Cusi Cram is an American playwright, screenwriter, actress, model, director, educator, and advocate for women in the arts. After signing with Wilhelmina Models at 13-years-old, Cram went on to originate the role of Cassie Callison on the ABCsoap operaOne Life to Live. Following her graduation from Brown University, Cram attended the She focused on play-writing and screenwriting, namely for the series Arthur, The Octonauts, and The Big C. She also wrote and directed a short film through a fellowship through the prestigious . Her film played at over 20 festivals nationwide and was the recipient of the Adrienne Shelly and Nancy Mallone awards. Her plays have been produced in by: Primary Stages, LAByrinth Theater Company, The Denver Center, Princeton's Lewis Center for the Arts, The Williamstown Theater Festival, South Coast Repertory, Barrington Stage, The Atlantic Theater Company, New Georges, and on numerous stages large and small all over the country. She had her off-Broadway debut at 59E59 Theaters in 2009 with her play A Lifetime Burning. She has taught at at Primary Stages, Columbia University, Fordham University and is currently an Assistant Arts Professor in the at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. Cram lives with her husband,, a seven-time Emmy winning writer who has developed and written for many television programs for younger audiences.
Early life
Cusi Cram was born in Manhattan, New York City, on September 22, 1967, to Lady Jeanne Campbell, daughter of Ian Campbell, 11th Duke of Argyll, and granddaughter of Max Aitken, Lord Beaverbrook; Lady Jeanne was married at the time to John Cram III, a descendant of railroad developer Jay Gould. Her biological father, however, was Bolivian and worked at the United Nations. She identifies as Latina and has written extensively about her Latino roots in her plays. Cram's first foray into the world of theater came at age six when she played the role of Moth in a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. Campbell had previously been married to Norman Mailer, with whom she remained friends after their divorce. Mailer's later wife Norris Church, a former actress and model, suggested that Cram try out modelling. At age 13, she did, becoming the youngest model ever to sign with Wilhelmina Models, Church's former agency. At the time, Cram attended the Chapin School in Manhattan. Of her modeling days she has said, "And at the time—and I think times have changed a lot— was very blonde and blue eyed, so I was considered very, very ethnic looking..."
Career
While working with Wilhelmina, Cram modeled for a variety of publications including Interview, Seventeen, Brides, and Young Miss. While still 13, she joined the cast of the soap opera One Life to Live on ABC. She originated the role of Cassie Callison, a job that required her to leave the Chapin School for the Professional Children's School which allowed her time to both study and participate in filming. She eventually transitioned from acting to playwriting during her twenties, graduated from Brown University in 1990, and landed a job writing for the animated PBS show Arthur. Cram worked in regional theaters in Massachusetts, California, and Colorado, and had some of her work produced Off-Off-Broadway. Her work on Arthur inspired her 2009 play Dusty and the Big Bad World. The Arthur spinoff Postcards from Buster was subject to a controversy that eventually involved United States Secretary of EducationMargaret Spellings after an episode depicted a Vermont family with two lesbian mothers. Dusty, which premiered at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, was a comic retelling of the controversy. Cram's Off-Broadway debut also came in 2009 when her play A Lifetime Burning, based on the experiences of author Margaret Seltzer and the discovery of her partially fictitious memoir Love and Consequences, was produced at 59E59 Theaters by Primary Stages. Aside from Arthur, Cram has also written for the Cbeebieschildren's television seriesThe Octonauts, and contributed two episodes to the Showtimecomedy-dramaThe Big C. As of January 2014, she teaches playwriting as part of the joint Fordham University – Primary Stages Master of Fine Arts program.
Production history
Additionally, Cram's one-act West of Stupid was anthologized in The Best American Short Plays 2000-2001. She has also performed two one-woman shows, Bolivia and Euripidames, at New Georges in New York City.
