Background
Piven was born Bernard Piven in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the son of Katie (née Balaban) and Samuel Piven, who were Ukrainian Jewish immigrants.
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Byrne Piven
Edit ProfileEducation
In the mid-1950s, the Pivens moved to New York, where they studied with Uta Hagen.
Career
He came to Chicago in 1954 and met Joyce Hiller at the University of Chicago. Playwrights featured such budding stars as Mike Nichols, Elaine May, Editor Asner and Barbara Harris. Piven played the leads in several New York Shakespeare Festival productions.
They returned to Chicago in 1967 to rejoin Sills, Sheldon Patinkin, Bernie Sahlins and Joyce Sloane in forming Second City Repertory and then Story Theatre.
As Piven liked to point out, many of those children went on to fame and fortune. Piven was standby for both Louis Hayward (King Arthur) and Christopher Carey (Mordred) in the national tour of "Camelot." The production also featured Arthur Treacher (Pellinore) and Kathryn Grayson (Guenevere) prior to her replacement by January Moody.
Piven also starred as the river boat captain in the Uncle Ben"s rice commercials in the 1970s, and many television appearances, including Magnum Principal Investigator, 1987 episode "On the Fly". He died of lung cancer in Evanston, Illinois.
Achievements
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He was also part of the Obie Award-winning cast of A House Remembered. Some of Piven"s favorite roles include: The Manitoba in 605, for which he received the Joseph Jefferson Award for best actor, the Piven Theatre Workshop/Famous Door production of The Shoemakers, directed by Shira, Victory Garden"s production of The Value of Names with Shelley Berman, This Old Manitoba Came Rolling Home and The Sunshine Boys at the National Jewish Theatre, Bob Falls’ Hamlet (starring Byrne"s then-student Aidan Quinn) and the Workshop"s futuristic production of Macbeth.
Membership
In the 1950s, the Pivens were two of the founding members of the Playwrights Theatre Club, along with Paul Sills and David Shepard.
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Born
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Died
February 18, 2002 (aged 72) -
Nationality
United States