Tough Guys Do Dance

Authors

Tough Guys Don't Dance, film noir, supporting characters, actor-director collaboration, independent filmmaking

An actor recounts his experience working on the set of Norman Mailer’s film, Tough Guys Don’t Dance (1987).

Stephan Morrow

Stephan Morrow is an actor and director laboring in the trenches of non-commercial theater in New York and Los Angeles. He came to this calling after surviving a two-year global pilgrimage that took him overland from Istanbul to India and then on through Asia. He is the founder of The Great American Play Series, which features powerful performances by seasoned professionals of American classics. In addition to working with Norman Mailer on two plays and a film, his most notable efforts have also included working with Arthur Miller who gave him his personal blessing over a three-year period to bring his play Incident at Vichy to a major venue. He directed and acted in a performance of The Deer Park by Norman Mailer, which Mr. Mailer attended and invited him to co-direct a film of and perform in. He was mentored into the Playwright-Directing Unit of The Actor’s Studio by Elia Kazan.