Ellen Geer
Encyclopedia
Ellen Ware Geer is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 actress, professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...

, screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...

, film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

 and theatre director.

Personal life

Geer was born in New York City, New York, the daughter of actors Herta Ware
Herta Ware
Herta Ware was an American actress and political activist.Ware was born Herta Schwartz in Wilmington, Delaware, the daughter of Helen Ware, a musician and violin teacher, and Lazlo Schwartz, an actor who was born in Budapest...

 and Will Geer
Will Geer
Will Geer was an American actor and social activist. His original name was William Aughe Ghere. He is remembered for his portrayal of Grandpa Zebulon Tyler Walton in the 1970s TV series, The Waltons....

. She is currently married to children's musician Peter Alsop
Peter Alsop
Peter Alsop is an American musician whose work has ranged from satirical music for adults to children's music.He graduated from Trinity College, Columbia University Teachers College, and Columbia Pacific University with a PhD...

, and was previously married to actor Ed Flanders
Ed Flanders
Edward Paul Flanders was an American actor best known for his role as Dr. Donald Westphall in the television series St. Elsewhere.- Biography :...

. Her daughters are Megan and Willow Geer-Alsop
Willow Geer-Alsop
-Early life:She is a third-generation actor/actress, the daughter of actress Ellen Geer and children's musician Peter Alsop and the granddaughter of actor Will Geer .-Voice acting:...

; her son is Ian Flanders.

Career

Geer has enjoyed a long, distinguished career in film and television. She began her career appearing as a nun in the 1968 Richard Lester drama Petulia
Petulia
Petulia is a British drama film directed by Richard Lester. The screenplay by Lawrence B. Marcus is based on the novel Me and the Arch Kook Petulia by John Haase...

. Geer followed this with an appearance in 1969's The Reivers
The Reivers (film)
The Reivers is a 1969 film directed by Mark Rydell based on the William Faulkner novel of the same name...

with her father, Will Geer. In 1971, Geer played the deceased wife of the lead character in Kotch
Kotch
Kotch is a 1971 American comedy film which tells the story of an elderly man who runs away so as not to be put into a nursing home, and strikes up a friendship with a pregnant teenage girl. It stars Walter Matthau, Deborah Winters, Felicia Farr, Charles Aidman and Ellen Geer.The film was adapted...

, appearing throughout the movie in flashbacks. That same year, she became a regular on The Jimmy Stewart Show
The Jimmy Stewart Show
The Jimmy Stewart Show is an American sitcom starring James Stewart as a professor at a small town university called Josiah Kesser College. Twenty-four episodes of the show were broadcast in the 1971–1972 season on the NBC network's Sunday night schedule , under the sponsorship of Procter &...

(which aired until the following year) and had a supporting role in the acclaimed comedy Harold and Maude
Harold and Maude
Harold and Maude is a 1971 American dark comedy film directed by Hal Ashby and released by Paramount Pictures. It incorporates elements of dark humor and existentialist drama, with a plot that revolves around the exploits of a young man intrigued with death, Harold...

. In 1974, she starred in two films which she also wrote: Silence and Memory of Us. Both featured her father.

The remainder of Geer's 1970s career consisted primarily of guest appearances and made-for-TV movies. TV shows on which she appeared during this time included Police Story, The Streets of San Francisco
The Streets of San Francisco
The Streets of San Francisco is a 1970s television police drama filmed on location in San Francisco, California, and produced by Quinn Martin Productions, with the first season produced in association with Warner Bros...

, Baretta
Baretta
Baretta is an American detective television series which ran on ABC from 1975 to 1978. The show was a milder version of a successful 1973–74 ABC series, Toma, starring Tony Musante as chameleon-like, real-life New Jersey police officer David Toma...

, Barnaby Jones
Barnaby Jones
Barnaby Jones is a television detective series starring Buddy Ebsen and Lee Meriwether as father- and daughter-in-law who run a private detective firm in Los Angeles. A spin-off from Cannon, the show ran on CBS from January 28, 1973 to April 3, 1980, beginning as a midseason replacement...

, Charlie's Angels
Charlie's Angels
Charlie's Angels is a television series about three women who work for a private investigation agency, and is one of the first shows to showcase women in roles traditionally reserved for men...

, CHiPs
CHiPs
CHiPs is an American television drama series produced by MGM Studios that originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to July 17, 1983. CHiPs followed the lives of two motorcycle police officers of the California Highway Patrol...

, and two episodes of Fantasy Island
Fantasy Island
Fantasy Island is the title of two separate but related American fantasy television series, both originally airing on the ABC television network.-Original series:...

.

Her TV movie credits during this time included Babe (1975), The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case (1976), The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald (1977), and A Shining Season (1979). The only theatrical film on which she worked in the late '70s was Jonathan Kaplan's Over the Edge
Over the Edge (film)
Over the Edge is a drama film directed by Jonathan Kaplan released in 1979. Due to the negative publicity surrounding a wave of recent youth gang films, Over the Edge had a limited theatrical release in late 1979...

in 1979.

The remainder of her TV credits include guest appearances on Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...

, The Waltons
The Waltons
The Waltons is an American television series created by Earl Hamner, Jr., based on his book Spencer's Mountain, and a 1963 film of the same name. The show centered on a family growing up in a rural Virginia community during the Great Depression and World War II. The series pilot was a television...

, Quincy, M.E.
Quincy, M.E.
Quincy, M.E., also called Quincy, is a United States television series from Universal Studios that aired from October 3, 1976, to September 5, 1983, on NBC...

, Dallas
Dallas (TV series)
Dallas is an American serial drama/prime time soap opera that revolves around the Ewings, a wealthy Texas family in the oil and cattle-ranching industries. Throughout the series, Larry Hagman stars as greedy, scheming oil baron J. R. Ewing...

, 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...

, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is an American crime drama television series, which premiered on CBS on October 6, 2000. The show was created by Anthony E. Zuiker and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer...

, ER
ER (TV series)
ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television...

, 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...

, and Cold Case. She also had recurring roles on Falcon Crest
Falcon Crest
Falcon Crest is an American primetime television soap opera which aired on the CBS network for nine seasons, from December 4, 1981 to May 17, 1990. A total of 227 episodes were produced....

and Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast (TV series)
Beauty and the Beast is an American drama series which first aired on CBS in 1987. Creator Ron Koslow's updated version of the fairy tale has a double focus: the relationship between Vincent , a mythic, noble man-beast, and his Catherine , a savvy assistant District attorney in New York; and a...

. She played future Piper Halliwell
Piper Halliwell
Piper Halliwell is a fictional character from the television series Charmed. One of the featured leads, Piper is introduced in the series as a witch and, more specifically, a Charmed One one of the most powerful witches of all time. The character was portrayed by Holly Marie Combs throughout the...

 on the WB series Charmed
Charmed
Charmed is an American television series that originally aired from October 7, 1998, until May 21, 2006, on the now defunct The WB Television Network. The series was created in 1998 by writer Constance M...

in the series finale. In October 2007, the actress returned briefly to Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. Executive producer Cherry serves as Showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season include Marc Cherry, Bob Daily, George W...

which she briefly appeared in before.

Geer has served since 1978 as Artistic Director of the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum
Theatricum Botanicum
The Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, named for the English botanist John Parkinson's herbal, Theatrum Botanicum , is an open-air theater founded in Topanga Canyon, near Santa Monica, California by Will Geer in 1973. In the 1950s Will Geer was blacklisted for refusing to testify before the House...

, a professional repertory, open-air theater in Topanga Canyon, California. Geer has also served as a Visiting Associate Professor, teaching acting, at the University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...

 School of Theater for 12 years.

Filmography

  • Petulia
    Petulia
    Petulia is a British drama film directed by Richard Lester. The screenplay by Lawrence B. Marcus is based on the novel Me and the Arch Kook Petulia by John Haase...

    (1968)
  • The Reivers
    The Reivers (film)
    The Reivers is a 1969 film directed by Mark Rydell based on the William Faulkner novel of the same name...

    (1969)
  • Kotch
    Kotch
    Kotch is a 1971 American comedy film which tells the story of an elderly man who runs away so as not to be put into a nursing home, and strikes up a friendship with a pregnant teenage girl. It stars Walter Matthau, Deborah Winters, Felicia Farr, Charles Aidman and Ellen Geer.The film was adapted...

    (1971)
  • Harold and Maude
    Harold and Maude
    Harold and Maude is a 1971 American dark comedy film directed by Hal Ashby and released by Paramount Pictures. It incorporates elements of dark humor and existentialist drama, with a plot that revolves around the exploits of a young man intrigued with death, Harold...

    (1971)
  • Over the Edge
    Over the Edge (film)
    Over the Edge is a drama film directed by Jonathan Kaplan released in 1979. Due to the negative publicity surrounding a wave of recent youth gang films, Over the Edge had a limited theatrical release in late 1979...

    (1979)
  • Charlie's Angels "Caged Angel" (1979)
  • Dallas (1979) (Dr. Krane, Sue Ellen's oncologist)
  • bloody birthday
    Bloody Birthday
    Bloody Birthday is a 1981 horror film directed by Ed Hunt. It was the first film to be produced by Gerald Olson.-Plot:In 1970, three children are born at the height of a total eclipse. Due to the sun and moon blocking Saturn, which controls emotions, these children become heartless and uncaring,...

    (madge) (1981)
  • Heart Like a Wheel
    Heart Like a Wheel (film)
    Heart Like a Wheel is a 1983 biographical film based on the life of drag racing driver Shirley Muldowney. It stars Bonnie Bedelia and Beau Bridges....

    (1983)
  • Something Wicked This Way Comes
    Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983 film)
    Something Wicked This Way Comes is a 1983 film based on the Ray Bradbury novel of the same name, starring Jason Robards and Jonathan Pryce. Directed by Jack Clayton from a screenplay written by Bradbury himself, the movie suffered from offscreen conflicts of vision...

    (1983)
  • Creator
    Creator (film)
    Creator is a 1985 film directed by Ivan Passer, starring Peter O'Toole, Vincent Spano, Mariel Hemingway, and Virginia Madsen. It is based on a book of the same title by Jeremy Leven.-Plot:...

    (1985)
  • Lonely Hearts (1991)
  • Patriot Games
    Patriot Games (film)
    Patriot Games is a 1992 film directed by Phillip Noyce and based on Tom Clancy's the novel of the same name. It is a sequel to the 1990 film The Hunt for Red October. In the movie, Jack Ryan is played by Harrison Ford, Jack's surgeon-wife, Dr...

    (1991) as Rose
  • Star Trek: The Next Generation
    Star Trek: The Next Generation
    Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...

    (1991) as Dr. Kila Marr
  • Clear and Present Danger
    Clear and Present Danger (film)
    Clear and Present Danger is a 1994 film directed by Phillip Noyce, based on the book of the same name by Tom Clancy. It is a subsequent release to the 1992 film Patriot Games, which in itself is a subsequent release to the 1990 film The Hunt for Red October.It is the last film to feature Harrison...

    (1994) as Rose
  • Phenomenon
    Phenomenon (film)
    Phenomenon is a 1996 romantic fantasy-drama film written by Gerald Di Pego, directed by Jon Turteltaub, and starring John Travolta, Kyra Sedgwick, Forest Whitaker, and Robert Duvall....

    (1996)
  • The Postman
    The Postman (film)
    The Postman is an American post-apocalyptic epic film based on the 1985 novel of the same name by David Brin. It was filmed in northeastern Washington , Fidalgo Island, Washington, central Oregon and Tucson, Arizona, and was directed by Kevin Costner, who also stars in the film...

    (1997)
  • The Odd Couple II
    The Odd Couple II
    The Odd Couple II is the 1998 sequel to 1968's The Odd Couple. The movie reunites Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau in their last film together.- Plot :...

    (1998)
  • Criminal
    Criminal (film)
    Criminal is a 2004 American film based upon the Argentine film Nine Queens. Directed by Gregory Jacobs, it stars John C. Reilly, Diego Luna, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Maeve Quinlan and is a production of Section Eight, the production company of Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney.-Plot:John C. Reilly...

    (2004)
  • Our House (2006)
  • Charmed
    Charmed
    Charmed is an American television series that originally aired from October 7, 1998, until May 21, 2006, on the now defunct The WB Television Network. The series was created in 1998 by writer Constance M...

    (2006) as Future Piper
  • Desperate Housewives
    Desperate Housewives
    Desperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. Executive producer Cherry serves as Showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season include Marc Cherry, Bob Daily, George W...

    (2007)

External links

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