Dada Performance

Melvin Irwin Gordon was born in Detroit, Michigan on February 18, 1947. He received a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan and a master's degree and a Ph.D. in performance studies from New York University. He taught at N.Y.U. from 1975 to 1989. He also taught acting at the Lee Strasberg Theater and Film Institute and the Michael Chekhov Acting Studio in Manhattan. He began teaching at the University of California, Berkeley in 1990. He wrote several books including Theatre of Fear and Horror: The Grisly Spectacle of the Grand Guignol of Paris, 1897-1962; Voluptuous Panic: The Erotic World of Weimar Berlin; Horizontal Collaboration: The Erotic World of Paris, 1920-1946; and Erik Jan Hanussen: Hitler's Jewish Clairvoyant. He also created and directed shows in San Francisco including The Seven Addictions and Five Professions of Anita Berber. He died from complications of renal failure on March 22, 2018 at the age of 71.