Michael Jeter

He was born in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, located between Chattanooga and Memphis. The town is mostly associated with local hero Davy Crockett who owned a powder mill there in the early 19th century. The area is home to the David Crockett State Park. Jeter's father was dentist William Claud Jeter (1922-2010), and his mother was housewife Virginia Raines (1927-2019). The Jeters were a large family, and Jeter had one brother and four sisters. Jeter enrolled at the Memphis State University (later renamed to the University of Memphis) with the intention to follow a medical career. His interests changed, and he pursued an acting education instead. Jeter started his career as a theatrical actor, regularly performing at the Circuit Theatre and Playhouse on the Square, both located in Memphis. He made his film debut in the musical film Hair (1979), playing Woodrow Sheldon. The film depicted the hippie counterculture and the Vietnam War. Jeter's early film roles included appearing in the historical drama Ragtime (1981), the sex comedy Soup for One (1982), Woody Allen's mockumentary Zelig (1983), the comedy film The Money Pit (1986) co-starring Tom Hanks and Shelly Long, the action thriller Dead Bang (1989), and the action comedy Tango & Cash (1989) with Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell. In 1990, Jeter won a Tony Award for his performance in the Broadway musical Grand Hotel. Meanwhile he appeared as a guest star in television series, such as Night Court and Designing Women. His first recurring role in television was that of Dr. Art Makter in the short-lived medical drama Hothouse. He appeared in all 7 episodes of the series. Jeter found fame and critical success when playing the nerdy Herman Stiles in the Burt Reynolds CBS sitcom Evening Shade. He won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series and the Viewers for Quality Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Quality Comedy Series. The series lasted for 4 seasons, and a total of 98 episodes Jeter guest starred as Peter Lebeck in three episodes of Picket Fences For this role he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series in 1993, but the award was won by rival actor Laurence Fishburne. Jeter had another notable television role as Bob Ryan in an episode of Chicago Hope He was again nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series in 1996 for this role, but the award was instead won by Peter Boyle for his role in The X-Files. Jeter played mostly supporting roles in 1990s film. He played a homeless cabaret singer in The Fisher King (1991), Father Ignatius in the Catholic nun-themed comedy Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993), the inventor Old Gregor in the post-apocalyptic film Waterworld (1995), alcoholic clown Norm Snively in the sports comedy Air Bud (1997), and sympathetic prisoner Eduard 'Del' Delacroix in The Green Mile (1999). He was also in the films Miller's Crossing (1990), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1997), Mouse Hunt (1997), Thursday (1998), Patch Adams (1998), True Crime (1998), The Gift (2000), Jurassic Park III (2001), Welcome to Collinwood (2002) and Open Range (2003). Jeter next earned the recurring role of "Mr. Noodle's brother, Mister Noodle" in Sesame Street, His character replaced Mr. Noodle (played by Bill Irwin) in the Elmo's World segments of the series. Both characters were silent mimes who made mistakes but were able to correct them with the help of "enthusiastic kid voice overs". Jeter was enthusiastic about his role and called it a career favorite. He played the role until his death. His last role was in the motion capture Robert Zemeckis film The Polar Express released after his death in 2004. The openly gay Jeter was HIV positive but had been in good health for many years. In March 2003, Jeter was found dead at his home in Los Angeles. According to his life partner Sean Blue, the death was caused by an epileptic seizure. Jeter was just 50 years old at the time of death.