Trivia

Died during the filming of Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986).

Was a major influence on poet-rock star Jim Morrison, who attended Living Theater productions.

Beck and Malina were indicted a dozen times on three continents for charges such as disorderly conduct, indecent exposure, possession of narcotics, and failing to participate in a civil defense drill.

After Beck's death, the Living Theater continued under the auspices of Malina and Hanon Reznikov, along with co-founder Malina.

The 30-strong Living Theater troupe was amongst the most bold and innovative of the theatrical avant-gard that revolutionized stage performance during the 1960s. In addition to nudity and directly accosting and challenging the audience, Living Theater performances included rituals of love, affirmation, nonviolence, and communality drawn from various mystical and contemporary sources, including Artaud and the cabala. Cast members also frequently, if not continuously, used narcotics and other drugs such as LSD, even during performances. Julian Beck and the other members of the Living Theater frequently tripped together and often performed while high on LSD.

The Living Theater moved out of New York in 1974 after the Internal Revenue Service shut it down when Beck failed to pay $23,000 in back taxes. After a sensational trial, in which Beck and Malina represented themselves, they were found guilty by a jury.

Beck was interred at Cedar Park Cemetery, in Emerson, New Jersey.

Their best-known play, "Paradise Now," a semi-improvisational piece involving audience participation, was notorious for a scene in which actors recited a list of social taboos that included nudity, while themselves disrobing; this led to multiple arrests for indecent exposure.

Beck and Malina were life partners in an open marriage, and he conducted a long-term affair with Ilion Troya, a male actor in the Living Theatre company.

In addition to being an actor, playwright, and theatrical impresario, Beck also was a poet and an abstract impressionist painter.

Led with spouse Judith Malina the avant-garde troupe, The Living Theatre, famed for productions of "The Brig," "Antigone," "Mysteries and Other Pieces," "Frankenstein" and "Paradise Now."

Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume One, 1981- 1985, pages 56-57. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1998.

Attended the Horace Mann school, whose other alumni include Jack Kerouac and William F. Buckley (who were older than Beck).

Among his many awards were the Lola D'Annunzio in 1959, the Obie in 1960, the Grand Prix of the Theatre des Nations in 1961, the Brandeis University Creative Arts Award in 1961, and the New England Theatre Conference Award in 1962.

In 2006, The Living Theatre signed a 10-year lease on the 3500 square foot basement of a new residential building under construction at 21 Clinton Street, between Houston and Stanton Streets on Manhattan's Lower East Side. The Clinton Street theater is the company's first permanent home since the closing of The Living Theatre on Third Street at Avenue C in 1993. The company moved into the completed space in early 2007 and opened in April 2007 with a production of "The Brig" by Kenneth H. Brown, first presented at The Living Theatre at 14th Street and Sixth Avenue in 1963. The re-staging, directed by Judith Malina won Obie Awards for Direction and Ensemble Performance.

Musician Alan Hovhaness worked closely with the Living Theatre, composing music for many of its productions.