Bill Irwin(I)
- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Bill Irwin was born on April 11, 1950, in Santa Monica, California, to
Elizabeth (Mills), a teacher, and Horace G. Irwin, an aerospace
engineer. He is the oldest of three children, and is of English, Irish,
and German descent. Irwin spent a year in Belfast, Northern Ireland, as
an exchange student. He is a graduate in theatre arts from Oberlin
College, OH, a graduate of Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey's
Clown College, FL, and received a MacArthur Genius Grant in 1984.
Irwin began his film career in 1980 and earned film credits in more
than twenty movies. His best-known film role was "Lou Lou Who" in
Dr. Seuss'
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000).
He is also a producer, director, writer, and choreographer. In 2001,
Irwin collaborated with the renown Russian mime
Vyacheslav Polunin, who organized the
New Carnival within the framework of the World Theatre Olympics, in the
Hermitage Gardens in Moscow. There, Bill Irwin performed in the duo
with David Shiner, among some of the best
acting comedians of the 20th century, such as
Vyacheslav Polunin, Django Edwards,
Jérôme Deschamps, Franz-Joseph
Bogner, Leo Bassi,
Gennadiy Khazanov,
Leonid Yarmolnik and
Bolek Polívka and over a hundred of other
comedians and mimes from all over the world. He appeared on Broadway in
"Accidental Death of an Anarchist" and at La Jolla Playhouse in "The
Seagull" by Anton Chekhov, among his other
stage works. Bill Irwin won the 2005 Tony Award for Best Actor in a
Play, for his performance in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?". He was
also nominated for four Tony Awards as an actor, author, director, and
choreographer.
Elizabeth (Mills), a teacher, and Horace G. Irwin, an aerospace
engineer. He is the oldest of three children, and is of English, Irish,
and German descent. Irwin spent a year in Belfast, Northern Ireland, as
an exchange student. He is a graduate in theatre arts from Oberlin
College, OH, a graduate of Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey's
Clown College, FL, and received a MacArthur Genius Grant in 1984.
Irwin began his film career in 1980 and earned film credits in more
than twenty movies. His best-known film role was "Lou Lou Who" in
Dr. Seuss'
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000).
He is also a producer, director, writer, and choreographer. In 2001,
Irwin collaborated with the renown Russian mime
Vyacheslav Polunin, who organized the
New Carnival within the framework of the World Theatre Olympics, in the
Hermitage Gardens in Moscow. There, Bill Irwin performed in the duo
with David Shiner, among some of the best
acting comedians of the 20th century, such as
Vyacheslav Polunin, Django Edwards,
Jérôme Deschamps, Franz-Joseph
Bogner, Leo Bassi,
Gennadiy Khazanov,
Leonid Yarmolnik and
Bolek Polívka and over a hundred of other
comedians and mimes from all over the world. He appeared on Broadway in
"Accidental Death of an Anarchist" and at La Jolla Playhouse in "The
Seagull" by Anton Chekhov, among his other
stage works. Bill Irwin won the 2005 Tony Award for Best Actor in a
Play, for his performance in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?". He was
also nominated for four Tony Awards as an actor, author, director, and
choreographer.