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Fisher Stevens
Fisher Stevens 2016 (2).jpg
Stevens in November 2016
Born
Stephen Fisher

(1963-11-27) November 27, 1963 (age 60)
Education New York University
Occupation Actor, director, producer, writer
Years active 1981–present
Spouse(s)
Alexis Bloom
(m. 2017)
Children 2

Stephen Fisher (born November 27, 1963), known professionally as Fisher Stevens, is an American actor, director, producer and writer. As an actor, he is best known for his portrayals of Ben in Short Circuit (1986) and Short Circuit 2 (1988). He is a documentary filmmaker winning the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for The Cove (2009). He also directed the documentaries Crazy Love (2007) and Before the Flood (2016).

Stevens is known for his roles in films such as Reversal of Fortune (1990), Bob Roberts (1992), Hackers (1995), Anything Else (2003), and Hail, Caesar! (2016). He has acted in the Wes Anderson films The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), Isle of Dogs (2018), The French Dispatch (2021), and Asteroid City (2023).

In television he portrayed Chuck Fishman in CBS series Early Edition (1996–2000), Marvin Gerard on NBC's The Blacklist (2015–2022), Gabriel Kovac in CBS's The Good Fight (2017–2020), and Hugo Baker in the HBO drama series Succession (2019–2023).

Early life

Stevens was born Steven Fisher in 1963 in Chicago, the son of Sally, a painter and AIDS activist, and Norman Fisher, a furniture executive.

Stevens grew up in the Chicago, Illinois area, living in Hyde Park, Highland Park, and Evanston and describes himself as a "white Jewish kid from Chicago."

His parents divorced when he was 13, after which he moved to New York with his mother. At age 16, Stevens landed his first movie role, acting in the horror film The Burning. He completed one year at New York University before deciding to pursue acting full time. He adopted the stage name "Fisher Stevens" upon joining the Screen Actors Guild because the Guild had several existing actors named "Steven Fisher".

Career

Fisher Stevens 002
Stevens in 2006

He co-founded the Naked Angels Theater Company with longtime friends Rob Morrow, Nicole Burdette, Pippin Parker, Charles Landry, Nancy Travis and Ned Eisenberg in 1986. He co-founded Greene Street Films, a film production company located in Tribeca, New York City, in 1996. Stevens performed as Edgar Allan Poe on Lou Reed's album The Raven in 2003. He is a harmonica player.

As an actor, he is known for his roles as Chuck Fishman on Early Edition, Seamus O'Neill on Key West, Eugene "The Plague" Belford in Hackers, Iggy in Super Mario Bros., Hawk Ganz in The Flamingo Kid, and his role as Indian character Ben Jabituya/Jahveri in Short Circuit and Short Circuit 2, respectively. His television credits include Columbo, Frasier, Friends, Law & Order, Key West, Damages, The Mentalist and Lost. He appeared on two episodes of the television series Numbers.

Fisher has a Broadway and off-Broadway career spanning nearly three decades. In 1988, he and John Leguizamo appeared in a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream where he played Demetrious He played Jigger Craigin in the 1994 Lincoln Center revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel. He had an early success in the 1982 Broadway production of Torch Song Trilogy playing David, the adopted son of the gay protagonist played by the show's writer Harvey Fierstein, and the original Broadway production of Brighton Beach Memoirs, where he succeeded Matthew Broderick in the starring role of Eugene. Throughout his career, he has acted in and directed more than 50 stage productions.

FisherStevens07TIFF
Stevens in 2007

In 2010, Fisher co-founded a new media and documentary film company, Insurgent Media, with Andrew Karsch and Erik H. Gordon.

In June 2010, Stevens made his major theatrical directing debut with John Leguizamo's one-man show, Ghetto Klown (originally called Klass Klown), which eventually ran on Broadway from March to July 2011. The two had appeared together in a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream at The Public Theater about 20 years earlier. On July 13, 2012, PBS debuted Tales From a Ghetto Klown, a documentary about the development of the show which prominently features Stevens.

In 2010, Stevens won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for co-producing The Cove.

He directed the 2012 crime story Stand Up Guys, starring Al Pacino and Christopher Walken. He teamed up with his longtime partner Alexis Bloom to direct the film Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016. The film was a tribute to both mother and daughter as they passed in the same year. Both were close friends with Stevens.

In 2018, Stevens had a recurring role as Hugo Baker in the second season of HBO's satirical-comedy-drama series Succession. He was promoted to series regular in season 3.

In 2021, he directed the Apple TV drama film Palmer, starring Justin Timberlake.

Personal life

Stevens dated actress Michelle Pfeiffer from 1989 until 1992. Stevens later dated longtime filmmaking partner and producer Alexis Bloom. The couple married in 2017 in a private ceremony. They have two children.

Stevens is a survivor of Hodgkin lymphoma.

Filmography

Actor

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1981 The Burning Woodstock
1983 Baby It's You Stage Manager
1984 The Brother from Another Planet Card Trickster
1984 The Flamingo Kid 'Hawk' Ganz
1985 My Science Project Vince Latello
1986 Short Circuit Ben Jhoveri
1986 The Boss' Wife Carlos Delgado
1988 Short Circuit 2 Ben Jahveri
1989 Bloodhounds of Broadway Harry 'Hotfoot Harry'
1990 Point of View Performer
1990 Reversal of Fortune David Marriott
1991 The Marrying Man Sammy
1991 Mystery Date Dwight
1992 Lift Joe Short
1992 Bob Roberts 'Rock' Bork
1992 Hero Director of Channel 4 Crash Feature Cameo
1993 When the Party's Over Alexander
1993 Super Mario Bros. Iggy
1994 Nina Takes a Lover Paulie
1994 Only You Larry
1995 Cold Fever Jack
1995 Hackers 'The Plague'
1996 The Pompatus of Love Sitcom Star
1997 Four Days in September Mowinkel
1999 Taxman Kenneth Green
1999 The Tic Code Morris
2000 Sam the Man Sam Manning
2000 Lisa Picard Is Famous Himself
2001 3 A.M. Haplin
2001 Prison Song Prosecutor
2001 Piñero Public Theatre Cashier
2002 Undisputed James 'Ratbag' Kroycek
2003 Kill the Poor Stuffed Shirt
2003 Uptown Girls Himself
2003 Anything Else Manager
2003 Easy Six Officer Donny
2003 Reply Blu (voice)
2004 On the Couch Gary Short
2005 Factotum Manny
2005 Undiscovered Garret Schweck
2005 Slow Burn Alan Turlock
2006 Kettle of Fish Bruce
2007 Red Angel David Short
2007 Awake Dr. Puttnam
2010 Fake Tom Kozinski
2010 Rising Stars Mo
2010 The Experiment Archaleta
2010 Henry's Crime Eddie's Vibes
2012 One for the Money Morty Beyers
2012 LOL Roman
2013 Movie 43 Vrankovich / Minotaur
2014 The Grand Budapest Hotel M. Robin
2014 Mission Blue Himself Documentary
2014 United Passions Carl Hirschmann
2016 Hail, Caesar! Communist Writer
2018 Isle of Dogs Scrap (voice)
2019 Motherless Brooklyn Lou
2021 Palmer Additional voices
2021 The French Dispatch Story Editor
2021 Sing 2 Additional voice
2023 Asteroid City Detective 1
2023 Coup! Upton Sinclair
2024 The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare Post-production

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1980 One Life to Live Unknown
1983 Ryan's Hope Henry Popkin
1984 CBS Schoolbreak Special Gary Gordon Season 1, episode 4
1986 Tall Tales & Legends Indian Chief Episode: "Ponce de Leon"
1989 Columbo Alex Brady Episode: "Murder, Smoke and Shadows"
1990 The Young Riders 'Bulldog' Episode: "Bull Dog"
1991 General Motors Theatre Wally Zuckerman Episode: "It's Called the Sugar Plum"
1993 Key West Seamus O'Neill 13 episodes
1995 Friends Roger Episode: "The One with the Boobies"
1995 Homicide: Life on the Street Jonathan Heine Episode: "Autofocus"
1995 Law & Order Ross Fineman Episode: "Angel"
1996 The Right to Remain Silent Dale Meyerson Television movie
1996–2000 Early Edition Chuck Fishman 48 episodes
2000 The Hunger Max Armstrong Episode: "The Suction Method"
2001 Frasier Dr. Sheldon Morey Episode: "The Wizard and Roz"
2001 100 Centre Street Ben Berkowitz Episode: "Queenie's Running"
2001 Jenifer Dr. Aaron Sanders Television movie
2002 Is It College Yet? (voice) Television movie
2002 Hack Donnie Franco Episode: "Favors"
2003 The Lives They Lived Narrator Television movie
2004 Hope & Faith Nick Spinelli Episode: "The Diner Show"
2004 Dr. Vegas Charlie Episode: "Dead Man, Live Bet"
2004–2007 Law & Order: Criminal Intent Performer 2 episodes
2008 It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Lyle Korman Episode: "Paddy's Pub: The Worst Bar in Philadelphia"
2008–2010 Lost George Minkowski 6 episodes
2009 Medium Neal Greybridge Episode: "Medium is the Message"
2009 Numb3rs John Buckley 2 episodes
2009 The Grean Teem Jack Fisher Television movie
2010 Ugly Betty Mr. Z Episode: "Back in her Place"
2010 The Mentalist Tolman Bunting Episode: "Season 2 Episode 21"
2011 Californication 'Zig' Semetauer Episode: "Monkey Business"
2011 Damages Therapist 4 episodes
2012–2016 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Alvin Gilbert / Ted Scott 2 episodes
2015 Elementary Marty Ward Episode: "Under My Skin"
2015–2022 The Blacklist Marvin Gerard 15 episodes
2016 The Night Of Saul, The Pharmacist 3 episodes
2017 Red Oaks Jerry Episode: "Summer in the City"
2017 Vice Principals Brian Biehn 4 episodes
2017–2020 The Good Fight Gabriel Kovac 3 episodes
2019–2023 Succession Hugo Baker 19 episodes
2022 Would I Lie to You? (US) Himself Episode: "Banana Bread"

Director

Year Title Notes
1995 Call of the Wylie
1996 Phinehas
1998–1999 Early Edition 2 episodes
2002 Just a Kiss
2007 Crazy Love co-directed with Dan Klores
2010–2011 John Leguizamo - Ghetto Klown opened on Broadway March 2011
2012 Stand Up Guys
2016 Before the Flood
2016 Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds
2019 And We Go Green
2021 Palmer
2023 Beckham

Producer

Year Title Notes
2000 Sam the Man
2001 The Château
2001 Piñero
2002 Swimfan
2003 Uptown Girls
2004 Yes
2005 Slow Burn
2006 A Prairie Home Companion
2006 Once in a Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos
2006 Wedding Daze
2007 Crazy Love
2007 Meet Bill
2007 Feast of Love
2007 Awake
2008 The Midnight Meat Train
2009 The Grean Teem
2009 Balls Out: Gary the Tennis Coach
2009 Tenderness
2009 The Cove [Academy Award for Best Documentary]
2011 Blank City
2011 Hollywood Renegade
2011 Bad Trip
2011 Mission Blue
2012 Beware of Mr. Baker
2015 Racing Extinction
2016 Sky Ladder: The Art of Cai Guo-Qiang
2016 Before the Flood
2020 Tiger King
2023 Beckham

Writer

  • Sam the Man (2000, story)
  • The Grean Teem (2009, story)

Narrator

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Nominated work Result
2009
Academy Award Best Documentary Feature The Cove Won
2012
Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Documentary Series American Masters Nominated
2016
Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking Racing Extinction Nominated
2017
Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds Nominated
Outstanding Directing for a Documentary Program Nominated
2020
Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series Tiger King Nominated
2016
Cannes Film Festival Golden Eye Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds Nominated
2016
Toronto International Film Festival People's Choice Award Before the Flood Nominated
2022
Saturn Award Best Guest-Starring Performance in a Network or Cable Television Series The Blacklist Nominated

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Fisher Stevens para niños

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