Jean Passanante
- Writer
- Actress
- Director
Born and brought up in St. Louis, Missouri, Passanante began college at
Cornell University (as a classmate of Christopher Reeve), but transferred as a
sophomore to Dartmouth College, when Dartmouth went co-ed. At
Dartmouth, she was a classmate of playwright Peter Parnell and Broadway
music arranger Bruce Coughlin. She acted and directed at Dartmouth and
after graduation, worked in summer stock in North Conway, New
Hampshire, with a group of Williams College grads, including John
Sayles, David Strathairn and Adam LeFevre. After moving to New York in
1976, she worked as a theater and literary agent before becoming a
theatre producer/administrator. She held management positions for the
Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center, New York Theatre Workshop, and New
Dramatists before writing for soap operas. She has won three Writers
Guild Awards and four Emmy Awards for her work as a writer on various
daytime serials. She has been married since 1984 and has one child. She
lives in New York City.
