John Bernard Hofsiss was born on September 28, 1950, in
Brooklyn. He grew up in
New York City, as a
Catholic, and served as an altar boy, which he has said was his "first experience of theatre". He was a 1971 graduate of
Georgetown University. While at Georgetown University he co-wrote and directed an original student musical "Senior Prom." This went on to be staged for a 3-year run at the "O" Street Theater formerly the Washington Theater Club. After a directing stint at the
Folger Theatre in
Washington, D.C., he became a casting director in New York for several years. He then directed
The Best of Families, a mini-series, for television in 1977. He also directed for TV ''Out of Our Father's House
(1978), 3 by Cheever: The Sorrows of Gin
(1979), The Elephant Man
(1982), "Family Secrets
(1984), and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1985). In 1982, he directed the film I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can''. In 1985, Hofsiss dived into a pool and had a
spinal cord injury, resulting in paralysis up to his mid-chest. He spent eight months at the
Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine and used a
wheelchair. Just months after the accident he returned to the theater scene, directing
All the Way Home at the
Berkshire Theatre Festival. Hofsiss spoke candidly about the effect disability had on his life and work in the book
Chronicles of Courage: Very Special Artists written by
Jean Kennedy Smith and
George Plimpton and published by
Random House. ==Death==