Biography

Patrick Bissell

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Born
December 1, 1957 · Corpus Christi, Texas, USA
Died
December 28, 1987 · Hoboken, New Jersey, USA (suicide by drug overdose)
Birth name
Walter Patrick Bissell
Nicknames
- Tarzan (named by the ballerinas in the company because of his amazing size and strength).
- Wally
Height
6′ 2″ (1.88 m)

Patrick Bissell was born on December 1, 1957 in Corpus Christi, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for Don Quixote (Kitri's Wedding), a Ballet in Three Acts (1984), Live from Lincoln Center (1976) and American Ballet Theatre at the Met (1984). He was married to Jolinda Menendez. He died on December 28, 1987 in Hoboken, New Jersey, USA.

Danced in the corps with the New York City Ballet until getting an offer as principal with the American Ballet Theatre.
Was called by ballet legend and superstar Mikhail Baryshnikov: "One of the brightest lights in the entire ballet world".
Was romantically linked to ABT soloist Amy Rose, at the time of his death in 1987.
He and his brother were victims of very severe emotional child abuse.
He first got into ballet when his sister would bring him to her dance classes and ask him to be her dance partner.

Looking back on it all, I think I've been incredibly lucky. I mean, it could have gone the other way for me. If I wasn't a dancer--I would be a teenage hoodlum!
To work with the ABT is the greatest joy.
It's not a question of dying, but of leaving behind the people you love.
Philadelphia was a very strange incident, because I was very, very successful. 'Why did I do it? I don't know. It's something I'm working on with a doctor to find out why I punish myself after having successful performances. . . . That's a problem with the drugs. I do good performances, and then I punish myself with the drugs. I try to destroy myself. It's a weird kind of cycle. You don't know why the brain does the things that it does.
Well, it's all very new to me. I'm still a young dancer and I feel I have a long way to go. I've got a lot to learn about dancing, so I want people to just stick with me and allow me to grow. I want to have a long and lasting career in which I can develop as an artist. I really want to dance well. I don't want to go out there and dance spectacles - do a few tricks, be flamboyant and get a few people to like me. I want to fulfill myself and develop as an artist. To be a star... well, some people think, 'Boy, wouldn't that be great!' But I don't feel that way about it. But what I'm really interested in is to grow and develop as an artist.

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