David Garrison
Encyclopedia
David Gene Garrison is an American
actor
. His primary venue is live theatre
, but he may be more widely known for his numerous television
roles, particularly that of Steve Rhoades on Married... with Children
. Prior to that role, he had also starred with Jason Bateman
on the sitcom It's Your Move
.
, the son of Maude B., a teacher, and Earl B. Garrison, a school administrator. He graduated summa cum laude from Boston University
's School of Fine Arts.
actor, particularly in musicals
. He has appeared in numerous productions around the United States, including many Broadway shows. His Broadway appearances include A Day in Hollywood / A Night in the Ukraine
for which he received a Tony nomination, Titanic
, Torch Song Trilogy
, The Pirates of Penzance
, Bells are Ringing and Off-Broadway
in I Do! I Do!
. He also has many recordings of various musicals to his singing credit.
Garrison played Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls (national tour), the Devil in Randy Newman's Faust
, Henry Carr in Travesties
(Williamstown), Frosch in Die Fledermaus
(Santa Fe Opera), The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in Wicked
(national tour) and Charley in the Arena Stage
revival
of Merrily We Roll Along
for which he received the Helen Hayes Award
.
Garrison has also appeared in numerous roles on television. In 1984 and 1985, he starred as Norman Lamb on the sitcom It's Your Move
. That show lasted for only one season, but in 1987, Garrison landed his best-known role, portraying Steve Rhoades, next door neighbor to the Bundy family on the popular sitcom Married... with Children
. He remained with the show for 4½ seasons.
Garrison enjoyed his years playing Steve Rhoades, but he missed performing in live theater, and asked to be let out of his contract. Despite this, he was a regular on a short-lived NBC sitcom, Working It Out
, in 1990 shortly after his exit from Married... with Children. A going-away present from the producers of Married... with Children was a blown-up police mug shot
of himself as Rhoades, with the caption "Gotta sing, gotta dance, gotta f**king starve to death." Nonetheless, Garrison parted on good terms, returning four times in subsequent seasons (and the reunion special) detailing the career Rhoades had pursued since he'd last been seen. However, he was not interviewed nor present at the 2009 TV Land Award show when the entire cast was honored. An idea for a Married with Children spinoff called Radio Free Trumaine was proposed, in which Garrison would reprise his role as Steve Rhoades being the Dean of Trumaine University, and would have David Faustino
as the leading man. However, the show never came to fruition.
Other television credits include Law & Order
, The Practice
, Without a Trace
, Everybody Loves Raymond
, NYPD Blue
, Judging Amy
, Murphy Brown
, Murder, She Wrote
, L.A. Law
, Tom Clancy's Op-Center
and, for PBS Great Performances
, On the Town with the London Symphony Orchestra
and Ira Gershwin at 100: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall. Garrison also participated in several installments of The $25,000 Pyramid as the celebrity guest in 1988. David Garrison also appeared in the George Romero film Creepshow
, in "The Crate" segment where he plays a college dean.
Garrison recently starred in a new play, Red Remembers, which played at the Berkshire Theatre Festival
in Stockbridge, Massachusetts
from September 11 – November 1, 2009.
Garrison is currently starring in Second Stage Theatre
's By The Way, Meet Vera Stark by Pulitzer Prize
winner Lynn Nottage
co-starring Stephanie J. Block
, and Sanaa Lathan
closing June 12th.
in the original touring company of Wicked
when it began on March 8, 2005. He finished his year long run on March 6, 2006 and was replaced by PJ Benjamin. Later he starred again as the Wizard in the Broadway company from April 4, 2006 replacing Ben Vereen
. After 15 months in the role he played his final performance on July 8, 2007 and was replaced by Lenny Wolpe. Then he temporarily starred in the Chicago company from September 30 – October 28, 2007 while Peter Kevoian was on medical leave. Then he starred in the Los Angeles company beginning August 26, 2008 replacing John Rubinstein
, until its closure on January 11, 2009. More recently he played the role in the San Francisco production which officially opened on February 6, 2009. He played his final performance with the production on May 31, 2009 in order to pursue his role in a new play. He was replaced by Lee Wilkof.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
. His primary venue is live theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
, but he may be more widely known for his numerous television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
roles, particularly that of Steve Rhoades on Married... with Children
Married... with Children
Married... with Children is an American surrealistic sitcom that aired for 11 seasons that featured a dysfunctional family living in Chicago, Illinois. The show, notable for being the first prime time television series to air on Fox, ran from April 5, 1987, to June 9, 1997. The series was created...
. Prior to that role, he had also starred with Jason Bateman
Jason Bateman
Jason Kent Bateman is an American television and film actor. After appearing in several 1980s and 1990s sitcoms including It's Your Move, and The Hogan Family, Bateman came to prominence in the early 2000s for playing Michael Bluth on Arrested Development, for which he won a TV Land, a Golden...
on the sitcom It's Your Move
It's Your Move
It's Your Move is an American sitcom starring Jason Bateman, Tricia Cast, Caren Kaye, Ernie Sabella, David Garrison, and Garrett Morris. The show originally aired on NBC from 1984 to 1985.-Premise:...
.
Early life
Garrison was born in Long Branch, New JerseyLong Branch, New Jersey
Long Branch is a city in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 30,719.Long Branch was formed on April 11, 1867, as the Long Branch Commission, from portions of Ocean Township...
, the son of Maude B., a teacher, and Earl B. Garrison, a school administrator. He graduated summa cum laude from Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
's School of Fine Arts.
Career
Although he is most widely known for his television roles and he continues to be seen frequently in guest-starring roles on television today, Garrison is primarily a theatreTheatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
actor, particularly in musicals
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
. He has appeared in numerous productions around the United States, including many Broadway shows. His Broadway appearances include A Day in Hollywood / A Night in the Ukraine
A Day in Hollywood / A Night in the Ukraine
A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine is a musical comedy consisting of two essentially independent one-act plays, with a book and lyrics by Dick Vosburgh and music by Frank Lazarus...
for which he received a Tony nomination, Titanic
Titanic (musical)
Titanic is a musical with music and lyrics by Maury Yeston and a book by Peter Stone that opened on Broadway in 1997. It won five Tony Awards including the award for Best Musical...
, Torch Song Trilogy
Torch Song Trilogy
Torch Song Trilogy is a collection of three plays by Harvey Fierstein rendered in three acts: International Stud, Fugue in a Nursery, and Widows and Children First! The story centers on Arnold Beckoff, a torch song-singing Jewish drag queen living in New York City in the late 1970 and 1980s...
, The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences...
, Bells are Ringing and Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
in I Do! I Do!
I Do! I Do!
I Do! I Do! is a musical with a book and lyrics by Tom Jones and music by Harvey Schmidt which is based on the Jan de Hartog play The Fourposter. The two-character story spans fifty years, from 1895 to 1945, as it focuses on the ups and downs experienced by Agnes and Michael Snow throughout their...
. He also has many recordings of various musicals to his singing credit.
Garrison played Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls (national tour), the Devil in Randy Newman's Faust
Randy Newman's Faust
Randy Newman's Faust is a 1993 musical by American musician and songwriter Randy Newman, who based the work on the classic story of Faust, borrowing elements from the version by Goethe, as well as Milton's Paradise Lost, but updating the story to the modern day, and infusing it with humorous cynicism...
, Henry Carr in Travesties
Travesties
Travesties is a play by Tom Stoppard.The play centres on the figure of Henry Carr, an elderly man who reminisces about Zürich in 1917 during the First World War, and his interactions with James Joyce when he was writing Ulysses, Tristan Tzara during the rise of Dada, and Lenin leading up to the...
(Williamstown), Frosch in Die Fledermaus
Die Fledermaus
Die Fledermaus is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée.- Literary sources :...
(Santa Fe Opera), The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in Wicked
Wicked (musical)
Wicked is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman. It is based on the Gregory Maguire novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West , a parallel novel of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz and L. Frank Baum's classic story The Wonderful Wizard...
(national tour) and Charley in the Arena Stage
Arena Stage
Arena Stage is a not-for-profit regional theater based in Southwest Washington, D.C. Its declared mission"is to produce huge plays of all that is passionate, exuberant, profound, deep and dangerous in the American spirit. Arena has broad shoulders and a capacity to produce anything from vast epics...
revival
Revival (play)
A revival is a restaging of a stage production after its original run has closed. New material may be added. A filmed version is said to be an adaptation and requires writing of a screenplay....
of Merrily We Roll Along
Merrily We Roll Along (musical)
Merrily We Roll Along is a musical with a book by George Furth and lyrics and music by Stephen Sondheim. It is based on the 1934 play of the same name by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart....
for which he received the Helen Hayes Award
Helen Hayes Award
A Helen Hayes Award is a theater award named for the famed actress Helen Hayes to recognize excellence in professional theater in the Washington, D.C. area since 1983. The awards are managed by Linda Levy Grossman. and presented by the Washington Theatre Awards Society.-Awards:The Helen Hayes...
.
Garrison has also appeared in numerous roles on television. In 1984 and 1985, he starred as Norman Lamb on the sitcom It's Your Move
It's Your Move
It's Your Move is an American sitcom starring Jason Bateman, Tricia Cast, Caren Kaye, Ernie Sabella, David Garrison, and Garrett Morris. The show originally aired on NBC from 1984 to 1985.-Premise:...
. That show lasted for only one season, but in 1987, Garrison landed his best-known role, portraying Steve Rhoades, next door neighbor to the Bundy family on the popular sitcom Married... with Children
Married... with Children
Married... with Children is an American surrealistic sitcom that aired for 11 seasons that featured a dysfunctional family living in Chicago, Illinois. The show, notable for being the first prime time television series to air on Fox, ran from April 5, 1987, to June 9, 1997. The series was created...
. He remained with the show for 4½ seasons.
Garrison enjoyed his years playing Steve Rhoades, but he missed performing in live theater, and asked to be let out of his contract. Despite this, he was a regular on a short-lived NBC sitcom, Working It Out
Working It Out
Working It Out is an American situation comedy broadcast by NBC as part of its 1990 fall lineup. The series was created and executive produced by Bill Persky.-Synopsis:...
, in 1990 shortly after his exit from Married... with Children. A going-away present from the producers of Married... with Children was a blown-up police mug shot
Mug shot
A mug shot, mugshot or booking photograph, is a photographic portrait taken after one is arrested. The purpose of the mug shot is to allow law enforcement to have a photographic record of the arrested individual to allow for identification by victims and investigators. Most mug shots are two-part,...
of himself as Rhoades, with the caption "Gotta sing, gotta dance, gotta f**king starve to death." Nonetheless, Garrison parted on good terms, returning four times in subsequent seasons (and the reunion special) detailing the career Rhoades had pursued since he'd last been seen. However, he was not interviewed nor present at the 2009 TV Land Award show when the entire cast was honored. An idea for a Married with Children spinoff called Radio Free Trumaine was proposed, in which Garrison would reprise his role as Steve Rhoades being the Dean of Trumaine University, and would have David Faustino
David Faustino
David Anthony Faustino is an American actor and rap artist primarily known for his role as Bud Bundy on the sitcom Married with Children.-Early life:...
as the leading man. However, the show never came to fruition.
Other television credits include Law & Order
Law & Order
Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...
, The Practice
The Practice
The Practice is an American legal drama created by David E. Kelley centering on the partners and associates at a Boston law firm. Running for eight seasons from 1997 to 2004, the show won the Emmy in 1998 and 1999 for Best Drama Series, and spawned the successful and lighter spin-off series Boston...
, Without a Trace
Without a Trace
Without a Trace is an American television drama which originally ran on CBS from September 26, 2002 to May 19, 2009. The series was set in New York City and concerned a fictitious FBI Missing Persons Unit.-Premise:...
, Everybody Loves Raymond
Everybody Loves Raymond
Everybody Loves Raymond is an American television sitcom that originally ran on CBS from September 13, 1996, to May 16, 2005. Many of the situations from the show are based on the real-life experiences of lead actor Ray Romano, creator/producer Phil Rosenthal and the show's writing staff...
, NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue is an American television police drama set in New York City, exploring the internal and external struggles of the fictional 15th precinct of Manhattan...
, Judging Amy
Judging Amy
Judging Amy is an American television drama that was telecast from September 19, 1999, through May 3, 2005, on CBS-TV. This TV series starred Amy Brenneman and Tyne Daly...
, Murphy Brown
Murphy Brown
Murphy Brown is an American situation comedy which aired on CBS from November 14, 1988, to May 18, 1998, for a total of 247 episodes. The program starred Candice Bergen as the eponymous Murphy Brown, a famous investigative journalist and news anchor for FYI, a fictional CBS television...
, Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote is an American television mystery series starring Angela Lansbury as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher. The series aired for 12 seasons from 1984 to 1996 on the CBS network, with 264 episodes transmitted. It was followed by four TV films and a spin-off series,...
, L.A. Law
L.A. Law
L.A. Law is a US television legal drama that ran on NBC from September 15, 1986 to May 19, 1994. L.A. Law reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot topic issues such as abortion, racism, gay rights,...
, Tom Clancy's Op-Center
Tom Clancy's Op-Center
Tom Clancy's Op-Center is a novel series, created by Tom Clancy and Steve Pieczenik, though the series is actually written by Jeff Rovin.-Main characters:These characters are in most or all books:...
and, for PBS Great Performances
Great Performances
Great Performances, a television series devoted to the performing arts, has been telecast on Public Broadcasting Service public television since 1972...
, On the Town with the London Symphony Orchestra
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...
and Ira Gershwin at 100: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall. Garrison also participated in several installments of The $25,000 Pyramid as the celebrity guest in 1988. David Garrison also appeared in the George Romero film Creepshow
Creepshow
Creepshow is a 1982 American horror anthology film directed by George A. Romero and written by Stephen King. The film's ensemble cast included Ted Danson, Leslie Nielsen, Hal Holbrook, E.G...
, in "The Crate" segment where he plays a college dean.
Garrison recently starred in a new play, Red Remembers, which played at the Berkshire Theatre Festival
Berkshire Theatre Festival
The Berkshire Theatre Festival is one of the oldest professional performing arts venues in the Berkshires, celebrating its 80th anniversary season in 2008.-History:...
in Stockbridge, Massachusetts
Stockbridge, Massachusetts
Stockbridge is a town in Berkshire County in Western Massachusetts. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,947 at the 2010 census...
from September 11 – November 1, 2009.
Garrison is currently starring in Second Stage Theatre
Second Stage Theatre
Second Stage Theatre is an award-winning contemporary Off-Broadway theater company.-Mission:The theatre's mission is to give new life to contemporary American plays and to produce the world premiers of new plays by both established and emerging playwrights...
's By The Way, Meet Vera Stark by Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
winner Lynn Nottage
Lynn Nottage
Lynn Nottage is an American playwright whose work often deals with the lives of women of African descent, African Americans and women. She was born in Brooklyn and is a graduate of Brown University and the Yale School of Drama. She received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2005, and a MacArthur Genius...
co-starring Stephanie J. Block
Stephanie J. Block
Stephanie J. Block is an American actress and singer. She is most well known for her work on the Broadway stage. She has additionally been nominated for a Drama Desk Award and a Drama League Award. She released her debut solo album through PS Classics in June 2009...
, and Sanaa Lathan
Sanaa Lathan
Sanaa McCoy Lathan is an American actress and voice actress. She has starred in numerous movies, including the box-office hits Love & Basketball, Alien vs. Predator, Something New, and The Family That Preys. Lathan was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance on Broadway in A Raisin in the Sun...
closing June 12th.
Wicked
He first performed as The WizardWizard (Oz)
The Wizard of Oz, known during his reign as The Great and Powerful Oz, is the epithet of Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkel Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs, a fictional character in the Land of Oz, created by American author L...
in the original touring company of Wicked
Wicked (musical)
Wicked is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman. It is based on the Gregory Maguire novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West , a parallel novel of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz and L. Frank Baum's classic story The Wonderful Wizard...
when it began on March 8, 2005. He finished his year long run on March 6, 2006 and was replaced by PJ Benjamin. Later he starred again as the Wizard in the Broadway company from April 4, 2006 replacing Ben Vereen
Ben Vereen
Ben Vereen is an American actor, dancer, and singer who has appeared in numerous Broadway theatre shows. Vereen graduated from Manhattan's High School of Performing Arts.- Early years :...
. After 15 months in the role he played his final performance on July 8, 2007 and was replaced by Lenny Wolpe. Then he temporarily starred in the Chicago company from September 30 – October 28, 2007 while Peter Kevoian was on medical leave. Then he starred in the Los Angeles company beginning August 26, 2008 replacing John Rubinstein
John Rubinstein
John Arthur Rubinstein is an American film, Broadway, and television actor, a composer of film and theatre music, and a director in theatre and television.-Early life:...
, until its closure on January 11, 2009. More recently he played the role in the San Francisco production which officially opened on February 6, 2009. He played his final performance with the production on May 31, 2009 in order to pursue his role in a new play. He was replaced by Lee Wilkof.