Jewel Walker

1927 - 2020
Jewel Walker passed away November 16, 2020. The American Theatre lost one its most powerful artists and teachers. He was Professor Emeritus of Theatre at the University of Wisconsin and at the University of Delaware.
Jewel studied acting with Vera Soloviova, Herbert Berghof, Lee Strasberg, and mime with Etienne Decroux. Jewel was one of Decroux's foremost students, performing in Decroux's company in New York and then with mime partner, Tony Montanaro.
Jewel incorporated the discipline, aesthetic and technique of corporeal mime into an original approach to movement training for actors, first at the HB Studio, then at Carnegie Tech ( Carnegie-Mellon University) and then as a founding member of the Professional Theatre Training Program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, which relocated to The University of Delaware, where he served as Rosenberg Professor of Theatre. At Delaware he was the Head of Acting and Stage movement and was a principal play director. He also led London Winter Session programs and taught with the Governor's School for Excellence summer program.
Jewel was a founding member of The American Conservatory Theatre and was a regular performer on Mister Rogers Neighborhood as Mimewalker. He wrote and directed plays for the Cincinnati Playhouse, the Pittsburgh City Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre and The American Players Theatre. He played Friar Laurence with the Pittsburgh Ballet in Romeo and Juliet and appeared in many television programs at WQED, Pittsburgh. His original play, MIMECIRCUS was performed in Pittsburgh parks and at the Milwaukee County Zoo. He received the Moebius award for Creativity in Teaching at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. In 1998 The American Association for Theatre in Higher Education designated him "Outstanding Teacher" and the Association of Theatre Movement Educators awarded him a Lifetime Achievement honor. In 2005 He received a Barrymore Award as creator/choreographer for his original play, TUESDAY, and in 2015 he received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters by the University of Delaware.
Audiences remember Jewel Walker as America's pioneer trainer of Stage Movement and as a gifted play director. Memorable productions included: King Lear, Peer Gynt, The Cherry Orchard, Man and Superman, Arcadia, Travesties, his adaptations of Lysistrata , The Trial, his original mime play, TUESDAY and an acclaimed production of Our Town, in which he directed and also played The Stage Manager. His chapter in Master Teachers of Theatre describes his journey from professional baseball player to professional theatre director.
Hundreds of students credit Jewel for making profound difference in their lives and work: Sandy Robbins, Cherry Jones, Ted Danson, Sonia Manzano, Ty Jones , Jeff Goldblum , and countless other theatre makers have acknowledged him as a vital mentor. Jewel's passion, brilliance , commitment and unique combination of gentleness and ferocity lives on in his former students.
Jewel Walker is survived by his wife of 60 years, Marjorie; daughter, Jessie Walker and husband David Banner; son, John Harrison Walker and wife Deborah Walker, and grandchildren Emily Walker, Justin Banner, Grace, Sophia, Ava, and Liliana Walker. (Donations to the Actors Fund, actors fund.org)