Patrick Selitrenny

Born in 1956 in the Italian-speaking Lugano, in Switzerland, he approached acting relatively late in life due to lack of financial means in his early years and the non-existence of appropriate programs for actors and/or directors in his native land. He was born in a multi-lingual family and therefore he is fluent in four major European languages (English, German, Italian and French). In later years, having specialized in languages and history of the Middle Ages, as well as being a committed scholar of World War II, and after a long series of jobs that covered the entire spectrum of office work, from translator to web-salesman and from insurance agent to web designer, he finally made his big leap into formal acting schooling. Patrick finally managed to be accepted by The Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute, in 1988, in which he frequented acting classes with David Gideon and Irma Sandrey, as well as directorial courses imparted by Shami Chaikin. After a first intensive study year, he was, to his surprise, accepted into the professional class. After another intensive year, he decided he wanted to deepen his knowledge in classic acting and deepened his knowledge in Elizabethan Theatre and literature, with an especial fondness for Shakespeare and Ben Johnson. Having failed to be noticed by major agents and casting directors, he decided to open his own school and theater company, first in London, then pursued in New York. An endeavor which did not last long, but had earned him recognition and respect from professionals in the field. Soon after, he was hired as an Artistic Director and Stage Director for a short lived theatre company called AWD (Actors-Writers-Directors). He managed to do a lot of stage work, both as an actor, as well as a director, both in the United States and in Europe, especially when it came to cover imposing roles, such as Kings and/or figures of authority (as an actor, due to his strong stage presence), and tackle with difficult subjects in plays such as "Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie", "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" (in which he also played George), and the "Night of the Iguana" (as a director). Having lived and worked for more than twelve years in the United States, he also managed to come to grips with a pretty decent American accent and some dialects. Today, having been forced to return to Switzerland due to the poor health of his own mother and therefore assist her (as the only direct surviving relative), Patrick is representing talented writers, as a freelance agent (or rogue agent) if you will, because he is convinced that some doors are still open for newcomers, although he does it on a voluntary basis and not for profit. His main ambition still remains to be able to prove his skills as a character actor in movies, as well as to direct one or two major movies about subjects that are close to his heart. One being the life of Beethoven, and the other is a new revised and accurate account of the Battle of the Bulge, viewed from both sides of the Battleground (a sort of "The Longest Day" in the Ardennes).