سيرة
Ian Ruskin graduated from The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. In England, he worked in Repertory Theatre and London’s West End, including the title role in Jack the Ripper, as well as television roles such as King Lear (1983) with Laurence Olivier and Michael Mann’s The Keep (1983). In Los Angeles, his work has ranged from Murder She Wrote's episode Dead Man's Gold (1986) to the acclaimed one-man play Alan Drury’s The Man Himself. He has also performed extensive voice work in radio, commercials, and over 100 film and television productions.
In 2000, Ian founded The Harry Bridges Project, through which he has written, performed, and produced numerous plays, radio pieces, and film documentaries. These include From Wharf Rats to Lords of the Docks (2007), about labor leader Harry Bridges, and most recently To Begin the World Over Again: The Life of Thomas Paine (2016), aired on public television during the 2016 Presidential election year and distributed by NETA. Both film adaptations of the Bridges and Paine plays were directed and filmed by multi-Academy Award winner Haskell Wexler.
Ian has performed these plays hundreds of times to nearly 100,000 people at venues including the Houses of Parliament, the Scottish Parliament, ACLU, The American Philosophical Society, Harvard Law School, the California Judges Association, Conway Hall in London, the Annual Meeting of the Organization of American Historians, and locations across Canada, Hawai'i, Australia, and England. To Begin the World Over Again: The Life of Thomas Paine (2016) furthers Ian’s commitment to sharing the stories of overlooked and misunderstood figures from American and European history. He is currently working to distribute the film in England, France, Canada, and Australia, reflecting Paine’s status as a citizen of the world.
In 2014, Ian completed a new radio documentary, A Wild Woman Sings the Blues, about the life and work of Barbara Dane, and he is developing a feature film treatment based on the 1934 San Francisco General Strike. He has also begun writing a new one-man play about Nikola Tesla, “the man who invented the 20th century.” When not managing The Harry Bridges Project or writing and performing new plays, Ian Ruskin works as a voice-over actor in Los Angeles, California.
