Biography
Ed Shifres is an actor, producer, and set decorator known for The Pharaoh Project (2001), Portrait of a Suspect (2000), and A Murder of Crows (2013).
Ed Shifres was born on July 07, 1956 in Boston, Massachusetts. After being raised in the Bostonian suburb of Mattapan, he graduated from Randolph High School in Randolph Massachusetts in 1974. Ed appeared in his first film as a teenage detective in the student film Mission:Psychosearch (1974) directed by Bill Hanney, and filmed at Randolph High School. After serving in the U.S. Air Force in 1976, Ed began work as a Motion Picture Inspector for the same company he rented films from as Vice-President of the Motion Picture Club at Randolph High School. After a job transfer in 1980 to Hollywood California, Ed was promoted to Associate Production Manager, and continued his repairing, editing and censoring film for Swank Motion Pictures. In 1983, Ed received his Associate of Arts degrees in Telecommunications and Liberal Arts from Columbia College Hollywood, Hollywood. In 1985, Ed became Director of Film and Video Operations for twelve years with Larry "Bozo The Clown" Harmon Pictures Corporation at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood and later had an office on Hollywood Boulevard. In 1986, Ed worked as a News Monitor, reporting stories for sales staff, at Video Monitoring Services of America (VMS). In 1989, Ed served as a Contributing Correspondent and Writer-Researcher for Lisfan Magazine (the Lost in Space (1965) TV series fan magazine) and he arranged numerous published interviews with actors, writers, producers, directors, and composers from that series. Several of Ed's articles also appear in Lisfan issues. Ed authored The Lost In Space Guest Star Biographies booklet (1991, Lisfan Press). He also wrote an ongoing column for The Astral Traveler fanzine in the United Kingdom, and Lost In Space Australia, as Ed's column became evergreen with popularity. In 1993, Ed became a Research Consultant and wrote The Three Stooges Supporting Players Mini-Biographical Profiles, a regular biography column for the quarterly published Three Stooges Journal. Ed became the only person to have ever written and publish the biographies of all the supporting actors who worked in the classic Three Stooges comedy film shorts (1934-1959). In 1996, after several years of extensive research, Ed wrote and published a book about one of the most egregious instances of plagiarism in the history of American entertainment. The quote was by Roderick Thorp - Author of Die Hard (1988). The book was Space Family Robinson: The True Story (1996, Windsor House) first published as a captivating article for Lisfan magazine (which led to a TV interview on Around The Mind Bend (TV - Sept. 1990). The book was first released as a Special Limited Edition hardcover full-length book. In 1996, one of the principal players in the book, acclaimed director-screenwriter-producer, Ib Melchior, was interviewed by KNBC-TV news anchor and journalist Jess Marlow. They discussed Ed's book on KNBC-TV's News Conference. The book's success spawned the trade paper version re-titled Lost in Space: The True Story (1998, Windsor House). The booked sparked extreme controversy within the fan organization, and at 20th Century Fox, as it was prudently released at the same time as the release of the 1998 theatrical motion picture, Lost in Space (1998) (New Line Cinema). The foreword to the book was written by Ib Melchior. In addition to the aforementioned writings, Ed has had several letters of varied subjects published in newspapers and magazines.
Among several memorable experiences was Legendary science fiction collector and writer Forrest J. Ackerman asking for Ed's autograph and a copy of Ed's book which became part of Ackerman's extensive famed collection; a personal invitation to the home of noted Director/Writer Charles Bennett for an exclusive interview. Bennett was Alfred Hitchcock's first and favorite film director; and spending a weekend at 1996's Starcon science fiction convention in Pasadena, CA, with the lead actors Paul Mantee and Victor Lundin from the 1964 classic science fiction film Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964). Contrary to sensible presumption, Ed's most fervent love is not writing, but, rather, acting. He has had theatrical, commercial, cold reading, stage and voice over training. In 1980-81 Ed performed on stage in college and small theatre productions playing Johnny in A Hatful of Rain; as Jimmy Doyle in New York, New York; as Felix Unger in The Odd Couple; as Abraham Lincoln in The Revision (a parody on The Gettysburg Address); and as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire. Ed played a street vendor in the student film Celluloid Heroes (1982) directed by Les Siegel. In 1983 and 1984, Ed toured with the Hollywood Comedy troupe Forsaking Art (aka Bogus). He appeared on stage at Hollywood notable locales such as The Comedy Store and The Laugh Factory, and was lead singer in a music video called Isabelle is a Woman, which Ed directed. In 1998, Ed appeared as a regular {background} actor in ABC-TV's critically acclaimed series Sports Night (1998) - and is memorable amongst fans as the videotape stuntman in the episode, Mary Pat Shelby. The stunt man scene with only Ed & Award-Winning Actress Felicity Huffman also aired on the ABC-TV promo spots for the series. In 1998, Ed became a member of SAG (The Screen Actors Guild). Ed served as a Nominating Committee Member of the 15th Annual Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards in 2008. Ed's principal acting roles include co-starring as the lead scientist in The Pharaoh Project (2001) opposite Hong Kong Box Office Star, Conan Lee; as the memorable Syrian Interrogator in the multi-award-winning Portrait of a Suspect (2000), Recipient of Time Warner Media Arts Award 2000 for Programming Excellence. Received Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition from U.S. Congressman Steven T. Kuyendall in Recognition of Outstanding and Invaluable Service. Received Certificate of Recognition from the California State Assembly in Honor of Exemplary Service and Dedication to Creating Outstanding Programming. Received Honorable Mention Certificate from the Hometown USA National Video Festival; as the pleasantly psychotic hit-man, Le Chifre, in A Murder of Crows (2013); as the Los Angeles News Anchor in the 2003 Riverrun International Film Festival Best Screenplay Award-winning Superguy: Behind the Cape (2000); as well as smaller appearances (one-on-one handshaking scene with Ray Liotta in HBO's The Rat Pack (1998), and as a security guard gassed by Adam West in the episode Out of Thin Air in the Roger Corman TV series Black Scorpion (2001) on Showtime. Ed also appeared on CBS-TV's Chicago Hope (1994) (as a paramedic), ABC's The Practice (1997) (as a juror), NBC's Just Shoot Me! (1997) (as a photographer), as an insurance salesman in a televised commercial for S.O.S Insurance by Media One Communications, as a model in a 1998 MTV Awards commercial with Samuel L. Jackson, and in many background roles in about twenty TV shows & films.
Ed also had lead roles in a few projects that never aired: As Tony Guido in The Swinging Door (1999) as Officer Quatan Vlandar in Police Soldiers (1999)- in which he trained as a police officer at a pseudo-police academy, in the TV pilots "Chance of a Lifetime" (2001) as Gordon Johnson, in "Target"(2002) as Lawrence Granville, and as Fattsulo - a mob killer in The Poet, produced only as a trailer.
On August 02, 2001, Ed spoke at the podium at the Hollywood-Roosevelt Hotel, during the celebration ceremonies following the unveiling of the Hollywood Walk of Fame Star for the actor Guy Williams star of the TV series Zorro (1957), and Lost in Space (1965). Ed was a signer on the Committee that earned Guy's Walk of Fame Star at 7080 Hollywood Blvd, ironically where Ed had an office. In June 2004, Ed was appointed as a member of the Board of Directors in the Corporate Level position of 'Secretary' with the film production company ArtisTech Pictures, Inc. Ed held the position from 2004-2008.
