{{More citations needed|date=May 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2022}} {{Short description|American ballet dancer}} {{Infobox person | image = Bissell and Samsova.jpg | image_size = | name = Patrick Bissell | birth_name = Walter Patrick Bissell | caption = Patrick Bissell and Galina Samsova dancing the lead roles at the premiere of ''Cheri'' at the 1980 Edinburgh Festival. | birth_date = {{birth date|mf=yes|1957|12|01}} | birth_place = Corpus Christi, Texas, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|mf=yes|1987|12|29|1957|12|01}} | death_place = Hoboken, New Jersey, U.S. | death_cause = Drug overdose | occupation = Ballet dancer | height = {{Convert|6|ft|2|in}} | spouse = {{marriage|Jolinda Menendez |1982|1983|end = divorced}} | years_active = 1977–1987 | children = }}
'''Walter Patrick Bissell''' (December 1, 1957 – December 29, 1987) was an American ballet dancer. He was a leading principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre. On his death at age 30 from a drug overdose,<ref name = cause/> he was described by the artistic director of the American Ballet Theatre and personal ballet eminence Mikhail Baryshnikov as "without a doubt one of the brightest lights in American Ballet Theater's history, or, for that matter, in the entire ballet world".<ref name = death/> Bissell was noted for his height, charisma, beauty and athleticism. His most famous role was as Solor in ''La Bayadère''. His death prompted investigations into the alleged widespread drug use within the American Ballet Theatre.
==Early years== Bissell was born on December 1, 1957, in Corpus Christi, Texas. He was one of the five children of Donald and Patricia (whom he was named after) Bissell; his siblings included his fraternal twin brother William, two sisters Susan and Barbara, and brother Donald.<ref name = death/> The family lived in Palos Park, Illinois for several years. His father was a computer-systems designer with Hiram Walker Inc.<ref name=wedding>{{cite news|url = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9400EFDA153BF934A15755C0A964948260&scp=72&sq=patrick%20bissell&st=cse|title = Jolinda Menendez Becomes a Bride|date = June 27, 1982|access-date = July 18, 2008|newspaper = New York Times}}</ref>
Bissell was a natural athlete at even the youngest age who enjoyed performing feats of daring: at the age of 8 he jumped off a {{convert|30|ft|m|adj=on}}-high diving board, even though he did not know how to swim. He dabbled in many sports— baseball, basketball, football, track, etc. He was the pitcher on the baseball team, the center on the basketball team. The coaches gave him an option—either quit sports or quit dance. He gave up athletics in favor of ballet.<ref name=much/> He was introduced to ballet at age ten by his older sister Susan, who practiced it before he did. She paid him to be her ballet partner; thus he was first paid to dance. While she went on to be a sail-maker and live on a boat, he went on to pursue ballet professionally. He found a home and sanctuary in the passion of ballet and decided to make it his life pursuit.<ref name=much/> He began training in ballet and jazz dance and was soon accepted into a company in Toledo, Ohio. Like many boys who take up ballet, he tried to keep his lessons a secret, but word got out and he was ridiculed and bullied every single day for the rest of his school days. "I was a skinny kid. They could have crushed me in an instant," he stated.{{citation needed|date=May 2015}}
While Bissell showed early promise as a dancer, he also showed signs of being a troubled young man and began alcoholic behavior by age 10 and taking drugs at the age of 14. He was expelled from his first school for dealing drugs on the premises.<ref name=much/> He was noticed by the American ballet dancer Edward Villella, who encouraged his parents to send him to a performing arts boarding school.<ref name=much/> In 1972 he joined the National Academy of Dance in Champaign, Illinois, from which he was dismissed for behavior problems.<ref name=much/> Bissell then spent a year at the North Carolina School of the Arts which he left when he was informed that he should pay more attention to his academic studies.<ref name=much/> He hitch-hiked all the way to New York to pursue a lifelong career in dance— as that's where the company's top schools are. He then won a scholarship to study at the School of American Ballet, where he was encouraged by Lincoln Kirstein, its founder, and Stanley Williams, one of his teachers. He was invited to join Balanchine's New York City Ballet and the American Ballet Theatre. He decided to join ABT and became a member of the corps. Though he quickly rose through the ranks due to the shortage of men in the company. Wherever Bissell went, he attracted attention, both from his fiery dancing and his habit of wearing a cowboy hat and cowboy boots around New York City-—his way of distinguishing he was a true-blue native Texan. He also made his way around the city on a motorcycle.{{Citation needed|date=May 2015}}
He danced the lead roles in three of the four ballets performed by the school in its annual workshop and graduated in 1977.<ref name=much/> He became a good friend of Mikhail Baryshnikov, who praised his dancing.
==Career== Bissell joined the ''corps de ballet'' of the American Ballet Theatre in 1977, and after three months there, he danced the lead male role in ''La Bayadère''.<ref name=much/> He moved to the Boston Ballet but returned the following year. In 1978, he was promoted to soloist and to principal dancer in 1979 at the American Ballet Theatre due to the shortage of men in the company—even making the cover of ''Dance Magazine''. The ballerinas nicknamed him "Tarzan," as he was a huge, hulking juggernaut of a man who could carry some of the biggest and tallest girls in the company. For much of his career, however, Bissell was plagued with injuries, and there were reports of drug and alcohol problems.<ref name = death>{{cite news|url = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE5D8173AF933A05751C1A961948260|title = Patrick Bissell, Dancer, Is Dead; A Principal with Ballet Theater |newspaper = New York Times|last = Dunning|first = Jennifer|date = December 30, 1987|access-date = June 13, 2008}}</ref> Bissell and Gelsey Kirkland were dismissed from the American Ballet Theatre in 1980 and 1981 on the grounds of chronic lateness and missed rehearsals<ref name = death/>—in particular for failing to attend a dress rehearsal on the eve of the company's opening at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., on December 9, 1980.<ref>{{cite news|url = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A00E2DE1139F935A35757C0A967948260&n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/Subjects/A/Appointments%20and%20Executive%20Changes&scp=10&sq=patrick%20bissell&st=cse|title = Miss Kirkland and Bissell May Rejoin Ballet Theater |date = April 6, 1981|access-date = July 18, 2008|newspaper = New York Times}}</ref> Bissell and Kirkland then appeared as guest artists with the Eglevsky Ballet in its production of Act II of ''Giselle'' in 1982 at the Hofstra Playhouse in Hempstead, Long Island, New York.<ref>{{cite news|url = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9803EED71138F934A1575AC0A964948260&sec=&spon=&scp=73&sq=patrick%20bissell&st=cse|title = Ballet: Eglevsky Opener honors the Romantics|date = September 27, 1982|last = Kisselgoff|first = Anna|newspaper = New York Times|access-date = July 18, 2008}}</ref> Subsequently Bissell rejoined the American Ballet Theatre.
He appeared in many lead roles, including Don Jose in Roland Petit's ''Carmen,'' Franz in ''Coppélia,'' Basil and Espada in ''Don Quixote,'' Albrecht in ''Giselle,'' Romeo in ''Romeo and Juliet,'' Prince Siegfried in ''Swan Lake,'' James in ''La Sylphide,'' Prince Desire in Sir Kenneth MacMillan's ''Sleeping Beauty'' and lead roles in George Balanchine's ''Stravinsky Violin Concerto,'' ''Symphonie Concertante'' and ''Theme and Variations.'' He created the role of the Prince in Mikhail Baryshnikov's production of ''Cinderella,''<ref name = death/> the leading male role in Antony Tudor's ''The Tiller in the Fields'' (1978), Glen Tetley's ''Contredances'' (1979),<ref name = dict>{{cite web|url = http://www.answers.com/topic/patrick-bissell?cat=entertainment|title = Patrick Bissell<!--|title = Dictionary of Dance-->|publisher = Oxford University Press|year = 2004|access-date = July 11, 2008}}</ref> the title role of Peter Darrell's Chéri (1980)<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.davidearl-pianist.net/composer.html|first = David|last = Earl|authorlink = David Earl (composer)|title = David Earl as composer|publisher = www.davidearl-pianist.net|access-date = July 18, 2008|archive-date = October 9, 2018|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181009062702/http://www.davidearl-pianist.net/composer.html|url-status = dead}}</ref> and the lead role in Lynne Taylor-Corbett's ''Estuary'' (1983).<ref>{{cite news|url = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990DE4DC1138F93BA25756C0A965948260&scp=19&sq=patrick%20bissell&st=cse|title = Ballet: A New Work by Miss Taylor-Corbett|first = Anna|last = Kisselgoff|date = May 18, 1983|newspaper = New York Times|access-date = July 18, 2008}}</ref> In 1984, Bissell starred as a guest artist with the Universal Ballet Company in its first production, Adrienne Dellas's ''Cinderella''. He was partnered by its leading ballerina and general director, Julia Moon.<ref>{{cite news|url = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C02E5D7113DF937A25757C0A96E958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1|title = A Korean Dance Troupe With a Russian Look|last = Dunning|first = Jennifer|date = April 14, 1998|newspaper = New York Times|access-date = July 18, 2008}}</ref> He also performed as a guest artist with the National Ballet of Canada, Scottish Ballet and Pacific Northwest Ballet.<ref name = dict/>
==Personal life== Bissell married Jolinda Menendez, a former American Ballet Theatre ballerina (she danced two roles in the Baryshnikov ''Nutcracker'') and principal ballerina with the Pennsylvania Ballet, on June 26, 1982, at the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church. Patrick would commit infidelity during the engagement and marriage. <ref name=wedding/> The marriage ended only after a year due to Bissell's many philanderings and erratic behavior.
He first met Gelsey Kirkland when the two were partnered for The ''Tiller in the Fields'' and they began a romance. They would dance and take cocaine together. Bissell was also given a $100 fine.<ref name=plea/> After being fired by the ABT (along with Kirkland), they were re-hired and celebrated by doing a stash of cocaine they had smuggled in the lining of a ballet slipper.
===Drug use and death=== Bissell started using drugs at a very young age, including shooting up with heroin, and consumed large amounts throughout the course of his life. Because of this, he developed something of a tolerance. He was arrested in 1981 in Bloomington, Indiana, and charged with public intoxication, disorderly conduct and pushing a policeman.<ref name = death/> He was given a 30-day jail sentence. However, a plea bargain was made whereby the judge ordered him to arrange to give a performance at Indiana University with the proceeds to be given to charity.<ref name=plea>{{cite news|url = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E02EED71238F93BA35755C0A967948260&scp=20&sq=patrick%20bissell&st=cse|title = Notes On People; Ballet Dancer to Trade Talent for Jail Sentence |newspaper = New York Times|last = Krebs|first = Albin|author2=Thomas, Robert|access-date = July 18, 2008|date = June 8, 1981}}</ref> In 1984, company officials from the American Ballet Theatre consulted with experts on drug addiction and found a therapist for him.<ref name=dispute/> The following year, a condition of his continued employment by the company was that he undergo regular urine tests.<ref name=dispute/> The tests were held weekly with results 95 percent negative, however lapses were penalized with fines.<ref name=dispute/>
In 1987, he spent five weeks at the Betty Ford Clinic in California for intensive therapy, completing the treatment in August.<ref name = cause/> Prior to entering the clinic he had injured his foot and was thus prevented from going on the American Ballet Theatre's fall tour.<ref name=dispute/> Around the holidays that year, he was so broke he had to borrow money for groceries. Bissell was found dead at his apartment in Hoboken, New Jersey on December 29, at the age of 30. At the time of his death, he was engaged to fellow dancer at the American Ballet Theatre, soloist Amy Rose, and had planned to rejoin the company the following month.<ref name=dispute/> His family and Gelsey Kirkland blamed his drug use on the "highly competitive dance world in New York City".<ref name = cause/>
The results of an autopsy showed that he died from an overdose of cocaine, codeine, methadone and other drugs. No paraphernalia was found. It never was determined whether Bissell's death was a deliberate suicide. His body was found lying on the couch, fully dresssed.<ref name=cause>{{cite news|url = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE4DD1231F93BA25751C0A96E948260|title = Cause of Bissell's Death Ruled a Drug Overdose |newspaper = New York Times|date = February 18, 1988|access-date = June 13, 2008}}</ref> His death prompted charges of extensive drug use in the dance world by Bissell's parents and fellow-dancer Gelsey Kirkland.<ref name=much>{{cite news|url = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DEFD71F3DF932A25752C0A96E948260 |newspaper = New York Times| last = Dunning|first = Jennifer| date = January 11, 1988|access-date = July 11, 2008| title = For Bissell, All Was Too Much}}</ref>
Kirkland's autobiography ''Dancing on My Grave'' mentions Bissell's frequent use of cocaine<ref name = much/> and, when discussing her own addiction, she alleged that he had introduced her to the drug.<ref name=dispute/> Attention was also drawn to the drug therapy program offered by the American Ballet Theatre. According to the company's executive director, Charles Dillingham, Bissell had been participating in the therapy program instituted by the company and had "appeared to have been making progress"<ref name=dispute>{{cite news|url = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DEFDC1430F932A35752C0A96E948260&scp=6&sq=patrick%20bissell&st=cse|title = Dance World In Dispute On Drug Use|first = Jack|last = Anderson|date = January 1, 1988|access-date = July 18, 2008|newspaper = New York Times}}</ref> prior to his death. Gelsey Kirkland alleged that Bissell's death was "an unavoidable tragedy caused at least in part by the failure of the ballet world and American Ballet Theater in particular to acknowledge and deal openly with the drug problem",<ref name=dispute/> which contrasted with Dillingham's statement that "his death came as an utterly horrible surprise".<ref name=dispute/> The 1988 production of ''La Bayadère'' by the American Ballet Theatre was dedicated to Bissell who had been notable in the role of Solor.<ref>{{cite news|url = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DEFDA133FF933A15756C0A96E948260&scp=51&sq=patrick%20bissell&st=cse|title = Review/Dance; Season's First 'Bayadere' |last = Dunning|first = Jennifer|date = May 20, 1988|access-date = July 18, 2008|newspaper = New York Times}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb name|id=1357087|name=Patrick Bissell}} * [https://danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/universal-ballet-company/ulysses/ Patrick Bissell in an archive film performs ''Ulyssess'' (Benjamin Britten/Adrienne Dellas) at Jacobs Pillow (1985) on jacobspillow.org] * [http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3228c5 Patrick Bissell & Martine Van Hamel performing ''Sylvia'' -Pas De Deux (Leo Delibes/George Balanchine/Andre Eglevsky)(1984) on dailymotion.com]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bissell, Patrick}} Category:1957 births Category:1987 deaths Category:American male ballet dancers Category:American Ballet Theatre dancers Category:University of North Carolina School of the Arts alumni Category:Artists from Hoboken, New Jersey Category:Cocaine-related deaths in New Jersey Category:Drug-related deaths in New Jersey Category:School of American Ballet alumni Category:20th-century American ballet dancers