Bruce Weitz
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Biography
After acquiring undergraduate and graduate degrees from Pittsburgh's prestigious Carnegie Institute of Technology, Emmy-winning character actor Bruce Weitz went on to train at such august regional theaters as the Guthrie in Minneapolis, Minnesota and the Actors Theatre of Louisville (Kentucky). He made his Broadway debut in a revival of "Death of a Salesman" (1976), starring George C. Scott, and subsequently acted in Broadway productions of "The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel" (alongside Al Pacino) and "Norman, Is That You?." The compact, wiry Weitz also performed in 13 New York Shakespeare Festival productions from 1976-1980 but began making the transition from stage to TV at the end of the 70s, guest-starring on various series including "Quincy," "Kojak," "The White Shadow," "One Day at a Time" and "Lou Grant" while segueing to feature films in "The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover" (1977).
Weitz's big break came when he landed the role of the vaguely maniacal Mick Belker on Steven Bochco's landmark police-drama "Hill Street Blues" (NBC, 1981-87). His scruffy little undercover cop endeared himself to viewers by sometimes biting offenders, barking at dogs or terrorizing surly criminals ("Would you like to sit down, hairball, or would you prefer internal bleeding?"), earning him a 1984 Emmy as Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series as well as five other nominations. Since that series' demise, Weitz has stayed busy primarily on the small screen, acting frequently in movies and episodic TV, although he has occasionally performed on stage as in the Off-Broadway production of "Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune" (1988). He returned as a series regular playing a newspaper columnist for one season (1991-92) on the ABC sitcom "Anything But Love" and reunited with Bochco as a psychiatrist counseling a family transplanted in Hawaii in the short-lived "The Byrds of Paradise" (ABC, 1994). He also appeared in the feature films "Deep Impact" (1998) and "Half Past Dead" (2002).
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1966
Managed a restaurant on the Spanish island Formentera
1966
Joined Long Wharf Repertory Theatre in New Haven, CT
1967
Moved onto the Tyrone Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis, MN
1972
Acted in Chicago stage production of "In the Matter of J Robert Oppenheimer"
1975
Appeared on the ABC daytime serial, "Ryan's Hope"
1976
Broadway debut in "Death of a Salesman", starring George C Scott as Willy Loman
1977
Feature debut, "The Private Files of J Edgar Hoover"
1981
Played Sergeant Mike Pirelli in "Every Stray Dog and Kid", an unsuccessful NBC pilot executive produced by "Hill Street Blues" executive producer Steven Bochco
1981
Acted the part of Paul Snider in NBC movie "Death of a Centerfold: The Dorothy Stratten Story"
1983
Hosted both parts of the PBS documentary about drug abuse "The Chemical People"
1988
Appeared Off-Broadway in Terrence McNally's "Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune"
1988
Earned an Emmy nomination for his work as Rick Whitehead in the ABC two-part docudrama "Baby M"
1989
Received another Emmy nomination for his performance on an episode of "Midnight Caller" (NBC)
1991
Played Manager Miller Huggins in "Babe Ruth", an NBC movie starring Stephen Lang as the Sultan of Swat
1994
Appeared in the regular role of psychiatrist Murray Rubenstein in the short-lived ABC series "The Byrds of Paradise", executive produced by Bochco
1995
Portrayed Robert Shapiro in the Fox TV-movie "The Story of O J Simpson"
1996
Acted the role of Detective Steve McAdams in "Justice for Annie: A Moment of Truth Movie" (NBC)
1998
Played Stuart Caley in Mimi Leder's "Deep Impact"
2001
Appeared in the dramatic stage version of "Heaven Can Wait", performed at Westport Country Playhouse
2002
Cast in the action feature "Half Past Dead"
Family
Companions
