Kipp Marcus is an American actor, screenwriter, producer, and digital media executive. He is best known for his role as the oldest brother Kip Cleaver on the revival television series The New Leave It To Beaver. He has also received critical acclaim for his screenwriting and acting in the film Let It Snow.
Early life
Kipp Marcus was born in Manhattan, New York, to parents Wayne and Susan Marcus and is the younger brother of Adam Marcus. The family members had artistic interests: Marcus' great-grandfather was in vaudeville, grandmother and mother were both singers, father is an abstract painter, one uncle was a filmmaker and the other an actor, his older brother Adam Marcus is a film director. Marcus was committed to producing theatre from a young age, and directed and acted in many theatrical productions during his school years, winning the Young Playwrights of New England Award for Best Play at the age of 16.
Kipp Marcus began his professional acting career in 1984 at the age of 14 in the Broadway production of Lionel Bart's Oliver! as a Workhouse boy and in Fagin's gang. In that same year, Marcus appeared in the role of Ward 'Kip' Cleaver, the eldest son of the adult Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver, in the television sitcomThe New Leave It To Beaver, Marcus' role was one of the central characters on the show, he appeared in over 100 episodes during 1984–1989. Marcus had his first film role in the 1992 Sundance Film Festival cult comedy "Aisle Six", directed by David Wain. A year later, in 1993, Marcus was featured in the horror franchise Friday the 13th when he played the role of Officer Randy Parker in the New Line Cinema film , directed by Marcus's brother Adam Marcus. Marcus returned to Broadway in 1995 in the roles of Marius, Jean-Prouvaire and Joly in the musical Les Misérables. He performed in the musical for 800 performances, including the 10th Anniversary production in 1997, under the direction of Royal Shakespeare Company's Trevor Nunn and John Caird. In 1999, Marcus appeared as the male lead James Ellis in the movie Let It Snow, which he also wrote and produced.
Screenwriting and Producing
While Marcus was studying at NYU, he wrote and produced the comedySo you like this girl, which received Tisch School's Best Picture award in 1990. In 1999, Marcus wrote and produced the comedy Let It Snow. His screenwriting won him a Best New Writer Award from the American Film Institute at the Los Angeles Film Festivalin 1999, as well as producing honors at the Deauville International Film Festival, where it was nominated for best film and was an official selection at the Sundance International Film Festival in 2000. The movie was distributed in the United States, Europe and Asia and received favorable reviews. During 2000–2003 Marcus wrote television pilots for Imagine Entertainment, Warner Bros, Fox and NBC. More recently, Marcus wrote a screenplay about Buster Keaton.
