Biography for
Jeffrey Weissman More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

Height

Mini Biography

Jeffrey Weissman has been performing as an actor all over the world since 1972 in television, film, theme parks, theater, trade shows, improv and sketch shows with a great deal of success. He has developed characters at renaissance fairs since 1973, playing fools, mountebanks, poets, swordsmen, country dancers and has even written shows for southern and northern California Renaissance Fairs. He has for the last 15 years written sketches and gangs for playing Stan Laurel, Groucho Marx and Charles Chaplin (among others) at Universal Studios, Six Flags, Disneyland, conventions, trade shows, television and radio appearances around the world (he can greet in over a dozen different languages).

Jeffrey has co-starred in dozens of film and television productions, most notably as George McFly in the "Back to the Future" sequels, Teddy Conway in Clint Eastwood's Pale Rider (1985), and he recently appeared on "Diagnosis Murder" (1993) and in Disney's Max Keeble's Big Move (2001).

Having just returned from Japan where he directed three shows for the new Universal Theme Park in Osaka, Jeffrey is preparing to return to the environmental stage once again as Touchstone, the Queen's Fool, at the Santa Barbara Renaissance Faire & Midsummer Market. Jeffrey has taught seminars and lectures on "the art of making it as an actor" at universities, city colleges, high schools and fine-arts schools. He also does coaching and training for professionals and non-professionals in the art of improvisation, clowning, developing characters, mime, stage, television, film and environmental acting and entertainment.

Jeffrey was founder and artistic director of the Flying Penguins (formerly the Comedy Omelet) improv troupe, and he helped develop the Los Angeles Theater Sports, now in its 11th year. He performed in the Second City Alumni jams at the Ashgrove, and performed with the Laugh Factory All-star Improv Jam ("Wrought Irony").

He was a varsity member of Los Angeles Theater Sports, performing and directing with LATS and KIDPROV. Jeffrey co-wrote and directed the Laurel and Hardy Music and Magic Show that had an extensive run on the Star Cruise Line in the South China Sea.

Spouse

Trivia

Was set to screen test for the lead in Richard Donner's "Ladyhawke", until Mathew Broderick lowered his asking price.

He was cast in Clint Eastwood's return to westerns, "Pale Rider" when Chris Penn, originally cast as Eddy Conway wanted a meaner role of a bad guy, and Clint moved him from the role of Eddy Conway to the role of Josh LaHood. Chuck LaFont, originally set to play Teddy, was then moved to play Eddy Conway, and Jeffrey took over as Teddy Conway.

Jeffrey was cast as a regular in the short lived TV series "Legmen", and by the time he was set to shoot his role, the series was canceled.

He was "discovered" by casting director/producer Wally Nicita and the original director Martin Brest at a San Francisco open call, and screen tested with Ally Sheedy for the lead in "The Genius", later renamed "War Games" (Martin Brest was replaced by John Badham).

Appeared in Greg Araki's USC grad student thesis project, Catherine Hardwick and Michael Werb's "Road Girls" teaser in the mid '80s.

Took over the role of "George McFly" in the Back to the Future sequels. Production told him he was to be Crispen Glover's "photo double" never mentioning that they didn't have Crispen's "ok" to use his likeness in scenes needed for parts 2 & 3 where Jeffrey was made up to look like Crispen. Bob Gale, the writer/producer promised Jeffrey another role without the prosthetic make up in part 3, which did not materialize.

Where Are They Now

(February 2006) Still Acting and also Teaching in California

Browse biographies section by name

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z