Times-Picayune, The (New Orleans, LA)
Friends, family rue Katrina’s toll on actor found dead by river
Mark Schleifstein
Staff writer
Published: September 19, 2006
The image many remember of local actor Mark Krasnoff is as the “eloquently anguished” composer Antonio Salieri, railing against God for elevating rival Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to icon status in a unique puppet and human staging of the play “Amadeus.” Or it may have been his portrayal, sans makeup, of the tragically disfigured John Merrick in “The Elephant Man,” described by one reviewer as “a personal, achingly human” performance. But friends and family members say the multitalented Mr. Krasnoff, 43, fought his own internal demons during the past few months, as he watched friends and acquaintances either struggle with Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath, or give up and leave New Orleans.
On Sunday, Mr. Krasnoff’s body was discovered on a rocky area at the edge of the Mississippi River at the Fly, the riverfront park behind the Audubon Zoo, the victim of an apparent suicide, according to the Orleans Parish coroner’s office.
“Mark was looking around at the things that were going on after Katrina, and he was so moved by losing so many friends who were gone, and it just got to him,” said his uncle, Nat Krasnoff.
“He very much deteriorated as a direct impact of this hurricane,” said longtime friend Paul Olinde.
“This is a man who loved the city, who loved the people, not only of the city but of the state,” said fellow actor and radio talk show host John “Spud” McConnell. “He was a staunch defender of our dignity and he will be sorely missed.”
Mr. Krasnoff was the son of Sandy Krasnoff, who headed Victims and Citizens Against Crime until his death in a car accident in 2003.
Mark Krasnoff was born in New Orleans but grew up in Ville Platte after his parents were divorced. There, he learned to speak Cajun French and how to cook Cajun favorites, such as the boudin that he sold to parade-goers during Carnival. Olinde, Mr. Krasnoff’s roommate in the early 1980s when the two attended the University of Southwest Louisiana in Lafayette, said he majored in communications and minored in French. After graduating, Mr. Krasnoff moved to New York City, joining the famed Michael Chekov Institute to learn Russian acting techniques. He was so impressive that he was flown to Russia just before the fall of the Soviet Union to play a part in a Russian-language movie, Olinde said.
In 1992, Mr. Krasnoff returned to New Orleans, continuing to study acting, performing in local theater companies and local commercials, and fielding parts in movies. He won the Big Easy Entertainment Award for best male actor for his role in “The Elephant Man” in 1999.
“I thought him an extraordinary actor,” said David Cuthbert, a playwright and stage reviewer for The Times-Picayune. “He appeared in a play I wrote, ‘A More Congenial Climate,’ at the Tennessee Williams Festival years ago. . . . He was one of the best actors in the state — or anywhere else.”
Playwright Jim Fitzmorris agreed, citing Mr. Krasnoff’s roles in “Amadeus” and “The Elephant Man” as among the best performances by local actors on a New Orleans stage.
During his first few years in the city, money to tide him over between acting gigs came from a day job as a waiter at the Acme Oyster House in the French Quarter. More recently, he had started his own acting studio, offering a class for beginners and a studio program for some of the area’s most experienced actors, his uncle said.
Over the years, Mr. Krasnoff garnered roles in more than 30 movies, many shot in New Orleans, including “Glory Road,” “The Skeleton Key,” “Runaway Jury” and “The Badge.”
“He did low-budget and high-budget movies, but he gave you the same level of performance regardless of the pay or the level of the film or play,” McConnell said. “He always gave 100 percent, always gave everything.”
He had a longtime professional relationship with Montreal director Andre Forcier, with whom he co-wrote the script for the quirky 2004 film, “Acapulco Gold.” In the film, Mr. Krasnoff co-starred as a producer looking into building a movie around an encounter in Acapulco with a man believed to be Elvis Presley in hiding.
During the past few months, Mr. Krasnoff had a small part as a police officer in “Solstice,” a horror film directed in New Orleans by “Blair Witch Project” director Daniel Myrick.
Another recent role was in a comedy called “Flakes,” about the owner of a store in New Orleans that sells only breakfast cereals, and his battle with a rival who opens a cereal store across the street.
Mr. Krasnoff is survived by his mother, Ruby Holmes of Belair Cove; a brother, Robert Holmes of Baton Rouge; a sister, Rouchelle Soileau of Ville Platte; two nephews and a niece.
A funeral for Mr. Krasnoff will be held Thursday at 3 p.m. at Belair Cove Chapel, off U.S. 167 East in Belair Cove, with burial following in the church cemetery. A wake will be held Wednesday from 9 a.m. to midnight and Thursday at 8 a.m. at Ardoin’s Funeral Home, 709 West Main St., in Ville Platte. A rosary will be said at the funeral home Wednesday at 7 p.m.
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Mark Schleifstein can be reached at [email protected] or (504) 826-3327.