Max Cantor
American actor and journalist
title: "Max Cantor" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1959-births", "1991-deaths", "harvard-university-alumni", "american-male-film-actors", "deaths-by-heroin-overdose-in-new-york-(state)", "male-actors-from-manhattan", "ibogaine-activists", "american-psychedelic-drug-advocates", "20th-century-american-male-actors", "people-from-the-upper-west-side", "drug-related-deaths-in-new-york-city", "buxton-school-(massachusetts)-alumni", "collegiate-school-(new-york)-alumni"] description: "American actor and journalist" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Cantor" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary American actor and journalist ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Max Cantor |
| image | Max Cantor in 4th grade, 1969.jpg |
| caption | Cantor in 4th grade, 1969 |
| birth_name | Michael Cantor |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | New York City, U.S. |
| death_date | |
| death_place | New York City, U.S. |
| occupation | journalist and actor |
| years_active | 1983–1989 |
| father | Arthur Cantor |
| alma_mater | Harvard University (BA) |
| :: |
| name = Max Cantor | image = Max Cantor in 4th grade, 1969.jpg | image_size = | caption = Cantor in 4th grade, 1969 | alt = | birth_name = Michael Cantor | birth_date = | birth_place = New York City, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = New York City, U.S. | occupation = journalist and actor | years_active = 1983–1989 | father = Arthur Cantor | alma_mater = Harvard University (BA)
Michael "Max" Cantor (May 15, 1959 – October 3, 1991) was an American journalist and actor in films such as Dirty Dancing (1987) and Fear, Anxiety & Depression (1989).
Biography
Cantor's father was the theatrical producer Arthur Cantor. He grew up in the Dakota Apartments on West 72nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. Cantor attended Collegiate School but graduated from Buxton School in Williamstown, Massachusetts. He spent his summers until age 14 at Camp Hillcroft in Billings, New York, alongside fellow campers such as the children of American Federation of Teachers president Albert Shanker and actor Burt Lancaster. At camp, he won top roles in Winnie the Pooh and The Velveteen Rabbit. Cantor was a 1982 graduate of Harvard University, where he lived in Adams House and starred in several productions by student director Peter Sellars.
Career
Cantor wrote for The Village Voice about ibogaine as a cure for heroin addiction, and had taken an interest in the cult surrounding East Village cannibal/murderer Daniel Rakowitz.
Death
He died from a heroin overdose at the age of 32. At the time he died, he was conducting research and writing a book about Daniel Paul Rakowitz and the murder of dancer Monika Beerle.
Filmography
::data[format=table]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Diner | Shrevie | TV Short |
| 1987 | Dirty Dancing | Robbie Gould | |
| 1989 | Fear, Anxiety & Depression | Jack | (final film role) |
| :: |
References
Bibliography
"The Strange Sad Death of Max Cantor", Sarah Ferguson, 'Esquire' February 1992, pp. 45 - 49.
References
- (2006). "Where Have All the Homeless Gone?: The Making and Unmaking of a Crisis". Berghagen Books.
- Aronowitz, Al. (June 2, 2002). "Column 72: The Strange Case of Max Cantor". the Blacklisted Journalist.
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