Ian Ruskin, Actor/Writer/Activist
Ian is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He founded The Harry Bridges Project in 2000 and has written, performed and produced many plays and radio and film documentaries, including From Wharf Rats to Lords of the Docks about labor leader Harry Bridges. The film version of From Wharf Rats to Lords of the Docks, directed and shot by multi-Academy Award winner Haskell Wexler, aired nationwide on PBS for 4 years and achieved 50% of the market, making the film available to 150 million Americans each year. He has completed work on an educational package for high schools and community colleges. He is also working on a treatment for a feature film based on the 1934 San Francisco General Strike. His new play To Begin the World Over Again: the Life of Thomas Paine continues his mission to present the stories of forgotten and misunderstood heroes from American and European history. Performances have included The American Philosophical Society, Harvard Law School, the California Judges Association, Conway Hall in London and, in April, the up-coming Annual Meeting of the Organization of American Historians. This summer he will be performing From Wharf Rats" for the Houses of Parliament and the Scottish Parliament, and has possibilities to perform To Begin the World" again at Conway Hall and at Queen Mary's College, University of London and in Thetford, Norfolk, Paine's birthplace. His next project is to follow in the footsteps of From Wharf Rats" and produce a film version of To Begin the World" for airings in America on PBS and internationally.