Edwin Sherin

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American-Canadian actor, director (1930–2017)

title: "Edwin Sherin" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1930-births", "2017-deaths", "american-emigrants-to-canada", "american-male-stage-actors", "american-television-directors", "television-producers-from-pennsylvania", "american-theatre-directors", "artists-from-harrisburg,-pennsylvania", "primetime-emmy-award-winners", "male-actors-from-harrisburg,-pennsylvania", "film-directors-from-pennsylvania"] description: "American-Canadian actor, director (1930–2017)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Sherin" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American-Canadian actor, director (1930–2017) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

FieldValue
nameEdwin Sherin
birth_date
birth_placeHarrisburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.
death_date
death_placeLockeport, Nova Scotia, Canada
nationality
other_namesEd Sherin
occupationActor, director, producer
years_active1971–2009
spousePamela Vevers (divorced)

| | children | 3 | | relatives | Jace Alexander (stepson) | ::

| name = Edwin Sherin | birth_name = | birth_date = | birth_place = Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = Lockeport, Nova Scotia, Canada | nationality = | other_names = Ed Sherin | occupation = Actor, director, producer | years_active = 1971–2009 | spouse = Pamela Vevers (divorced)

| children = 3 | relatives = Jace Alexander (stepson)

Edwin Sherin (January 15, 1930 – May 4, 2017) was an American-Canadian director and producer. He is best known as the director and executive producer of the NBC drama series Law & Order (1991–2005).

Early life

Sherin was born in Danville, Pennsylvania, the son of Ruth (née Berger), a homemaker, and Joseph Sherin, a textile worker. He grew up in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and Inwood, Manhattan. He had a sister, Edith Sherin Markson, who was among the founders of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater.

When he was 16 years old, Sherin dropped out of DeWitt Clinton High School and traveled to West Texas, where he worked on a cattle ranch. He eventually resumed his education at the Fountain Valley School in Colorado Springs, graduating in 1948. In 1952, he graduated from Brown University, where he received a degree in international relations. After graduation, Sherin enlisted in the Navy and fought in the Korean War.

Career

Sherin started out as an actor, training at the Paul Mann's Actors Workshop and studying with John Houseman at the American Shakespeare Theatre.

He met Jane Alexander while serving as the resident director at Washington, DC's Arena Stage, where he cast her and James Earl Jones in The Great White Hope. In 1968, he directed the play and its two stars on Broadway, and the production marked the start not only of his Broadway directorial career, but a long professional and personal relationship with Alexander as well. In August 1973, he cast Jones as King Lear for his production on King Lear at The Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park.

He directed Alexander in First Monday in October on Broadway in 1978, Hedda Gabler at the Hartman Theatre (Connecticut) in 1981 in the American Playhouse television movie A Marriage: Georgia O'Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz, in 1991. and in the Broadway revival of The Visit.

Sherin directed six plays at Washington, D.C.'s Arena Stage, one per season for six consecutive seasons: The Wall (1963–64), Galileo (1964–65), St. Joan (1965–66), Macbeth (1966–67), The Iceman Cometh (1967–68), and King Lear (1968–69).

Sherin won the 1969 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director for The Great White Hope and was nominated for a 1974 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play, for Find Your Way Home.

In 1972, he directed a revival of The Time of Your Life, at the Huntington Hartford Theater in Los Angeles, with a cast that included Henry Fonda, Richard Dreyfuss and Jane Alexander.

In 1974, Sherin directed a revival of A Streetcar Named Desire at London's Piccadilly Theatre with Claire Bloom, Martin Shaw, Joss Ackland, and Morag Hood.

In 2009, Sherin directed Alexander again in Thom Thomas's A Moon to Dance By at The Pittsburgh Playhouse, an then at the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Television

Sherin executive-produced 163 episodes of the NBC drama Law & Order, between 1993 and 2000. His television directing credits include all three editions of the current Law & Order franchise; Hill Street Blues; L.A. Law; Doogie Howser, M.D.; Homicide: Life on the Street; and Medium.

Sherin directed the television films Lena: My 100 Children (1987), The Father Clements Story (1987), Settle the Score (1989), Daughter of the Streets (1990), and A Marriage: Georgia O'Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz (1991).

Movies

Sherin directed two theatrical films: Valdez Is Coming with Burt Lancaster and Susan Clark and My Old Man's Place with William Devane and Michael Moriarty. Both films were released in 1971.

Personal life

Sherin's first wife was actress Pamela Vevers, with whom he had three sons. The marriage ended in divorce. In 1975, he married actress Jane Alexander.

He and Alexander became Canadian citizens, having maintained a home in Lockeport, Nova Scotia starting in 1998.

Death

Sherin died on May 4, 2017, in Nova Scotia, aged 87.

Director

;Broadway

References

References

  1. Grimes, William. (May 8, 2017). "Edwin Sherin, Theater and 'Law & Order' Director, Dies at 87". [[The New York Times]].
  2. (September 16, 1994). "Edith Markson, 81, Promoter of Theater". [[The New York Times]].
  3. Barnes, Clive. (1968-10-04). "Theatre: Howard Sackler's 'Great White Hope'; Play at the Alvin Stars James Earl Jones Edwin Sherin Staged Cheated Hero's Story". [[The New York Times]].
  4. Gussow, Mel. (August 2, 1973). "James Earl Jones Meets the Challenge of King Lear". [[The New York Times]].
  5. Gussow, Mel. (1981-10-02). "Theater:Jane Alexander Plays 'Hedda Gabler'". [[The New York Times]].
  6. (1994). "Variety and Daily Variety Television Reviews". [[Garland Science.
  7. Rich, Frank. (1992-01-24). "Review/Theater: The Visit; Revenge and Common Greed As the Root of Much Evil". [[The New York Times]].
  8. (2023-12-01). "Production History". [[Arena Stage]].
  9. "History {{!}} 1968-1969 15th Drama Desk Awards". [[Drama Desk]].
  10. Lane, Bill. (1972-04-08). "Hollywood Beat: Fans Still Talking About Grammy Deal". [[Baltimore Afro-American]].
  11. Kolin, Philip C.. (2000). "Williams: A Streetcar Named Desire". [[Cambridge University Press]].
  12. Roberts, Jerry. (March 2002). "54th Annual DGA Awards Preview {{!}} Robert B. Aldrich Award".
  13. Bianculli, David. (1997-11-12). "A Trifecta For 'Homicide' Fans". [[New York Daily News.
  14. [http://movies.msn.com/celebrities/celebrity-filmography/edwin-sherin "Filmography, Edwin Sherin"] {{Webarchive. link. (2012-09-23 movies.msn.com, accessed April 11, 2011)
  15. [http://movies.amctv.com/person/111170/Edwin-Sherin/films "Edwin Sherin, Filmography"] {{Webarchive. link. (2012-03-09 movies.amctv.com, accessed April 11, 2011)
  16. "Notes on People", ''The New York Times'', March 15, 1975, p. 13
  17. "South Shore enchants actress". [[The Chronicle Herald]].
  18. McNary, Dave. (May 5, 2017). "'Law & Order' Director, DGA Official Ed Sherin Dies at 87".
  19. Shanley, Patrick. (May 5, 2017). "Edwin Sherin, Director of 'The Great White Hope' on Broadway and 'Law & Order,' Dies at 87".
  20. Jones, Kenneth.[http://www.playbill.com/news/article/86080-Prymate-Quietly-Closes-on-Broadway "'Prymate' Quietly Closes on Broadway"] {{webarchive. link. (2010-06-19 playbill.com, May 10, 2004)
  21. Gussow, Mel.[https://www.nytimes.com/1980/04/24/archives/play-goodbye-fidel-about-cuban-exiles-between-parties.html?sq=%2522Goodbye+Fidel%2522&scp=1&st=p "Play: 'Goodbye Fidel' About Cuban Exiles; Between Parties"] ''The New York Times'' (abstract), April 24, 1980
  22. 0-573-60832-6, p.4
  23. Barnes, Clive.[https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0716F63F55167A93C6AB178AD95F428785F9&scp=2&sq=The+Eccentricities+of+a+Nightingale&st=p "Stage:Williams' Eccentricities"] ''The New York Times'' (abstract), November 24, 1976, p. 23
  24. Barnes, Clive. "'Rex' by Rodgers Stars Williamson", ''The New York Times'', April 26, 1976, p. 32
  25. Barnes, Clive.[https://www.nytimes.com/1975/12/04/archives/the-stage-sweet-bird-of-brooklyn.html?sq=Sweet+Bird+of+Youth&scp=1&st=p "The Stage:'Sweet Bird' of Brooklyn"] ''The New York Times'' (abstract), December 4, 1975, p. 53
  26. [[Stefan Kanfer. Kanfer, Stefan]]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20081222053020/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,909034,00.html "The Theater: Brute Strength"]. ''[[Time (magazine). Time]]''. December 30, 1974.
  27. 0-573-61545-4, p. 3
  28. "An Evening With Richard Nixon and... Broadway Original Cast".
  29. "The White Rose and the Red Off-Broadway Original Cast".
  30. "A Streetcar Named Desire {{!}} Cast & Crew".

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1930-births2017-deathsamerican-emigrants-to-canadaamerican-male-stage-actorsamerican-television-directorstelevision-producers-from-pennsylvaniaamerican-theatre-directorsartists-from-harrisburg,-pennsylvaniaprimetime-emmy-award-winnersmale-actors-from-harrisburg,-pennsylvaniafilm-directors-from-pennsylvania