Ginty, Robert 1948–

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GINTY, Robert 1948–

PERSONAL: Born November 14, 1948, in Brooklyn, NY; son of Michael Joseph (a construction worker) and Elsie M. (a government worker; maiden name, O'Hara) Ginty; married Francine Tacker, May, 1980 (divorced, 1983); married Lorna Patterson (an actress), November 26, 1983; children: (first marriage) James F. Education: Attended Harvard University, Yale University, and City University of New York; attended Princeton University, 1966–70; studied acting with Sanford Meisner at Neighborhood Playhouse, Lee Strasberg at Actors Studio, and Herbert Berghof at Berghof Studios.

ADDRESSES: Agent—Ginty Films, 16255 Ventura Blvd., No. 625, Encino, CA 91436

CAREER: Actor, writer, producer, and director. Founder of Fairfax Irish Theatre Arts Foundation; Introvision Studios, former producer and director; Ginty Films Ireland (production company), Dublin, Ginty Films Canada, Toronto, Ontario, and Sligo Entertainment, Los Angeles, CA, founder and CEO; Circle Films, Paris, France, partner; Stage 5 Productions, Rome, Italy, partner; Irish Theatre Arts Center, Los Angeles, artistic director, 1994–. Royal Shakespeare Company, associate member, beginning 1996. Artist-in-residence, Harvard University, 2002, and McGill University, 2004; lecturer at schools, including Yale University Film Study Center, Yale School of Drama, Sorbone, University of Paris, École Normale Superieure, and École National Superieure des Beaux-Arts. Visual artist, with paintings and film work exhibited in group shows in London, New York, NY, and Ireland. Member, Institute of Politics, John F. Kennedy School of Government, and Harvard Underground Theatre Company; fellow of Branford College, Yale University.

Actor in stage productions, including (Broadway debut) Three in One, 1970; Silent Partner, Actors Studio, 1971; More Stately Mansions, Provincetown Playhouse, 1971; Orpheus Descending, Provincetown Playhouse, 1971; and Great God Brown, New York, NY, 1972; as well as Don Juan and The Government Inspector, both New York, NY, The Indian Wants the Bronx, The Lion in Winter, Once in a Lifetime, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Henry IV, Part 1, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and As You Like It, all New Hampshire Shakespeare Festival; and Sunrise in Your Pocket. Actor in films, including To Have Your Cake and Eat It, 1971; Incident of October 20th, 1971; Children Come Back, 1971; And Baby Makes Three, 1972; Bound for Glory, United Artists, 1976; Two-Minute Warning, Universal, 1976; Coming Home, United Artists, 1976; The Exterminator, Avco-Embassy, 1980; The Alchemist, LIVE Home Video, 1981; The Act (also known as Bless 'Em All), Film Ventures, 1982; Escarabajos Asesinos (also known as Scarab), Tesauro y Alloi, 1982; Gold Raiders, Media Home Entertainment, 1983; Exterminator 2, Cannon, 1984; Vivre pour Survivre (also known as White Fire), Trans World Entertainment, 1984; Mission Kill, Goldfarb, 1985; Warrior of the Lost World, 1985; Programmed to Kill (also known as Retaliator), Trans World Entertainment, 1987; Three Kinds of Heat, Warner Home Video, 1987; The Bounty Hunter, American International Pictures, 1989; Code Name Vengeance, Action, 1989; Loverboy, TriStar, 1989; Out on Bail, Trans World, 1989; Cop Target, 1990; Madhouse, Orion, 1990; Vietnam, Texas, Vision/Columbia, 1990; Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Pathe, 1991; Shootfighter, A.N.A. Productions, 1992; Lady Dragon, Imperial Entertainment, 1992; Woman of Desire, Nu Image, 1994; Taken Alive, DKMC, 1995; and Covenant. Actor in television series, including Baa Baa Black Sheep, NBC, 1976–78; The Paper Chase, CBS, 1978–79; Hawaiian Heat, ABC, 1984; and Falcon Crest, CBS, 1989–90. Guest actor on episodes of television series, including Baywatch Nights (appeared twice), syndicated, 1995, 1996; as well as Police Story, The Rookies, Gibbsville, Griffin, and Phoenix. Actor in television movies, including The Turning Point of Jim Malloy (also known as John O'Hara's Gibbsville and Gibbsville: The Turning Point of Jim Malloy), NBC, 1975; The Courage and the Passion, NBC, 1978; I Want to Live, ABC, 1983; and The Big One: The Great Los Angeles Earthquake (also known as Earthquake Los Angeles: The Big One), NBC, 1990. Actor in television specials, including The Big Stuffed Dog, 1980; Hardesty House, 1989; and The Hollywood Christmas Parade, 1989.

Director in television, including Dream On (series episode), HBO, 1990, Here Come the Munsters (movie), Fox, 1995, Campus Cops (series), USA Network, 1996, Nash Bridges (series), CBS, 1996, and Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (series), 1996–97; executive producer, Hardesty House (special), 1986, and Day of Reckoning (movie; also known as The Wisdom Keeper), NBC, 1994.

Director of plays, including Reservoir Dogs, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, True West, Bette 'n' Boo, and Italian American Reconciliation, at Harvard University, 2002; A Clockwork Orange (musical), Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2004; and plays for Irish Theatre Arts Center, beginning 1994.

Director of films, including My Father's House (short), 1979, Perfect Master (short), 1979, The Bounty Hunter, American International Pictures, 1989, Shootfighter, 1992, Woman of Desire, Nu Image, 1994, and Universe of Energy, Disney Imagineering. Director of television series episodes for Tracker, VIP, Charmed, Three, Fame L.A., Early Edition, Xena, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Lawless, Nash Bridges, The Munsters, and Campus Cops; director of series Evening Shade, CBS, and Dream On, Home Box Office; director of music-video series 2-GET-HER, for MTV. Director and producer of films, including Vietnam, Texas, Vision/Columbia, 1990, and (and executive producer, with Stirling Silliphant) Day of Reckoning (television film), NBC, 1994. Producer of film (with others) The Ransomed of God, c. 2005.

MEMBER: Actors Equity Association, International PEN, Irish Academy of Letters, Royal Society of the Arts, Society of Irish Playwrights, American Academy in Rome, Centre Culturel Irlandais, American Center for Irish Studies, Irish Society of Contemporary Art, Royal Hibernian Academy (overseas member), Canadian Film Centre, Screen Actors Guild, Directors Guild (Great Britain), Directors Guild (U.S.), Directors Guild (Canada), Oxford University Society, Irish Georgian Society, Royal Dublin Society, Harvard Film Society, English Parliament Rugby Club, Kildare Fox Hunting Club, Kildare Street University Club (Dublin, Ireland).

AWARDS, HONORS: Best director awards from Houston International Film Festival and Taormina Film Festival, and awards from Santa Barbara International Film Festival and Fort Lauderdale Film Festival, all c. 1990, all for Vietnam, Texas; Silver Lone Star Award, Houston International Film Festival, c. 1994, for Woman of Desire; Harvard University Signet Society medal; named chevalier, French Order of Arts and Letters, 2004; honorary captain, U.S. Navy Blue Angels; Best Director nomination, MTV awards, for 2-GET-HER; Best Martial Arts Film Award, Black Belt magazine, for Shootfighter; Best Director and Best Comedy Director nominations, CableAce awards.

WRITINGS:

SCREENPLAYS

(And director) The Bounty Hunter, American International Pictures, 1989.

(And director) Woman of Desire, Nu Image, 1994.

Author, with Ray Bradbury, of screenplay Green Shadows, White Whale; adaptor of screenplays, including Razzle, Dazzle from the novel by Ed Naha; Mrs. Warren's Profession, based on the play by George Bernard Shaw; Dark City; and The Ham. Also contributor to screenplays Shootfighter, Mission Kill, The Retaliator, Code Name Vengance, Glory Days, Trackdown, Boomtown, and Acappella.

SIDELIGHTS: Beginning as an actor, Robert Ginty has more recently established himself as a director of films, predominantly action pictures. Ginty, who was born in Brooklyn of Irish stock and whose family expected him to go into politics like several in the clan had, left home instead to pursue a rock 'n' roll career. He played drums well, one time performing with Jimi Hendrix before Hendrix became famous. However, Ginty found his true calling in acting.

Ginty established his name in film by portraying violent heroes. In 1980's Exterminator he played a Vietnam veteran in New York, NY, out to track down the gang that assaulted his friend. Washington Post reviewer Richard Harrington characterized the movie like this: "Robert Ginty, the poor man's Michael Moriarty, walked around New York, ridding the streets of its urban vermin, and somehow never attracting any attention, even when he appears in a steel suit, lugging a flame thrower and fuel pack." A 1984 sequel, Exterminator 2, contained much of the same pyrotechnic violence. Other action-adventure movies Ginty has starred in include Warrior of the Lost World (1985), Mission to Kill (1985), Programmed to Kill (1987), Code Name Vengeance (1987), Bounty Hunters (1989), and Vietnam, Texas (1990), the last two of which Ginty also directed. He has also directed television shows such as Nash Bridges and Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.

Ginty takes an interest in Irish drama as well, and in 1994 he helped found the Irish Theatre Arts Center in Los Angeles. He has also established his own production company, Ginty Films, with offices in Dublin as well as in Los Angeles and Toronto. In addition to directing and producing films through his own company, he has partnered with production houses in Italy and Spain, and is active in numerous film-related organizations. With his wide-ranging expertise in stage, screen, and on television, Ginty has been a popular lecturer at universities both in the United States and abroad.

Reviewing his acting work, and his involvement with action films during the 1980s and 1990s, Ginty defends his choice of roles. "I can separate very clearly my politics from my acting, which some of my compatriots have difficulty doing," Ginty told Chris Chase in the New York Times. "As an actor, you act. You say words written for you. I've played a very violent repertory of movies, and what they've done is given me an economically viable career."