{{Short description|American-Canadian actor, director (1930–2017)}} {{Distinguish|Ed Sheeran}} {{Infobox person | name = Edwin Sherin | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date|1930|1|15|mf=yes}} | birth_place = Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2017|5|4|1930|1|15}} | death_place = Lockeport, Nova Scotia, Canada | other_names = Ed Sherin | occupation = Actor, director, producer | years_active = 1971–2009 | spouse = Pamela Vevers (divorced)<br />{{marriage|Jane Alexander|1975}} | children = 3 | relatives = Jace Alexander (stepson) }}
'''Edwin Sherin''' (January 15, 1930 – May 4, 2017) was an American-Canadian director and producer. He is best known as the director and executive producer of the NBC drama series ''Law & Order'' (1991–2005).
==Early life== Sherin was born in Danville, Pennsylvania, the son of Ruth (née Berger), a homemaker, and Joseph Sherin, a textile worker.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Grimes |first=William |author-link=William Grimes (journalist) |date=May 8, 2017 |title=Edwin Sherin, Theater and 'Law & Order' Director, Dies at 87 |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/08/theater/edwin-sherin-theater-and-law-order-director-dies-at-87.html |access-date=April 21, 2021 |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200224143054/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/08/theater/edwin-sherin-theater-and-law-order-director-dies-at-87.html|archive-date=February 24, 2020}}</ref> He grew up in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and Inwood, Manhattan.<ref name=":0" /> He had a sister, Edith Sherin Markson, who was among the founders of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=September 16, 1994 |title=Edith Markson, 81, Promoter of Theater |work=The New York Times |page=B-8 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/16/obituaries/edith-markson-81-promoter-of-theater.html |access-date=April 21, 2021 |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200323080009/https://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/16/obituaries/edith-markson-81-promoter-of-theater.html |archive-date=March 23, 2020}}</ref>
When he was 16 years old, Sherin dropped out of DeWitt Clinton High School and traveled to West Texas, where he worked on a cattle ranch. He eventually resumed his education at the Fountain Valley School in Colorado Springs, graduating in 1948.<ref name=":0" /> In 1952, he graduated from Brown University, where he received a degree in international relations.<ref name=":0" /> After graduation, Sherin enlisted in the Navy and fought in the Korean War.<ref name=":0" />
== Career == Sherin started out as an actor, training at the Paul Mann's Actors Workshop and studying with John Houseman at the American Shakespeare Theatre.<ref name=":0" />
He met Jane Alexander while serving as the resident director at Washington, DC's Arena Stage, where he cast her and James Earl Jones in ''The Great White Hope''. In 1968, he directed the play and its two stars on Broadway,<ref>{{cite news |title=Theatre: Howard Sackler's 'Great White Hope'; Play at the Alvin Stars James Earl Jones Edwin Sherin Staged Cheated Hero's Story |first=Clive |last=Barnes |author-link=Clive Barnes |date=1968-10-04 |newspaper=The New York Times |page=40 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1968/10/04/archives/theater-howard-sacklers-great-white-hope-play-at-the-alvin-stars.html |access-date=2023-11-29 |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200811050429/https://www.nytimes.com/1968/10/04/archives/theater-howard-sacklers-great-white-hope-play-at-the-alvin-stars.html |archive-date=2020-08-11 |url-status=live}}</ref> and the production marked the start not only of his Broadway directorial career, but a long professional and personal relationship with Alexander as well. In August 1973, he cast Jones as King Lear for his production on King Lear at The Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park.<ref>{{cite news |title=James Earl Jones Meets the Challenge of King Lear |first=Mel |last=Gussow |author-link=Mel Gussow |date=August 2, 1973 |newspaper=The New York Times |page=28 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/08/02/archives/james-earl-jones-meets-the-challenge-of-king-lear.html |access-date=August 2, 2023 |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171212115944/https://www.nytimes.com/1973/08/02/archives/james-earl-jones-meets-the-challenge-of-king-lear.html |archive-date=2017-12-12 |url-status=live}}</ref>
He directed Alexander in ''First Monday in October'' on Broadway in 1978, ''Hedda Gabler'' at the Hartman Theatre (Connecticut) in 1981<ref>{{cite news |title=Theater:Jane Alexander Plays 'Hedda Gabler' |first=Mel |last=Gussow |author-link=Mel Gussow |date=1981-10-02 |newspaper=The New York Times |page=C-5 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/10/02/theater/theater-jane-alexander-plays-hedda-gabler.html |access-date=2011-04-10 |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150524075548/https://www.nytimes.com/1981/10/02/theater/theater-jane-alexander-plays-hedda-gabler.html |archive-date=2015-05-24 |url-status=live}}</ref> in the American Playhouse television movie ''A Marriage: Georgia O'Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz'', in 1991.<ref>{{cite book |title=Variety and Daily Variety Television Reviews |volume=17: 1991–1992 |chapter=Chapter: 1991 Section:''Variety'' (Weekly) July 15, 1991 |page=70 |publisher=Garland Publishing, Inc. |location=New York |year=1994 |isbn=0-8240-3796-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RxHbPxbBM1AC&q=+%E2%80%9CSTIEGLITZ+PBS%E2%80%9D |access-date=2023-11-29 |url-access=limited |via=Google Books}}</ref> and in the Broadway revival of ''The Visit''.<ref name=visit>{{cite news |title=Review/Theater: The Visit; Revenge and Common Greed As the Root of Much Evil |first=Frank |last=Rich |author-link=Frank Rich |date=1992-01-24 |newspaper=The New York Times |page=C-1 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/01/24/theater/review-theater-the-visit-revenge-and-common-greed-as-the-root-of-much-evil.html |access-date=2023-11-29 |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150312174149/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/01/24/theater/review-theater-the-visit-revenge-and-common-greed-as-the-root-of-much-evil.html |archive-date=2015-03-12 |url-status=live}}</ref>
Sherin directed six plays at Washington, D.C.'s Arena Stage, one per season for six consecutive seasons: ''The Wall'' (1963–64), ''Galileo'' (1964–65), ''St. Joan'' (1965–66), ''Macbeth'' (1966–67), ''The Iceman Cometh'' (1967–68), and ''King Lear'' (1968–69).<ref>{{cite press release |title=Production History |date=2023-12-01 |pages=4–5 |publisher=Arena Stage |url=https://www.arenastage.org/contentassets/bdb18ac78fb64b658344bd50f91e0e37/production-history.pdf |access-date=2023-12-01}}</ref>
Sherin won the 1969 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director for ''The Great White Hope''<ref>{{cite web |title=History {{!}} 1968-1969 15th Drama Desk Awards |publisher=Drama Desk |url=http://www.dramadesk.com/1968_1969dd.html |access-date=2023-12-01 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704130834/http://www.dramadesk.com/1968_1969dd.html |archive-date=2008-07-04}}</ref> and was nominated for a 1974 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play, for ''Find Your Way Home''.
In 1972, he directed a revival of ''The Time of Your Life'', at the Huntington Hartford Theater in Los Angeles, with a cast that included Henry Fonda, Richard Dreyfuss and Jane Alexander.<ref>{{cite news |title=Hollywood Beat: Fans Still Talking About Grammy Deal |first=Bill |last=Lane |date=1972-04-08 |newspaper=Baltimore Afro-American |page=10 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2211&dat=19720408&id=FCcmAAAAIBAJ&pg=781,2046468 |access-date=2012-01-22 |via=Google News Archive}}</ref>
In 1974, Sherin directed a revival of ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' at London's Piccadilly Theatre with Claire Bloom, Martin Shaw, Joss Ackland, and Morag Hood.<ref>{{cite book |first=Philip C. |last=Kolin |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=duVcT5J4qWIC&dq=A+Streetcar+Named+Desire+%22Claire+Bloom%22+Piccadilly&pg=PA97 |chapter=London, 1974 |title=Williams: A Streetcar Named Desire |page=97 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |year=2000 |isbn=0-521-62610-2 |chapter-url-access=limited |via=Google Books}}</ref>
In 2009, Sherin directed Alexander again in Thom Thomas's ''A Moon to Dance By'' at The Pittsburgh Playhouse, an then at the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
===Television=== Sherin executive-produced 163 episodes of the NBC drama ''Law & Order'', between 1993 and 2000.<ref name=dga>{{cite magazine |title=54th Annual DGA Awards Preview {{!}} Robert B. Aldrich Award |first=Jerry |last=Roberts |magazine=DGA Magazine |date=March 2002 |volume=26 |issue=6 |url=http://www.dga.org/news/v26_6/feat_awardspreview_sherin.php3 |access-date=2011-04-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020416065341/http://www.dga.org/news/v26_6/feat_awardspreview_sherin.php3 |archive-date=2002-04-16}}</ref> His television directing credits include all three editions of the current ''Law & Order'' franchise; ''Hill Street Blues''; ''L.A. Law''; ''Doogie Howser, M.D.''; ''Homicide: Life on the Street'';<ref>{{cite news |title=A Trifecta For 'Homicide' Fans |first=David |last=Bianculli |author-link=David |date=1997-11-12 |newspaper=Daily News |url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/1997-11-12/entertainment/18053551_1_tom-fontana-ed-sherin-order-and-homicide |access-date=2011-04-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120418233506/http://articles.nydailynews.com/1997-11-12/entertainment/18053551_1_tom-fontana-ed-sherin-order-and-homicide/2 |archive-date=2012-04-18}}</ref> and ''Medium''.<ref>[http://movies.msn.com/celebrities/celebrity-filmography/edwin-sherin "Filmography, Edwin Sherin"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120923122211/http://movies.msn.com/celebrities/celebrity-filmography/edwin-sherin/ |date=2012-09-23 }} movies.msn.com, accessed April 11, 2011</ref><ref>[http://movies.amctv.com/person/111170/Edwin-Sherin/films "Edwin Sherin, Filmography"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309152411/http://movies.amctv.com/person/111170/Edwin-Sherin/films |date=2012-03-09 }} movies.amctv.com, accessed April 11, 2011</ref>
Sherin directed the television films ''Lena: My 100 Children'' (1987), ''The Father Clements Story'' (1987), ''Settle the Score'' (1989), ''Daughter of the Streets'' (1990), and ''A Marriage: Georgia O'Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz'' (1991).
===Movies=== Sherin directed two theatrical films: ''Valdez Is Coming'' with Burt Lancaster and Susan Clark and ''My Old Man's Place'' with William Devane and Michael Moriarty. Both films were released in 1971.
==Personal life== Sherin's first wife was actress Pamela Vevers, with whom he had three sons. The marriage ended in divorce.<ref name=":0" /><ref>"Notes on People", ''The New York Times'', March 15, 1975, p. 13</ref> In 1975, he married actress Jane Alexander.<ref name="dga" />
He and Alexander became Canadian citizens, having maintained a home in Lockeport, Nova Scotia starting in 1998.<ref>{{Cite news |title=South Shore enchants actress |newspaper=The Chronicle Herald |location=Halifax, Nova Scotia |url=http://thechronicleherald.ca/artslife/22751-south-shore-enchants-actress |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180917034550/http://thechronicleherald.ca/artslife/22751-south-shore-enchants-actress |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 17, 2018 |access-date=2017-05-06}}</ref>
== Death == Sherin died on May 4, 2017, in Nova Scotia, aged 87.<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://variety.com/2017/film/news/tv-director-ed-sherin-law-and-order-obituary-1202410832/ |title='Law & Order' Director, DGA Official Ed Sherin Dies at 87 |last=McNary |first=Dave |date=May 5, 2017 |magazine=Variety |access-date=May 7, 2017|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/edwin-sherin-dead-pulitzer-prize-winning-theater-director-was-87-1000761 |title=Edwin Sherin, Director of 'The Great White Hope' on Broadway and 'Law & Order,' Dies at 87 |last=Shanley |first=Patrick |date=May 5, 2017 |magazine=The Hollywood Reporter |access-date=May 7, 2017 |language=en}}</ref>
==Director== ;Broadway *''Prymate'' (2004)<ref>Jones, Kenneth.[http://www.playbill.com/news/article/86080-Prymate-Quietly-Closes-on-Broadway "'Prymate' Quietly Closes on Broadway"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100619013050/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/86080-Prymate-Quietly-Closes-on-Broadway |date=2010-06-19 }} playbill.com, May 10, 2004</ref> *''The Visit'' (1992 revival)<ref name=visit/> *''Goodbye Fidel'' (1980)<ref>Gussow, Mel.[https://www.nytimes.com/1980/04/24/archives/play-goodbye-fidel-about-cuban-exiles-between-parties.html?sq=%2522Goodbye+Fidel%2522&scp=1&st=p "Play: 'Goodbye Fidel' About Cuban Exiles; Between Parties"] ''The New York Times'' (abstract), April 24, 1980</ref> *''First Monday in October'' (1978) *''Do You Turn Somersaults?'' (1978) (also at the Kennedy Center)<ref>Arbuzov, Alekseĭ Nikolaevich.[https://books.google.com/books?id=virj0ZiME2QC&q=%22Mary+Martin%22+%22Do+You+Turn+Somersaults%3F%22&pg=PA3 Script] ''Do You Turn Somersaults?: A Play in Two Parts'' (books.google.com), Samuel French, Inc., 1978, {{ISBN|0-573-60832-6}}, p.4</ref> *''The Eccentricities of a Nightingale'' (1976)<ref>Barnes, Clive.[https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0716F63F55167A93C6AB178AD95F428785F9&scp=2&sq=The+Eccentricities+of+a+Nightingale&st=p "Stage:Williams' Eccentricities"] ''The New York Times'' (abstract), November 24, 1976, p. 23</ref> *''Rex'' (1976)<ref>Barnes, Clive. "'Rex' by Rodgers Stars Williamson", ''The New York Times'', April 26, 1976, p. 32</ref> *''Sweet Bird of Youth'' (1975 revival)<ref>Barnes, Clive.[https://www.nytimes.com/1975/12/04/archives/the-stage-sweet-bird-of-brooklyn.html?sq=Sweet+Bird+of+Youth&scp=1&st=p "The Stage:'Sweet Bird' of Brooklyn"] ''The New York Times'' (abstract), December 4, 1975, p. 53</ref> *''Of Mice and Men'' (1974 revival)<ref>Kanfer, Stefan. [https://web.archive.org/web/20081222053020/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,909034,00.html "The Theater: Brute Strength"]. ''Time''. December 30, 1974.</ref> *''6 Rms Riv Vu'' (1972)<ref>Randall, Bob.[https://books.google.com/books?id=YLzHVZmZ4ssC&dq=Alexander+%226+Rms+Riv+Vu%22&pg=PA3 Script] ''6 rms riv vu: a Comedy in Two Acts'' (books.google.com), Samuel French, Inc., 1973, {{ISBN|0-573-61545-4}}, p. 3</ref> *''An Evening With Richard Nixon and...'' by Gore Vidal (1972)<ref>{{cite web |title=An Evening With Richard Nixon and... Broadway Original Cast |website=BroadwayWorld |url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/shows/An-Evening-With-Richard-Nixon-and...-321713/cast |access-date=2023-12-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230813182354/https://www.broadwayworld.com/shows/An-Evening-With-Richard-Nixon-and...-321713/cast |archive-date=2023-08-13 |url-status=live}}</ref> ;Off-Broadway *''The White Rose and the Red'' (1964)<ref>{{cite web |title=The White Rose and the Red Off-Broadway Original Cast |website=BroadwayWorld |url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/shows/The-White-Rose-and-the-Red-328466/cast |access-date=2023-12-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230815125033/https://www.broadwayworld.com/shows/The-White-Rose-and-the-Red-328466/cast |archive-date=2023-08-15 |url-status=live}}</ref> ;London West End *''A Streetcar Named Desire'' (1974)<ref>{{cite web |title=A Streetcar Named Desire {{!}} Cast & Crew |website=theatricalia.com |url=https://theatricalia.com/play/427/a-streetcar-named-desire/production/mj6 |access-date=2020-02-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230815124732/https://theatricalia.com/play/427/a-streetcar-named-desire/production/mj6 |archive-date=2023-08-15 |url-status=live}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
== External links == * {{IBDB name}} * {{IMDb name}} * {{Iobdb name}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sherin, Edwin}} Category:1930 births Category:2017 deaths Category:American emigrants to Canada Category:American male stage actors Category:American television directors Category:Television producers from Pennsylvania Category:American theatre directors Category:Artists from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Category:Primetime Emmy Award winners Category:Male actors from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Category:Film directors from Pennsylvania