Jim Fletcher

Jim Fletcher
Fletcher in 2017
Born1963 (age 62–63)
Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.
Occupationactor
Years active1998 - present
Known forexperimental theater
Notable workGatz
AwardsObie Award

Jim Fletcher (born 1963) is an American actor. He won an Obie Award for his performance work, including in Gatz, a staging of the full text of the novel The Great Gatsby. The New York Times has described him as "a stalwart of the New York avant-garde scene".[1]

Early life

Fletcher was born in 1963 in Ann Arbor, Michigan.[2] As a child, he assisted his father, a physician at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington, DC, by running the slideshows for his presentations.[3]

Fletcher attended Columbia University with John Kelsey, there they studied with Sylvère Lotringer.[4] He and Kelsey worked with Lotringer and Chris Kraus editing books for Semiotext(e), and would later both join Bernadette Corporation.[4] Fletcher was involved in political work including with the movement to end South African apartheid and ACT UP.[4]

Before becoming an actor, he worked various jobs including teacher, caseworker, pedicab driver, and dogwalker.[5] He worked as an art handler for a decade before he started acting, a job he still did in 2008.[6]

Career

Fletcher began acting in 1998 at age 35.[5] He has worked frequently with the director Richard Maxwell and is a founding member of Maxwell's New York City Players,[7] as well as with Elevator Repair Service (ERS) and The Wooster Group.[2] He has worked with choreographer Sarah Michelson and artists Tony Oursler and Laura Parnes.[2][5] Notable roles include Jay Gatsby in Gatz, ERS's staging of The Great Gatsby, appearing alongside his father, Ross Fletcher, a medical doctor with no prior acting experience, who played Gatsby's father.[3] He played Frankenstein's monster in Oursler's film Imponderable,[5] and he played Jackson Pollock in the New York staging of Fabrice Melquiot's play Pollock.[8]

He co-wrote and appeared in the 2010 film Bass Ackwards.[9]

With the Wooster Group, he has performed in A Pink Chair (In Place of a Fake Antique),[5] Richard Foreman's Symphony of Rats,[10] and Bertolt Brecht's The Mother.[11] In the Wooster Group's adaptation of Troilus and Cressida, Cry, Trojans! Fletcher dressed as an "Indian."[12]

In 2012, Fletcher was given an Obie Award for Sustained Excellence in Performance, including for Gatz.[13]

Fletcher has written collaborative texts with the artist collective Bernadette Corporation.[4] With Harry Mathews, he wrote a pamphlet for Semiotext(e)'s contribution to the 2014 Whitney Biennial, titled Week One.[14] Fletcher has also written for Bomb magazine and Artforum.[15][7]

Fletcher has performed in several pieces with the Native American artist collective New Red Order (Jackson Polys, Adam Khalil, and Zack Khalil), who invited him to dinner because of his "Indian" performance in Cry, Trojans.[12]

References

  1. ^ Green, Jesse (17 January 2022). "In a Double Bill, the Avant-Garde Meets a Very Good Girl". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 February 2026.
  2. ^ a b c Als, Hilton (6 March 2015). "Jim Fletcher's Artful Silence". The New Yorker. Retrieved 5 February 2026.
  3. ^ a b Sheir, Rebecca. "A Father-Son Acting Team Commit To The Stage". WAMU. Retrieved 5 February 2026.
  4. ^ a b c d Fletcher, Jim; Kelsey, John; Van-Huy, Bernadette (March 2024). "Bernadette Corporation". November (Interview). Vol. 8. Interviewed by Olunkwa, Emmanuel. Retrieved 5 February 2026.
  5. ^ a b c d e "TWI-NY TALK: JIM FLETCHER (A PINK CHAIR) | This Week in New York". This Week in New York. 23 January 2020. Retrieved 5 February 2026.
  6. ^ Soloski, Alexis (20 May 2008). "Some Singular Sensations: Talking with Six of Off-Broadway's Best". The Village Voice. Retrieved 5 February 2026.
  7. ^ a b Fletcher, Jim (1 April 2014). "Semiotext(e)'s Schizo-Culture". Artforum. Retrieved 5 February 2026.
  8. ^ Collins-Hughes, Laura (19 February 2018). "Review: Lee Krasner Gets the Upper Hand in 'Pollock'". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 February 2026.
  9. ^ Koehler, Robert (29 January 2010). "Bass Ackwards". Variety. Retrieved 5 February 2026.
  10. ^ Zinoman, Jason (13 April 2024). "Review: In 'Symphony of Rats' Revival, a Darkness Goes Underexplored". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 February 2026.
  11. ^ Vincentelli, Elisabeth (26 October 2021). "Review: 'The Mother' Rises Up Again in the Name of Revolution". Retrieved 5 February 2026.
  12. ^ a b Diehl, Travis (19 September 2023). "New Red Order: Artists With a Call to 'Give It Back'". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 February 2026.
  13. ^ Healy, Patrick (22 May 2012). "'4000 Miles' and Its Lead Actors Win Obie Awards". ArtsBeat. Retrieved 31 December 2025.
  14. ^ Copp, Corina (1 July 2014). "Semiotext(e): 28 Pamphlets for the 2014 Whitney Biennial". BOMB Magazine. Retrieved 5 February 2026.
  15. ^ "Author: Jim Fletcher". BOMB Magazine. Retrieved 5 February 2026.
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