David Feldshuh
David Mark Feldshuh is an American director, actor, writer, teacher, and board-certified emergency medicine physician. He is best known for the play Miss Evers' Boys, based on the Tuskegee syphilis experiment, which was a finalist for the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The 1997 adaptation of Miss Evers' Boys was nominated for 11 Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. He is also known for his four decades on the faculty of Cornell University, where he served as the founding Artistic Director of the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts.
His work includes the 1994 documentary Susceptible to Kindness, which won a CINE Golden Eagle Award and an Intercom Gold Plaque.
Feldshuh practices medicine at Cayuga Medical Center and teaches in Cornell University's Department of Performing and Media Arts.
Early Life and Education
Feldshuh earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Dartmouth College, graduating cum laude with honors in philosophy and election to Phi Beta Kappa; he was also a Reynolds Scholar. He trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and studied mime with Jacques Lecoq. London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, Alumni and Training Histories. He later completed a Ph.D. in Theatre at the University of Minnesota, focusing on creativity and actor training.While pursuing his theatre career, Feldshuh also trained in medicine, earning an M.D. from the University of Minnesota. He completed a residency in Emergency Medicine at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis and became board certified in emergency medicine, later attaining Fellowship in the American College of Emergency Physicians. American College of Emergency Physicians, Fellowship Listings.
Feldshuh began his directing career in the early 1970s with The Swinging Teacher, originally titled Just Be There, an independent drama about a Vietnam War veteran's readjustment to civilian life in Minneapolis. The low-budget film was later retitled and remarketed as an exploitation film, though it maintained its serious dramatic content.
Career
Early Filmmaking
Feldshuh began his directing career in the early 1970s with The Swinging Teacher, originally titled Just Be There, an independent drama about a Vietnam War veteran's readjustment to civilian life in Minneapolis. The low-budget film was later retitled and remarketed as an exploitation film, though it maintained its serious dramatic content.Theater and television
Feldshuh's most notable theatrical work is his 1992 play Miss Evers' Boys, based on the Tuskegee syphilis experiment, which was a finalist for the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The 1997 HBO television adaptation was nominated for 11 Emmy Awards, winning four, and two Golden Globe Awards, winning one.His documentary work includes Susceptible to Kindness, which won a CINE Golden Eagle Award and an Intercom Gold Plaque.