Norman Schreiber
- Actor
Born December 26,1940 during a snowstorm, Norman Schreiber grew up in
Brooklyn (near Ebbets Field). His parents were Ben, a knitter, and
Emily, a dry cleaner manager. He first worked as an usher at the Patio
Movie Theater. He claims that starting his shift in the middle of a
movie and seeing that film out of sequence affected his story sense.
While in Erasmus Hall High School, he became interested in theater. He
got his start as a young playwright at the Actors Repertory Theater
(ART). There he trained with Samson Raphaelson and Group Theater
alumnus Wendell K. Phillips. Two of his plays were produced at the ART,
and he acted in a production of Moliere's "Imaginary Invalid." He also
studied with director Gene Frankel. Norman was a theater major at
Brooklyn College where he acted, directed and wrote. Oddly enough, he
was not cast in director Robert Downey, Sr's "Putney Swope" because of
this background. The two met because of a magazine article Schreiber
was writing about the filmmaker. Downey thought Schreiber looked right
for the part of the "funny-looking Messenger" in the screenplay the
director was working on. Schreiber's last foray into the performing
arts was "Testify," a musical in collaboration with Grammy nominee
Eugene McDaniels and Ed Cory. Since that time, Schreiber has written
many magazine articles, three books (including comic mystery "Out Of
Order") and is the editor of Vegetarian Gazette.
