Ron Vawter

Ron Vawter (December 9, 1948 – April 16, 1994) was an American actor and a founding member of the experimental theater company The Wooster Group. Vawter performed in most of the group's works until his death from a heart attack in 1994 at the age of 45.

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Internal Affairs (1990)

Keen young Raymold Avila joins the Internal Affairs Department of the Los Angeles police. He and partner Amy Wallace are soon looking closely at the activities of cop Dennis Peck whose financial holdings start to suggest something shady. Indeed Peck is involved in ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mike Figgis
CAST:  Richard Gere  •  Andy García  •  Laurie Metcalf  •  Nancy Travis

Keen young Raymold Avila joins the Internal Affairs Department of the Los Angeles police. He and partner Amy Wallace are soon looking closely at the activities of cop Dennis Peck whose financial holdings start to suggest something shady. Indeed Peck is involved in ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mike Figgis
CAST:  Richard Gere  •  Andy García  •  Laurie Metcalf  •  Nancy Travis

Philadelphia (1993)

InspiringIntenseEmotionalThought provoking

Two competing lawyers join forces to sue a prestigious law firm for AIDS discrimination. As their unlikely friendship develops their courage overcomes the prejudice and corruption of their powerful adversaries.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Jonathan Demme
CAST:  Roberta Maxwell  •  Buzz Kilman  •  Antonio Banderas  •  Jason Robards

Two competing lawyers join forces to sue a prestigious law firm for AIDS discrimination. As their unlikely friendship develops their courage overcomes the prejudice and corruption of their powerful adversaries.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Jonathan Demme
CAST:  Roberta Maxwell  •  Buzz Kilman  •  Antonio Banderas  •  Jason Robards

sex, lies, and videotape (1989)

A sexually repressed woman's husband is having an affair with her sister. The arrival of a visitor with a rather unusual fetish changes everything.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Steven Soderbergh
CAST:  Andie MacDowell  •  Peter Gallagher  •  James Spader  •  Laura San Giacomo

A sexually repressed woman's husband is having an affair with her sister. The arrival of a visitor with a rather unusual fetish changes everything.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Steven Soderbergh
CAST:  Andie MacDowell  •  Peter Gallagher  •  James Spader  •  Laura San Giacomo

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

ViolentSuspensefulDisturbingDark

Clarice Starling is a top student at the FBI's training academy. Jack Crawford wants Clarice to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist who is also a violent psychopath, serving life behind bars for various acts of murder and cannibalism. Crawford ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Jonathan Demme
CAST:  Jodie Foster  •  Lawrence A. Bonney  •  Kasi Lemmons  •  Lawrence T. Wrentz

Clarice Starling is a top student at the FBI's training academy. Jack Crawford wants Clarice to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist who is also a violent psychopath, serving life behind bars for various acts of murder and cannibalism. Crawford ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Jonathan Demme
CAST:  Jodie Foster  •  Lawrence A. Bonney  •  Kasi Lemmons  •  Lawrence T. Wrentz

Born in Flames (1983)

In near-future New York, 10 years after the “social-democratic war of liberation,” diverse groups of women organize a feminist uprising as equality remains unfulfilled.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Lizzie Borden
CAST:  Honey  •  Adele Bertei  •  Jean Satterfield  •  Florynce Kennedy

In near-future New York, 10 years after the “social-democratic war of liberation,” diverse groups of women organize a feminist uprising as equality remains unfulfilled.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Lizzie Borden
CAST:  Honey  •  Adele Bertei  •  Jean Satterfield  •  Florynce Kennedy

Fat Man and Little Boy (1989)

Assigned to oversee the development of the atomic bomb, Gen. Leslie Groves is a stern military man determined to have the project go according to plan. He selects J. Robert Oppenheimer as the key scientist on the top-secret operation, but the two men clash fiercely ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Roland Joffé
CAST:  Paul Newman  •  Dwight Schultz  •  Bonnie Bedelia  •  John Cusack

Assigned to oversee the development of the atomic bomb, Gen. Leslie Groves is a stern military man determined to have the project go according to plan. He selects J. Robert Oppenheimer as the key scientist on the top-secret operation, but the two men clash fiercely ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Roland Joffé
CAST:  Paul Newman  •  Dwight Schultz  •  Bonnie Bedelia  •  John Cusack

Johnny Suede (1991)

A struggling young musician and devoted fan of Ricky Nelson wants to be just like his idol and become a rock star.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Tom DiCillo
CAST:  Brad Pitt  •  Calvin Levels  •  Catherine Keener  •  Nick Cave

A struggling young musician and devoted fan of Ricky Nelson wants to be just like his idol and become a rock star.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Tom DiCillo
CAST:  Brad Pitt  •  Calvin Levels  •  Catherine Keener  •  Nick Cave

King of the Hill (1993)

Based on the Depression-era bildungsroman memoir of writer A. E. Hotchner, the film follows the story of a boy struggling to survive on his own in a hotel in St. Louis after his mother is committed to a sanatorium with tuberculosis. His father, a German immigrant ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Steven Soderbergh
CAST:  Jesse Bradford  •  Jeroen Krabbé  •  Lisa Eichhorn  •  Karen Allen

Based on the Depression-era bildungsroman memoir of writer A. E. Hotchner, the film follows the story of a boy struggling to survive on his own in a hotel in St. Louis after his mother is committed to a sanatorium with tuberculosis. His father, a German immigrant ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Steven Soderbergh
CAST:  Jesse Bradford  •  Jeroen Krabbé  •  Lisa Eichhorn  •  Karen Allen

Fresh Kill (1996)

Shareen and Claire, a lesbian couple living on Staten Island, find themselves ensnared in a vast conspiracy involving a ghost ship of nuclear refuse, ominous television commercials, and deadly cat food.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Shu Lea Cheang
CAST:  Sarita Choudhury  •  Erin McMurtry  •  Pedro Pietri  •  Abraham Lim

Shareen and Claire, a lesbian couple living on Staten Island, find themselves ensnared in a vast conspiracy involving a ghost ship of nuclear refuse, ominous television commercials, and deadly cat food.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Shu Lea Cheang
CAST:  Sarita Choudhury  •  Erin McMurtry  •  Pedro Pietri  •  Abraham Lim

Sudden Death (1977)

When Ed Neilson's entire family is viciously murdered, he pleads with retired CIA operative Duke Smith (Robert Conrad) to investigate. He refuses, but relents after Neilson too meets an explosive death. Deception, international intrigue and a ruthless "syndicate of ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Eddie Romero
CAST:  Robert Conrad  •  Don Stroud  •  Connie Mason  •  Felton Perry

When Ed Neilson's entire family is viciously murdered, he pleads with retired CIA operative Duke Smith (Robert Conrad) to investigate. He refuses, but relents after Neilson too meets an explosive death. Deception, international intrigue and a ruthless "syndicate of ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Eddie Romero
CAST:  Robert Conrad  •  Don Stroud  •  Connie Mason  •  Felton Perry

The Cabinet of Dr. Ramirez (1991)

Featuring music instead of any dialogue and set in a near Kafkaesque future, this loose remake of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari follows a bureaucrat whom mysterious Dr. Ramirez and his hideous sidekick want as their latest victim.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Peter Sellars
CAST:  Mikhail Baryshnikov  •  Joan Cusack  •  Peter Gallagher  •  Ron Vawter

Featuring music instead of any dialogue and set in a near Kafkaesque future, this loose remake of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari follows a bureaucrat whom mysterious Dr. Ramirez and his hideous sidekick want as their latest victim.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Peter Sellars
CAST:  Mikhail Baryshnikov  •  Joan Cusack  •  Peter Gallagher  •  Ron Vawter

Postcards (1990)

A separated couple try to keep in touch through postcards of typically "American" sights: motels, monuments, parks; but their postcards cross in the mail. Misunderstandings arise; passion subsides; romance fades... Yet the postcards keep on coming.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mark Rappaport
CAST:  Ron Vawter  •  Dorothy Cantwell

A separated couple try to keep in touch through postcards of typically "American" sights: motels, monuments, parks; but their postcards cross in the mail. Misunderstandings arise; passion subsides; romance fades... Yet the postcards keep on coming.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mark Rappaport
CAST:  Ron Vawter  •  Dorothy Cantwell

Roy Cohn/Jack Smith (1995)

When Jill Godmilow’s documentary Roy Cohn/Jack Smith premiered at the 1994 Toronto International Film Festival, the number of AIDS-related deaths was reaching an all-time high in the United States (over 270,000). In New York City, the epicenter of the AIDS epidemic ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Jill Godmilow
CAST:  Ron Vawter  •  Coco McPherson

When Jill Godmilow’s documentary Roy Cohn/Jack Smith premiered at the 1994 Toronto International Film Festival, the number of AIDS-related deaths was reaching an all-time high in the United States (over 270,000). In New York City, the epicenter of the AIDS epidemic ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Jill Godmilow
CAST:  Ron Vawter  •  Coco McPherson

The Machine That Killed Bad People (1990)

The Machine That Killed Bad People is about the cultural and political history of the Philippines leading up to the overthrow of President Ferdinand Marcos in 1986. It also addresses the role of electronic media in the struggle for power, and more broadly, American ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Steve Fagin
CAST:  Steve Fagin  •  Trịnh T. Minh-hà  •  Constance DeJong  •  Ron Vawter

The Machine That Killed Bad People is about the cultural and political history of the Philippines leading up to the overthrow of President Ferdinand Marcos in 1986. It also addresses the role of electronic media in the struggle for power, and more broadly, American ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Steve Fagin
CAST:  Steve Fagin  •  Trịnh T. Minh-hà  •  Constance DeJong  •  Ron Vawter

Swoon (1992)

Teenagers Nathan Leopold Jr. and Richard Loeb share a dangerous sexual bond and an amoral outlook on life. They spend afternoons breaking into storefronts and engaging in petty crimes, until the calculating Nathan ups the ante by kidnapping, and murdering, a young boy.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Tom Kalin
CAST:  Daniel Schlachet  •  Craig Chester  •  Ron Vawter  •  Michael Stumm

Teenagers Nathan Leopold Jr. and Richard Loeb share a dangerous sexual bond and an amoral outlook on life. They spend afternoons breaking into storefronts and engaging in petty crimes, until the calculating Nathan ups the ante by kidnapping, and murdering, a young boy.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Tom Kalin
CAST:  Daniel Schlachet  •  Craig Chester  •  Ron Vawter  •  Michael Stumm

Twister (1989)

An oddball family on a Kansas farm are trapped in their farmhouse by an impending storm. The patriarch of the clan is a retired soda pop tycoon. He is currently dating a children's TV evangelist. Also living at the farm is his layabout daughter and her precocious 8 ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Michael Almereyda
CAST:  Harry Dean Stanton  •  Suzy Amis  •  Crispin Glover  •  Jenny Wright

An oddball family on a Kansas farm are trapped in their farmhouse by an impending storm. The patriarch of the clan is a retired soda pop tycoon. He is currently dating a children's TV evangelist. Also living at the farm is his layabout daughter and her precocious 8 ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Michael Almereyda
CAST:  Harry Dean Stanton  •  Suzy Amis  •  Crispin Glover  •  Jenny Wright

Arena Brains (1987)

A short film by painter-turned-filmmaker Robert Longo, "Arena Brains" is a series of interlocking vignettes set in and around the art world of 1980s New York City, satirizing the neuroses and eccentricities of this milieu.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Robert Longo
CAST:  Michael Stipe  •  Eric Bogosian  •  Ray Liotta  •  Richard Price

A short film by painter-turned-filmmaker Robert Longo, "Arena Brains" is a series of interlocking vignettes set in and around the art world of 1980s New York City, satirizing the neuroses and eccentricities of this milieu.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Robert Longo
CAST:  Michael Stipe  •  Eric Bogosian  •  Ray Liotta  •  Richard Price

Plymouth (1991)

The residents of a town displaced by an industrial accident agree to take over a failing mining base on the Moon as their new place to live and work. Their first big test comes in the form of a wave of radiation from a massive solar flare.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Lee David Zlotoff
CAST:  Cindy Pickett  •  Richard Hamilton  •  Perrey Reeves  •  Matt Brown

The residents of a town displaced by an industrial accident agree to take over a failing mining base on the Moon as their new place to live and work. Their first big test comes in the form of a wave of radiation from a massive solar flare.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Lee David Zlotoff
CAST:  Cindy Pickett  •  Richard Hamilton  •  Perrey Reeves  •  Matt Brown

Rumstick Road (2014)

A video reconstruction of the 1977 Wooster Group production Rumstick Road, an experimental theater performance created by Spalding Gray and Elizabeth LeCompte after the suicide of Gray's mother. Archival recordings are combined with photographs, slides, and other ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Elizabeth LeCompte  •  Ken Kobland
CAST:  Spalding Gray  •  Ron Vawter  •  Libby Howes  •  Bruce Porter

A video reconstruction of the 1977 Wooster Group production Rumstick Road, an experimental theater performance created by Spalding Gray and Elizabeth LeCompte after the suicide of Gray's mother. Archival recordings are combined with photographs, slides, and other ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Elizabeth LeCompte  •  Ken Kobland
CAST:  Spalding Gray  •  Ron Vawter  •  Libby Howes  •  Bruce Porter

Strong Medicine (1981)

Adaptation of an avant-garde play about Rhoda, a hysterical heroine who feels oppressed by the people around her. She suffers through her birthday party, goes to see a doctor, plans a vacation, argues a lot and even breaks the fourth wall.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Richard Foreman
CAST:  Bill Raymond  •  Kate Manheim  •  David Warrilow  •  Ron Vawter

Adaptation of an avant-garde play about Rhoda, a hysterical heroine who feels oppressed by the people around her. She suffers through her birthday party, goes to see a doctor, plans a vacation, argues a lot and even breaks the fourth wall.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Richard Foreman
CAST:  Bill Raymond  •  Kate Manheim  •  David Warrilow  •  Ron Vawter
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