Stage, TV and Film Career Laurence Overmire began his professional acting career in 1981 at the
Guthrie Theatre in
Minneapolis appearing in
Our Town directed by
Alan Schneider, the American premier of
Nelly Sachs'
Eli: A Mystery Play of the Sufferings of Israel directed by Garland Wright, and
Liviu Ciulei's productions of
The Tempest, featuring
Boyd Gaines and
Frances Conroy, and
As You Like It, starring
Val Kilmer and
Patti LuPone. Thereafter, Overmire moved to
New York City landing roles on and off
Broadway including
Amadeus directed by
Sir Peter Hall and starring
Frank Langella,
Mark Hamill and
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio,
Joseph Papp's
New York Shakespeare Festival production of
Don Juan, directed by
Richard Foreman and featuring future stars
Kelly McGillis,
Melissa Leo, and
Jere Burns,
Charles Busch's comedy hits
Vampire Lesbians of Sodom and
Psycho Beach Party,
Robert David MacDonald's
Summit Conference for New York Studio Theatre, and the Equity Library Theatre production of
Lanford Wilson's
Fifth of July. Overmire also worked at many
regional theatres across the country performing in
Twelfth Night starring
Ethan Phillips,
Richard Ryder,
Susan Diol and
Christine Andreas at Alaska Repertory Theatre,
Hay Fever with
Mary-Louise Parker at Buffalo's
Studio Arena Theater,
The Tooth of Crime at Delaware Theatre Company,
A Christmas Carol at
Totem Pole Playhouse,
Hamlet at Nashville Institute for the Arts directed by Eric Booth,
Dracula and
The Comedy of Errors directed by
Charles Nolte at Michigan's Meadow Brook Theatre, and
Henry IV part 1 at
Yale Repertory Theatre directed by
David Hammond and starring
Paul Shenar,
Patricia Clarkson,
Dylan Baker,
Adam LeFevre,
Patrick Kerr and
Courtney B. Vance. On television, Overmire made numerous appearances on the network
soaps All My Children,
As the World Turns,
Another World,
One Life to Live and
Loving working with such notable actors as
Philip Bosco,
Noelle Beck,
Robert S. Woods,
Cady McClain and
Maurice Benard. Later, Overmire moved to
Hollywood where he starred in
Roy Brocksmith's production of
The One Less Traveled at the California Cottage Theatre, played a featured role in the independent feature film ''The Thing at Pete and Julie's'' directed by
Jerry Rapp,
Poetry Laurence Overmire's poetry has been published in hundreds of magazines, journals and anthologies worldwide. Eclectic in form and style, his work can be provocative in its confrontation of social issues. He is the author of three books of poetry,
Honor & Remembrance,
Report From X-Star 10 and
Gone Hollywood. He began writing poetry as a way to reflect upon his life experience, what became for him "a diary in art." An advocate for peace, social justice, the environment, civil rights, human rights, and animal rights, Overmire was the Poet In Residence on
The Jeff Farias Show in 2010, where during a weekly segment he would read poetry and discuss the political and social issues of the day. Central to his philosophy is the need for an
open mind and an open heart. "I reserve the right to evolve. What I think and feel today is subject to revision tomorrow," he says. In 2009, several of Overmire's peace poems including ''
were translated into Arabic and published in the Lebanese newspaper An-Nahar. Note: Upon checking for the information on Rootsweb on Dec. 2, 2019, the full text of The Ancestry of Overmire, Tifft, Richardson, Bradford, Reed'' no longer seems to exist. In 2009, Overmire completed ''One Immigrant's Legacy: The Overmyer Family in America 1751-2009, A Biographical Record of Revolutionary War Veteran Capt. John George Overmire and His Descendants''. Recognized as the foremost authority on the Overmyer clan in the U.S., In the afterword to ''One Immigrant's Legacy'', Overmire writes, "Over the course of the millennia, all these multitudes of ancestors, generation upon generation, have come down to this moment in time - to give birth to you. There has never been, nor will ever be, another like you. You have been given a tremendous responsibility. You carry the hopes and dreams of all those who have gone before. Hopes and dreams for a better world. What will you do with your time on this Earth? How will you contribute to the ongoing story of humankind?"
Education Overmire graduated
summa cum laude as
valedictorian from
Muskingum University, Ohio, in 1979, with a
Bachelor of Arts in Theatre and a
Bachelor of Science in Psychology. He was awarded a
Bush Fellowship to attend graduate school at the
University of Minnesota,
Minneapolis, where he received his
Master of Fine Arts • Received
Enchanting Verses International Poetry Journal "Enchanting Poet Award", 2008 • First Place and Honorable Mention prizes for the
Barnes & Noble Everybody Reads Contest,
Fahrenheit 451, 2004 == Books ==