015), another revival of She Loves Me (2016), and Tootsie (2019). He received the 1991 Drama Desk Award, Outstanding Director of a Musical, for And The World Goes Round. He won the Olivier Award as Best Director, Musical, for She Loves Me.[6]

He was the executive producer for the television drama Weeds on Showtime, and has directed television episodes of Modern Family, Nurse Jackie, The Good Wife, Hung, 30 Rock, Desperate Housewives, The Closer and Frasier.[1] He received an Emmy Award nomination in 2007 for directing the episode "The Break-Up" of the comedy series 30 Rock.

In 2010, Playbill announced that Ellis was expected to direct upcoming musical adaptations of the 1930s films The Blue Angel and Little Miss Marker. Both would have books by David Thompson.[7]

He played the role of Leonard Bernstein's manager Harry Kraut in the biopic Maestro (2023).[8]

Credits

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Stage

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As actor

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Year Title Role Notes
1978 Grease Doody
1980 Musical Chairs Sally's Boyfriend
1984 The Rink Various
1987 Billy Bishop Goes to War Billy Bishop

As director

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Year Title Notes
1991 And the World Goes 'Round
1993 She Loves Me
1995 A Month in the Country
1997 Steel Pier
1997 1776
1998 Present Laughter
1999 The Rainmaker
2002 The Man Who Had All the Luck
2002 The Boys from Syracuse
2004 Twelve Angry Men
2006 The Little Dog Laughed
2007 Curtains
2011 Gruesome Playground Injuries
2012 Harvey
2012 The Mystery of Edwin Drood
2014 You Can't Take It with You
2014 The Elephant Man
2015 On the Twentieth Century
2016 She Loves Me
2019 Kiss Me, Kate
2019 Tootsie
2022 Take Me Out
2024 Doubt
2025 Pirates: The Penzance Musical

Television

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Year Title Notes
2000–04 Frasier
2003 Charlie Lawrence
2005–06 Hope & Faith
2005 Out of Practice
2005–06 Stacked
2006–09 30 Rock
2007–09 The Closer
2008 Desperate Housewives
2008–11 Weeds
2009 Trust Me
2009 Hung
2009 Nurse Jackie
2009 The Good Wife Episode: "Home"[9]
2010 Running Wilde
2010–11 Modern Family
2011 Mad Love
2011–13 2 Broke Girls
2012 Guys with Kids
2012–13 The New Normal
2013–14 The Michael J. Fox Show
2013 Dads Episode: "Comic Book Issues"
2014 Mixology Episode: "Dominic & Stacey"
2014 Undateable
2015 Us & Them Episode: "Upstairs & Downstairs"
2015 One Big Happy Episode: "Pilot"
2015–16 Dr. Ken
2017 Superior Donuts
2017–23 The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
2017 A Christmas Story Live!
2018 Divorce
2019 Fam
2019–20 Carol's Second Act
2020–21 All Rise
2020 Tommy Episode: "Cause of Death"
2021–22 B Positive
2022 East New York
2022–23 Julia

References

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Notes

  1. ^ a b "Scot Ellis" pbs.org, accessed June 7, 2013
  2. ^ HB Studio Alumni
  3. ^ Ellis Nassour. "Scott Ellis Is an Actor's Director". Playbill date: November 19, 2008 accessed: March 8, 2016
  4. ^ Scott Ellis at the Internet Broadway Database
  5. ^ "Scott Ellis Takes a New Roundabout Post" The New York Times (webcache), September 4, 1998
  6. ^ "Olivier Awards, 1995" olivierawards.com, retrieved October 24, 2017
  7. ^ Robert Simonson. "Scottsboro Librettist David Thompson Working on New Musicals With Stew, Scott Ellis". Playbill, date: April 1, 2010 accessed: March 8, 2016
  8. ^ "Behind the 'Maestro' drama is a raft of theater stars supporting the story of Leonard Bernstein". AP News. 2023-12-18. Retrieved 2025-04-12.
  9. ^ Scott Ellis (director), Dee Johnson (writer) (2009-10-06). "Home". The Good Wife. Season 1. Episode 3. CBS.

Bibliography

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