Jesse Merz (born November 15 1973 in Hood River, Oregon) is an American actor, director, producer, writer, and educator. As an actor, he has appeared off-Broadway, in regional theatre, summer stock, feature films, in radio and in 120 cities in 34 states nationwide. He has directed more than 45 productions, which have included directing Tony winner Daisy Eagan in the new musical Suburban Dreams. He is the artistic director of the Columbia Gorge School of Theatre and former artistic director of Longview Stageworks. He is a member of the Actors' Equity Association, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, the Dramatists Guild, the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, and the Voice and Speech Trainers Association. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in acting from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, where he studied at the Atlantic Theater Company and the Meisner Extension. He later received a Master of Arts degree in teaching with a drama endorsement from George Fox University. Merz is a theatre teacher at David Douglas High School in Portland. Currently he is serving as the Assistant Artistic Director of the THIRDeYE Theatre Festival and teaching Introduction to Acting at the University of California, Davis, where he's also pursuing his MFA in Acting.
Merz has been married to Laurel Merz (formerly Laurel Schuepbach) since September 2, 2000 and is the father of Alana Fay (December 2, 2003) and Josephine Alice (December 29, 2005).
Merz is currently in pre-production on his first feature film with the working title Embraceable Me, which is he writing and producing.
