David Bar Katz
| David Bar Katz | |
|---|---|
| Born | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| 🏫 Education | Williams College (B.A.) |
| 💼 Occupation |
|
| 📆 Years active | 1990s–present |
| Notable work | Freak (1998), House of Buggin' (1995), Relentless Prize |
David Bar Katz is an American screenwriter, playwright, director, and producer. He is best known for co-writing and directing the Tony Award-nominated Broadway production Freak (1998) starring John Leguizamo and for founding the American Playwriting Foundation, which awards the annual Relentless Prize.[1][2] He also co-created the Emmy-nominated FOX sketch series House of Buggin' (1995), one of the first all-Latino sketch comedy programs on network television.[3]
Early life and education
Katz was born and raised in Philadelphia. He attended Chestnut Hill Academy and graduated from The Hun School of Princeton in 1985, where he founded the school's modern crew program.[4] He earned a B.A. in philosophy and religion from Williams College, where he rowed on the 1988 undefeated heavyweight eight and the 1989 eight that defeated Harvard at the Henley Royal Regatta.[5]
Career
Before becoming a full-time writer and director, Katz worked as a New York City public school teacher and theatrical publicist for Broadway productions, cabaret artists, and Off-Broadway companies including INTAR Theatre, a leading presenter of Latino-focused work.[6]
Theater
Katz co-wrote and directed Freak, which transferred from Off-Broadway to Broadway's Cort Theatre in 1998 and ran for 20 weeks. The New York Times described it as “a one-man melting pot bubbling over with demons,” praising its energetic character work while noting its limitations as a self-portrait.[7] The production received two Tony Award nominations, including Best Play, and a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding One-Person Show.[8]
He directed Dan Klores's The Wood at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater in 2011.[9] His play The History of Invulnerability, about Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel, premiered at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park in 2010 and received a Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award citation. It was later produced at other regional theaters.[10][11] As a company member of LAByrinth Theater Company, Katz has had several plays developed through the company's annual Barn Series, including Philip Roth in Khartoum (produced at the Public Theater in 2008) and The Atmosphere of Memory (produced at Bank Street Theater in 2011 and directed by Tony Award-winning director Pam MacKinnon).[12][13][14]
Film and television
Katz co-created the 1995 FOX sketch series House of Buggin', one of the first all-Latino sketch comedy programs on network television.[15] He wrote the 1997 comedy feature The Pest, in which Leguizamo starred as the lead. With Leguizamo, Katz co-founded Lower East Side Films, which produced the 1999 biographical drama Piñero (winner of the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at Sundance). His 2014 screenplay The Man in the Rockefeller Suit was selected for that year’s Black List.[16] In 2014 he was hired to rewrite an untitled FBI undercover wedding comedy that Jason Bateman was set to star in and direct for Universal Pictures.[17] He wrote for the Showtime series Ray Donovan. He briefly served as showrunner on the 2022 series American Gigolo and is a co-executive producer on the upcoming series The Audacity.
Foundation
In 2014, following the death of his friend Philip Seymour Hoffman, Katz used proceeds from a libel settlement with the *National Enquirer* to found the American Playwriting Foundation.[18][19] Katz later wrote a remembrance of Hoffman for The Guardian.[20] The foundation awards the annual Relentless Prize. Its inaugural winners, Sarah DeLappe's The Wolves and Clare Barron's Dance Nation, went on to become Pulitzer Prize finalists and among the most widely produced plays of the 21st century, with The Wolves receiving over 500 productions.[21] Following the death of collaborator Adam Schlesinger in 2020, Katz established the Relentless Musical Award and wrote a remembrance of Schlesinger for Rolling Stone.[22]
Personal life
Katz's father, Harry Jay Katz (1940–2016), was a well-known Philadelphia figure, drummer, columnist for the alternative weekly *The Drummer* (writing the “Katz Meow” column), Erlanger Theatre producer who reopened it as Cafe Erlanger, and attempted to open a Playboy Club in partnership with Hugh Hefner.[23] One son, Morris Katz, is a political strategist profiled in *The New York Times*.[24]
Awards and nominations
- Tony Award nominations (2) – Freak (1998), including Best Play
- Drama Desk Award – Outstanding One-Person Show, Freak (1998)
- Primetime Emmy nomination – House of Buggin' (1995)
- Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award citation – The History of Invulnerability (2011)
References
- ↑ "David Bar Katz". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved 2026-05-04.
- ↑ "Theater award created in honor of Philip Seymour Hoffman and Adam Schlesinger turns 10". AP News. 2025-09-17. Retrieved 2026-05-04.
- ↑ "How John Leguizamo Pioneered One Of Primetime TV's First Attempts To Reach Latinos". HuffPost. 2017-01-06. Retrieved 2026-05-04.
- ↑ "East Falls native selected to develop new Showtime series". WHYY. 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2026-05-04.
- ↑ "Harvard Lightweights Beaten by Williams". Los Angeles Times. 1989-07-01. Retrieved 2026-05-04.
- ↑ "Truth and a Prize Emerge From Lies About Hoffman". The New York Times. 2014-02-25. Retrieved 2026-05-04.
- ↑ "Theater Review; A One-Man Melting Pot Bubbling Over With Demons". The New York Times. 1998-02-13. Retrieved 2026-05-04.
- ↑ "Tony Awards". Tony Awards. Retrieved 2026-05-04.
- ↑ "The Wood, at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater". The New York Times. 2011-09-19. Retrieved 2026-05-04.
- ↑ "David Bar Katz and the Truth of 'Invulnerability'". Cincinnati City Beat. 2010-04-12. Retrieved 2026-05-04.
- ↑ "Carson Kreitzer and David Bar Katz Find Common Ground In Comic Books". American Theatre. 2014-03-12. Retrieved 2026-05-04.
- ↑ "LAByrinth Casts Katz's Philip Roth in Khartoum for Public Run". Playbill. 2008-11-06. Retrieved 2026-05-04.
- ↑ "'The Atmosphere of Memory' at Bank Street Theater". The New York Times. 2011-10-30. Retrieved 2026-05-04.
- ↑ "Pam MacKinnon Will Direct David Bar Katz's Atmosphere of Memory Off-Broadway". Playbill. 2011-08-31. Retrieved 2026-05-04.
- ↑ "How John Leguizamo Pioneered One Of Primetime TV's First Attempts To Reach Latinos". HuffPost. 2017-01-06. Retrieved 2026-05-04.
- ↑ "The Black List Announces 2014 Screenplays". Variety. 2014-12-15. Retrieved 2026-05-04.
- ↑ "Jason Bateman to Direct, Star in FBI Wedding Comedy for Universal". Variety. 2014-06-27. Retrieved 2026-05-04.
- ↑ "Truth and a Prize Emerge From Lies About Hoffman". The New York Times. 2014-02-25. Retrieved 2026-05-04.
- ↑ "National Enquirer payout will fund Philip Seymour Hoffman playwriting foundation". The Guardian. 2014-02-26. Retrieved 2026-05-04.
- ↑ "Philip Seymour Hoffman remembered by David Bar Katz". The Guardian. 2014-12-21. Retrieved 2026-05-04.
- ↑ "Theater award created in honor of Philip Seymour Hoffman and Adam Schlesinger turns 10". AP News. 2025-09-17. Retrieved 2026-05-04.
- ↑ "The Unmistakable Genius of Adam Schlesinger". Rolling Stone. 2020-04-07. Retrieved 2026-05-04.
- ↑ "Harry Jay Katz, 75, bon vivant". The Philadelphia Inquirer. 2016-02-24. Retrieved 2026-05-04.
- ↑ "Morris Katz Is 26 and Ready to Fix the Democrats' Strategy". The New York Times. 2026-01-25. Retrieved 2026-05-04.
External links
- [IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0441671/)
- [American Playwriting Foundation](https://www.americanplaywritingfoundation.org/)
Category:American screenwriters Category:American playwrights Category:American television producers Category:People from Philadelphia Category:Williams College alumni Category:Living people
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