Duane Daniels

Duane has a professional career that has been non-stop for over 40 years. The first 20 were almost exclusively stage - including 2 years as an opera singer - and the recent twenty years have included film and TV. His work as a director and producer began in 1991 when he founded The Fritz Theatre in San Diego and served as Artistic Director for 18 years. During his tenure there, The Fritz produced over 200 plays, half of them premieres. The Fritz recognized emerging voices in theatre and produced works by writers such as Brad Fraser, Nicky Silver, Maria Irene Fornes and eventual Pulitzer Prize winners Paula Vogel, Donald Margulies and Suzan-Lori Parks. Duane produced several premiers in New York and directed three times at the famed La MaMa Experimental Theatre, The Second City in Hollywood and The Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. He has directed highly acclaimed productions of HAIR twice, starring Sara Ramirez (Spamalot, Grey's Anatomy) and Steve Gouveia (Jersey Boys). He has costarred and toured with Tony winner Alice Ripley (Next to Normal) as Jud Fry in Oklahoma twice, played opposite Cathy Rigby in Peter Pan, appeared with Harold Nicholas in My One and Only, been conducted by Lorin Maazel, danced with Carol Lawrence, and just generally been hanging around theatres since forever. He has won the Drama-Logue Award, ACT Award, Patte Award, Blitz Award, and been nominated for The L.A Critics Association, LA Weekly and Garland Awards (Variety Magazine). He has also three times played the title role in Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street by Stephen Sondheim. Additionally, Duane has logged over 2000 performances in Triple Espresso, a highly caffeinated comedy, in venues from San Diego to Dublin, Ireland. Theatre credits include gigs in Minneapolis, Toronto, Calgary, Rochester, Albany, St Louis, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, San Antonio, Atlanta, Chicago, London and Paris. In television, Duane is most remembered for his role in the critically acclaimed Veronica Mars, and also appeared in Big Shots, Invisible Man, Tremors, Fashion House, Terriers, Kate Brasher and The Chronicle. He plays a hit man and a terrorist in the feature films Fathoms Deep and First Strike - both due out this year. Duane is also an acting teacher in Los Angeles and is head of the Contemporary Theatre Program at Acting Abroad Conservatory in Normandy, France.