15 Facts About Jerry Zaks

Jerry Zaks was born on September 7,1946 and is an American stage and television director, and actor.

Jerry Zaks won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play and Drama Desk Award for directing The House of Blue Leaves, Lend Me a Tenor, and Six Degrees of Separation and the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical and Drama Desk Award for Guys and Dolls.

Jerry Zaks's family immigrated to the United States in 1948, finally settling in Paterson, New Jersey, where he graduated from Eastside High School in 1963.

Jerry Zaks graduated from Dartmouth College and received a Master of Fine Arts from Smith College.

Jerry Zaks made his Broadway acting debut in the original production of Grease as "Kenickie" and appeared in Tintypes in 1980.

Jerry Zaks made his directing debut in 1981 with the off-Broadway production of Christopher Durang's Beyond Therapy, which co-starred Sigourney Weaver.

Jerry Zaks has directed many Broadway productions, both musicals and dramas.

Jerry Zaks has directed many Off-Broadway productions, several at Playwrights Horizons and the Public Theater.

Jerry Zaks was the director of the new musical 101 Dalmatians Musical, which toured the United States from October 2009 through April 2010.

Jerry Zaks was named "creative consultant" for the new musical The Addams Family, which opened on Broadway in April 2010.

Jerry Zaks directed the Broadway production of Sister Act, which opened in Spring 2011.

Jerry Zaks served as Resident Director at Lincoln Center from 1986 to 1990 and is a founding member of the Ensemble Studio Theatre.

Jerry Zaks received the George Abbott Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theater in 1994 and an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from Dartmouth College in 1999.

Jerry Zaks was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2013.

Jerry Zaks married Jill Rose, an actress, on January 14,1979; they have two children, Emma and Hannah Jerry Zaks.