Ellen Geer, the daughter of actors Will Geer and Herta Ware, has maintained a prolific career in television and motion pictures for over four decades, since making her debut in Richard Lester's "Petulia" in 1968, alongside Julie Christie and George C. Scott.
Throughout her career, Geer has likely been most remembered for her role as the dedicated actress who is set up as the third and final date for "Harold" by his mother in the cult classic "Harold and Maude" in 1971. Her character confounds "Harold" by recognizing his attempted suicide as a Hari-Kari and eagerly joins in, playing "Juliet" to his "Romeo".
Ellen Geer has appeared in numerous films and television shows, playing character and supporting parts. She took over as artistic director of Theatrical Botanicum, an outdoor amphitheater in Topanga Canyon, California, after her father's passing in 1978. Under her direction, the company has developed from a workshop to a respected theatrical company with an Equity contract, producing over 50 productions, including "A Streetcar Named Desire", "Medea", and "The Madwoman of Chaillot".
In 2000, Geer played the role of the free-spirited "Maude" in a dramatization of "Harold and Maude" at the Theatricum Botanicum, where she has acted and directed extensively. The company has also produced works written by Geer herself.
As a visiting associate professor of acting at the University of California, Los Angeles' School of Theater, Film, and Television, Geer works with both undergraduate and Master of Fine Arts students, focusing on acting in Shakespeare and other classics. She is a prominent figure in providing theater education to public school children through various programs sponsored by the Theatricum Botanicum, while continuing her own busy acting career, appearing in films and on TV, and performing at major regional theaters, including the Tyrone Guthrie Theatre, the American Conservatory Theatre of San Francisco, and the Globe Shakespeare Festival of San Diego.
