December 2012
> 2 weeks ago
0
About J.D.
I was born in a trunk on West 76th with the Sun in Aries and the Moon in Aquarius. No, it just doesn't get any better than that.
My name is Joseph Dean Coburn and I taught acting in L.A. and Seattle for over 20 years. I thought I'd open an account here to answer questions about acting, training, and offer some legitimate career guidance. It costs you nothing.
There is no box to check for that.
My family was in the American Theater for over 150 years. I got my first lead at age 7 and by 18 had been in over 40 productions including 6 years of repertory. I parlayed that experience into an award-winning career in commercial broadcasting (Edward R. Murrow Award, Golden Mic, International Radio Festival Grand Award, American Religion in Broadcasting Award, etc.). For 24 years, in Seattle and Los Angeles, I worked on-the-air, in production and voice-over. I also spent a couple of years producing rock concerts and managing the Paramount Theaters in Seattle and Portland.
I am a founding member of the Playhouse West Acting Company. We were the stuff of Hollywood legends. We improvised a play, a director saw it, bought it, and made it into a movie starring the original cast (he re-wrote it, made a terrible movie). Some of our people improvised another play, Jeff Goldblum, one of our teachers, directed a film version and it got an Academy Award nomination. Our members, some of them my students, are genuine A-List movie stars; many more hold positions at the very highest levels of the industry in production, development, and as writers and producers. I mention this only to illustrate the caliber of people with whom I have worked.
I've done a smattering of work in motion pictures (?ref_=fn_al_nm_1). I never really pursued acting work. I never auditioned. When friends had a role that needed filling, and I was right for the part, they'd call and I'd say, "Okay." I only ever wanted to teach acting. I started my training to teach in 1991 and by 1995 began teaching at one of the largest, most respected, most recommended schools in the motion picture industry.
Because we conducted some of our classes in the same studio where Sanford Meisner taught in North Hollywood, I had keys to his building and would sneak in to watch him teach. Sandy came to see a play I was in, twice. Sandy said it was best theater he'd seen since "Waiting For Lefty" (which he directed with the Group Theater in New York and his best friend, Clifford Odets wrote). Mr. Meisner said he had never seen a play that so galvanized the audience. Sandy was NOT known to compliment ANYONE, EVER.
Therein lies something like a bio and some credibility. The problem with biographies and resume's is that they only tell people what you've done, not that of which you may be capable. Still, I'm retired now and live in Mindanao, The Philippines so I can answer questions freely without fear of professional reprisals.
Ask away.
Unique traits: Deep voice, articulate, and I look like the bad guy.
Badges
Credits
-
The Hair Whisperer (
2016 )
Video (Short and Comedy) Actor A documentary crew films the exploits of a savvy but not-too-stable Donald Trump supporter. What could possibly go wrong? -
Amnésique (
2012 )
Film (Musical) Actor Amnesiac Agent Edward Hallow awakens from a five-year absence and goes on a mission to rediscover who he really is. Set against the backdrop of a futuristic town known as Meta City, 'Amnesique' is a psychedelic musical caught between a surreal dream and a bleak reality. The question is, whose dream and reality is this? 'Mais cette fois je me rappellerai tout'. (But this time, I will remember everything). Written by Anonymous -
The Tao of Pinochet (
2012 )
Film (Comedy) Actor A man who may or may not suffer from a multiple personality disorder inhabits nine characters in perhaps the most off-putting film ever made. -
Somebody (
2012 )
Film (Short and Drama) Actor A young Marine and a first time prostitute spend the evening in a run-down motel where they discover they are both searching for somebody. -
Fashionably L.A. (
1999 )
Film (Comedy) Actor Young women struggle to make it as models in Los Angeles. -
Star Struck (
1996 )
Film (Comedy and Drama) Actor A boy from the Midwest comes to Hollywood in search of a dream: he wants to be a star. He finds acting teacher Aaron Gillespie who bills himself as "The Buddah of Buddahs" of acting teachers and gets entangled, together with a group of acting students, into the biggest scam in Hollywood: Acting Schools that promise anything you want to hear. "I will put an Oscar in your hands" are the words of Acting "Guru" Aaron Gillespie: and the story begins.... "Spinal Tap" meets "Fame" is the best way to describe this film. Written by Anonymous
Awards
-
American Religion in Broadcasting
(1989) -
Edward R. Murrow Award
(1988) -
Golden Mic
(1988) -
International Radid Festival Grand Award
(1985)
Education
-
Playhouse West
(1991-2000)
Share This Profile
Register / Log In
