Walter Patrick Bissell Bio/Wiki, Net Worth, Married 2018
Walter Patrick Bissell (December 1, 1957 – December 29, 1987) was an American danseur. He was a leading principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre. On his death at age 30 from a drug overdose, he was described by the artistic director of the American Ballet Theatre Mikhail Baryshnikov as "without a doubt one of the brightest lights in American Ballet Theater's history, or, for that matter, in the entire ballet world". Bissell was noted for his height and athleticism. His most famous rôle was as Solor in La Bayadère. His death prompted investigations into the alleged widespread drug use within the American Ballet Theatre.
Well, it's all very new to me. I'm still a young dancer and I feel I have a long way to go. I've got a lot to learn about dancing, so I want people to just stick with me and allow me to grow. I want to have a long and lasting career in which I can develop as an artist. I really want to dance well. I don't want to go out there and dance spectacles - do a few tricks, be flamboyant and get a few people to like me. I want to fulfill myself and develop as an artist. To be a star... well, some people think, 'Boy, wouldn't that be great!' But I don't feel that way about it. But what I'm really interested in is to grow and develop as an artist.
2
Philadelphia was a very strange incident, because I was very, very successful. 'Why did I do it? I don't know. It's something I'm working on with a doctor to find out why I punish myself after having successful performances. . . . That's a problem with the drugs. I do good performances, and then I punish myself with the drugs. I try to destroy myself. It's a weird kind of cycle. You don't know why the brain does the things that it does.
3
It's not a question of dying, but of leaving behind the people you love.
4
To work with the ABT is the greatest joy.
5
Looking back on it all, I think I've been incredibly lucky. I mean, it could have gone the other way for me. If I wasn't a dancer--I would be a teenage hoodlum!
#
Fact
1
While dancing with ABT, he was promoted to principal dancer at the tender age of 21, due mostly to the shortage of men in the company.
2
With salary dancing with the ABT and guest appearance fees combined, he made almost a quarter of a million dollars a year.
3
He spent a great deal of time at the Betty Ford Center due to his drug addiction and numerous injuries (the drugs were burning him out at both ends).
4
During his stint with the ABT, at his peak, his salary was almost $250,000 a year, including guest appearance fees.
5
His role as the "Solor" in "Kingdom of the Shades" from La Bayadère with the American Ballet Theatre in Los Angeles marked his debut as a principal dancer with the ABT, with rising ABT ballerina Jolinda Menendez. They went on to marry.
6
Was thrown into the role of principal very early because of the lack of leading men in the American Ballet Theatre. Many thought he seemed "green and unfinished" early on in his career, although he quickly picked up the pace and soon became in great demand as a partner, particularly for the very tall women in ABT, whom were in dire need of large partners.
7
Was a student of the School of American Ballet, the most prestigious academy in the United States, and moved into the top ranks of American Ballet Theatre.
His interest in ballet began with his oldest sister, Susan. A tall girl, she recruited her lanky 10-year-old brother to be her dance-class partner. He was a natural - so much so that at 14 he left home to study at the National Academy of Dance in Champaign, Illinois, and later at the North Carolina School of the Arts.
10
His mother wrote a magazine article about the untimely (but inevitable) death of her son called "A Mother's Plea."
11
He also had a twin brother (fraternal, not identical).
12
He first got into ballet when his sister would bring him to her dance classes and ask him to be her dance partner.
13
He and his brother were victims of very severe emotional child abuse.
14
Was romantically linked to ABT soloist Amy Rose, at the time of his death in 1987.
15
Was called by ballet legend and superstar Mikhail Baryshnikov: "One of the brightest lights in the entire ballet world".
16
Danced in the corps with the New York City Ballet until getting an offer as principal with the American Ballet Theatre.
Actor
Title
Year
Status
Character
Don Quixote (Kitri's Wedding), a Ballet in Three Acts
1984
TV Movie
Espada
Pavlova: A Tribute to the Legendary Ballerina
1982
TV Movie
Basil
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
American Ballet Theatre at the Met
1984
TV Special
Known for movies
American Ballet Theatre at the Met (1984) as Actor
Don Quixote (Kitri's Wedding), a Ballet in Three Acts (1984) as Espada
Pavlova: A Tribute to the Legendary Ballerina (1982) as Basil
Now brace yourself for what I’m going to tell you here… And I kid you not, I s–t you not… This is all true. I know it’s going to sound especially arrogant. But… you all meed to know it. Here it, is…
I contributed almost ALL this information. You read that right, folks. I wrote… well, almost all of it. I certainly wrote every word of info under “biography,” “trivia” and “quotes” under his IMDb page. I noticed there was nothing on him on Wikipedia. So… I was kind of the one who got all that started.
When I read of his involvement with the life of Gelsey Kirkland in her very-first tell-all autobiography “DANCING ON MY GRAVE,” I remember being intrigued. And hearing of his inevitable death in her sequel “THE SHAPE OF LOVE.” Gone at the mere age of 27 after a very brief lifetime composed entirely of children’s tale hardships, soap-opera liaisons, rock-star drug binges and temperamental feuds with anyone who ever had the simultaneously great-and-mis-fortune of working with him. His tenure at ABT was largely profiled in PRIVATE VIEW AT THE AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE. He seemed doomed, but at the same time–those that knew him best and loved him rooted for him to make it.He was so often sidelined by injury and erratic behavior and he died so early in life that… not such is documented on him, who and what he was. Or even what he did on-stage.
I felt it was such a crime. So… I wanted to change all that. What did I do? I went online and started planted info on one Walter Patrick Bissell wherever I could. I still am. I sent my history on the man on several other sites so this “Marlon Brando One-Eyed Jack of the Ballet World” will have his memoirs etched in the footlights… Keep an eye out, will you please… ?
$20 Million
Now brace yourself for what I’m going to tell you here… And I kid you not, I s–t you not… This is all true. I know it’s going to sound especially arrogant. But… you all meed to know it. Here it, is…
I contributed almost ALL this information. You read that right, folks. I wrote… well, almost all of it. I certainly wrote every word of info under “biography,” “trivia” and “quotes” under his IMDb page. I noticed there was nothing on him on Wikipedia. So… I was kind of the one who got all that started.
When I read of his involvement with the life of Gelsey Kirkland in her very-first tell-all autobiography “DANCING ON MY GRAVE,” I remember being intrigued. And hearing of his inevitable death in her sequel “THE SHAPE OF LOVE.” Gone at the mere age of 27 after a very brief lifetime composed entirely of children’s tale hardships, soap-opera liaisons, rock-star drug binges and temperamental feuds with anyone who ever had the simultaneously great-and-mis-fortune of working with him. His tenure at ABT was largely profiled in PRIVATE VIEW AT THE AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE. He seemed doomed, but at the same time–those that knew him best and loved him rooted for him to make it.He was so often sidelined by injury and erratic behavior and he died so early in life that… not such is documented on him, who and what he was. Or even what he did on-stage.
I felt it was such a crime. So… I wanted to change all that. What did I do? I went online and started planted info on one Walter Patrick Bissell wherever I could. I still am. I sent my history on the man on several other sites so this “Marlon Brando One-Eyed Jack of the Ballet World” will have his memoirs etched in the footlights… Keep an eye out, will you please… ?
–Sincere As Always, DANE R. YOUSSEF