Michael 'Max' Cantor was an American journalist

Journalist

A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...

 and 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...

 in films such as Dirty Dancing

Dirty Dancing

Dirty Dancing is a 1987 American romantic film. Written by Eleanor Bergstein and directed by Emile Ardolino, the film features Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey in the lead roles, as well as Cynthia Rhodes and Jerry Orbach...

(1987) and Fear, Anxiety and Depression (1989).

His father was the theatrical producer Arthur Cantor

Arthur Cantor

Arthur Cantor was an American theatrical producer of over 100 plays in New York, London, and elsewhere. He was also the father of actor/journalist Max Cantor.-External links:...

. During Cantor's trips to London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 with his father, Vidal Sassoon

Vidal Sassoon

Vidal Sassoon, CBE is a widely recognised British hairdresser, credited with creating a simple geometric, "Bauhaus-inspired" hair style, also called the bob...

 personally cut his hair. He grew up in the Dakota Apartments on West 72nd Street in New York. Cantor attended Collegiate School

Collegiate School

Collegiate School may refer to:*Bournemouth Collegiate School, Bournemouth, United Kingdom*Collegiate School *Collegiate School *Collegiate School...

but graduated from Buxton School

Buxton School

Buxton School is a private, coeducational, college preparatory, and boarding and day school for grades 9–12 located in Williamstown, Massachusetts. The school was founded by Ellen Geer Sangster in 1928 as a coeducational country day school in Short Hills, New Jersey. In 1947 the high school was...

 in Williamstown, MA. He spent his summers until 14 at Camp Hillcroft in Billings, New York alongside fellow campers such as the children of Albert Shanker

Albert Shanker

Albert Shanker was President of the United Federation of Teachers from 1964 to 1984 as well as President of the American Federation of Teachers from 1974 to 1997.-Early life:...

 and Burt Lancaster

Burt Lancaster

Burton Stephen "Burt" Lancaster was an American film actor noted for his athletic physique and distinctive smile...

. He won top roles in Winnie the Pooh and The Velveteen Rabbit

The Velveteen Rabbit

The Velveteen Rabbit or How Toys Become Real is a children's novel written by Margery Williams and illustrated by William Nicholson. It chronicles the story of a stuffed rabbit and his quest to become real through the love of his owner. The book was first published in 1922 and has been republished...

. He was a 1982 graduate of Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

, where he lived in Adams House and starred in several productions by the then-student director Peter Sellars

Peter Sellars

Peter Sellars is an American theatre director, noted for his unique contemporary stagings of classical and contemporary operas and plays...

. He wrote for The Village Voice

The Village Voice

The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...

on ibogaine

Ibogaine

Ibogaine is a naturally occurring psychoactive substance found in a number of plants, principally in a member of the Apocynaceae family known as Iboga . A hallucinogen with both psychedelic and dissociative properties, the substance is banned in some countries; in other countries it is being used...

 as a cure for heroin addiction., and took an interest in the cult surrounding East Village

East Village, Manhattan

The East Village is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, lying east of Greenwich Village, south of Gramercy and Stuyvesant Town, and north of the Lower East Side...

 cannibal murderer Daniel Rakowitz

Daniel Rakowitz

Daniel Rakowitz is an American murderer and cannibal. He was born in 1960 in Rockport, Texas, where his father was a policeman. He moved to New York around 1985....

.

He became a heroin addict while researching addicts in New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 and died from a heroin overdose at the age of 32.

Selected filmography

Year	Movie	Role	Other notes
1989	Fear, Anxiety & Depression	Jack
1987	Dirty Dancing Dirty Dancing Dirty Dancing is a 1987 American romantic film. Written by Eleanor Bergstein and directed by Emile Ardolino, the film features Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey in the lead roles, as well as Cynthia Rhodes and Jerry Orbach...	Robbie Gould

External links