Sad News: Janet Morrison
January 25, 2024
Dear Colleagues,
I write to share the sad news of the passing of Janet Morrison on December 26, 2023 in her Watertown home at the age of 71. Janet retired in 2017 as an Associate Professor and was a longstanding member of the Department of Theater Arts.
A native of Rochester, New York, Janet attended Beloit College, received an MFA in Acting from Temple University and went on to become a professional actor, director, and an accomplished teacher of acting. She returned to Temple in 1985 to teach for three years, then to Carnegie Mellon University for six years and finally to Brandeis, where she taught for almost 25 years until her retirement in 2017.
Janet enjoyed a successful career as an actor and director, working with professional theater companies such as Actors’ Shakespeare Project, Hartford Stage and the Nora Theatre Company, and directing numerous productions at Brandeis, but she discovered that her true passion and calling was the teaching of acting. She dedicated herself body and soul to her students, many of whom went on to become successful actors in theater and film or dedicated teachers themselves. Janet was respected and beloved as a committed mentor, a supportive colleague, a true collaborator and a trusted leader in the Theater Arts Department.
Janet is survived by her loving partner of 34 years, Scott Cummings; her sister Ellie Morrison; her sister Julie Morrison Smith and brother-in-law Carl Smith and their children Aron and Eli; her brother Roger Morrison, sister-in-law Nancy Herrick, their daughter Naomi, son-in-law Matt, and grandchildren Arrow, Jasper, and Nico. She is predeceased by her father Martin Morrison, a biochemist, and her mother Joyce Pollard Morrison, a journalist. Janet was a beloved member of Scott's extended family in the Boston area and is mourned by his siblings Jeff and Connie, their spouses Liz and Ed, his niece Isabel and nephews Augie, Toby, and Lew.
The Department of Theater Arts will host a memorial for Janet on May 11, 2024. Please email theater@brandeis.edu if you would like to learn more about the event.
I am grateful to Scott Cummings and the Department of Theater Arts for their contributions to this memoriam.
Sincerely,
Carol A. Fierke
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs