After acquiring undergraduate and graduate degrees from Pittsburgh's prestigious Carnegie Institute of Technology, Emmy-winning character actor Bruce Weitz went on to train at such august regional theaters as the Guthrie in Minneapolis, Minnesota and the Actors Theatre of Louisville (Kentucky). He made his Broadway debut in a revival of "Death of a Salesman" (1976), starring George C. Scott, and subsequently acted in Broadway productions of "The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel" (alongside Al Pacino) and "Norman, Is That You?". The compact, wiry Weitz also performed in 13 New York Shakespeare Festival productions from 1976-1980 but began making the transition from stage to TV at the end of the 70s, guest-starring on various series including "Quincy", "Kojak", "The White Shadow", "One Day at a Time" and "Lou Grant" while segueing to feature films in "The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover" (1977).
Weitz's big break came when he landed the role of the vaguely maniacal Mick Belker on Steven Bochco's landmark police-drama "Hill Street Blues" (NBC, 1981-87). His scruffy little undercover cop endeared himself to viewers by sometimes biting offenders, barking at dogs or terrorizing surly criminals ("Would you like to sit down, hairball, or would you prefer internal bleeding?"), earning him a 1984 Emmy as Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series as well as five other nominations. Since that series' demise, Weitz has stayed busy primarily on the small screen, acting frequently in movies and episodic TV, although he has occasionally performed on stage as in the Off-Broadway production of "Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune" (1988). He returned as a series regular playing a newspaper columnist for one season (1991-92) on the ABC sitcom "Anything But Love" and reunited with Bochco as a psychiatrist counseling a family transplanted in Hawaii in the short-lived "The Byrds of Paradise" (ABC, 1994). He also appeared in the feature films "Deep Impact" (1998) and "Half Past Dead" (2002).
- Also Credited As:
Bruce Peter Weitz
- Born:
May 27, 1943 in Norwalk, Connecticut, USA
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Job Titles:
Actor, Restaurant manager
Family
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Father: Alvin Weitz.
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Mother: Sybil Weitz.
Education
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Carnegie Institute of Technology, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, BA, 1964
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Carnegie Institute of Technology, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, MFA, 1966
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Ransom High School, Miami, Florida
Milestones
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1966 Joined Long Wharf Repertory Theatre in New Haven, CT
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1966 Managed a restaurant on the Spanish island Formentera
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1967 Moved onto the Tyrone Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis, MN
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1972 Acted in Chicago stage production of In the Matter of J Robert Oppenheimer
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1975 Appeared on the ABC daytime serial, Ryan s Hope
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1976 Broadway debut in Death of a Salesman , starring George C Scott as Willy Loman
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1977 Feature debut, The Private Files of J Edgar Hoover
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1981 Acted the part of Paul Snider in NBC movie Death of a Centerfold: The Dorothy Stratten Story
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1981 Played Sergeant Mike Pirelli in Every Stray Dog and Kid , an unsuccessful NBC pilot executive produced by Hill Street Blues executive producer Steven Bochco
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1983 Hosted both parts of the PBS documentary about drug abuse The Chemical People
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1988 Appeared Off-Broadway in Terrence McNally s Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune
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1988 Earned an Emmy nomination for his work as Rick Whitehead in the ABC two-part docudrama Baby M
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1989 Received another Emmy nomination for his performance on an episode of Midnight Caller (NBC)
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1991 Played Manager Miller Huggins in Babe Ruth , an NBC movie starring Stephen Lang as the Sultan of Swat
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1994 Appeared in the regular role of psychiatrist Murray Rubenstein in the short-lived ABC series The Byrds of Paradise , executive produced by Bochco
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1995 Portrayed Robert Shapiro in the Fox TV-movie The Story of O J Simpson
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1996 Acted the role of Detective Steve McAdams in Justice for Annie: A Moment of Truth Movie (NBC)
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1998 Played Stuart Caley in Mimi Leder s Deep Impact
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2001 Appeared in the dramatic stage version of Heaven Can Wait , performed at Westport Country Playhouse
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2002 Cast in the action feature Half Past Dead
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Appeared in 13 New York Shakespeare Festival Productions
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Guest-starred on episodes of Profiler (NBC), Jag (CBS) and old buddy Bochco s NYPD Blue (ABC)
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Had regular role as Mike Urbanek in the ABC sitcom Anything But Love
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Performed at Arena Stage, Washington DC
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Portrayed Detective Mick Belker in critically-acclaimed NBC series Hill Street Blues ; nominated for six Emmys during its run, winning once in 1984; show executive produced by Steven Bochco
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Subsequently appeared in Broadway productions of The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel and Norman, Is That You?
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Worked at Actors Theatre of Louisville (KY)