Biography
Michael Ivan Cristofer is an American playwright, filmmaker, and actor. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play in 1977 for The Shadow Box. Following its success on Broadway, the play was produced in major cities across the United States and internationally, from Europe to the Far East.
His other plays include Breaking Up at Primary Stages; Ice at Manhattan Theatre Club; Black Angel at Circle Repertory Company; The Lady and the Clarinet starring Stockard Channing, produced by the Mark Taper Forum, Long Wharf Theater, Off-Broadway, and on the London Fringe; and Amazing Grace starring Marsha Mason, which earned the American Theater Critics Award for best play produced in the U.S. during the 1996-97 season.
Cristofer’s film credits include screenplays for The Shadow Box, directed by Paul Newman (Golden Globe Award, Emmy nomination), Falling in Love, The Witches of Eastwick, The Bonfire of the Vanities, Breaking Up, and Casanova starring Heath Ledger. As a director, his work includes Gia starring Angelina Jolie, which received five Emmy nominations and earned him a Directors Guild Award, as well as Body Shots and Original Sin.
For eight years, he served as artistic advisor and later co-artistic director of River Arts Repertory in Woodstock, New York, a company that produced new plays by writers such as Richard Nelson, Mac Wellman, Len Jenkin, and Eric Overmeyer. At River Arts, he also adapted the films Love Me or Leave Me and Casablanca for the stage and directed Joanne Woodward in his adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s Ghosts. His latest theatrical work, The Whore and Mr. Moore, is currently in workshop at the Actor’s Studio, where he is a member.
As an actor, he has had recurring roles as Truxton Spangler on AMC's Rubicon, Jerry Rand on Smash, and Phillip Price on Mr. Robot. His film appearances include The Other Woman, Emoticon, and The Adderall Diaries.
