Stuart Sherman, 55; Avant-Garde Artist, Actor and Playwright

Stuart Sherman, 55, an artist and playwright known for his avant-garde performances, died Sept. 14 of pneumonia at San Francisco General Hospital, according to his family.

As an actor, Sherman worked in summer stock at the Williamstown Playhouse in Massachusetts and appeared at Lincoln Center in New York.

He experimented with hastily performed “spectacles”--short skits using household objects in an attempt to provide commentary on works by authors including Chekhov and Brecht.

Born in Providence, R.I., Sherman attended Antioch College in Ohio. He received several awards, including the Obie Award for outstanding achievement, a Guggenheim Fellowship and an Artists’ Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts’ Visual Arts Program.

As a sculptor, Sherman saw his work featured at the Carpenter and Hochman Gallery in New York and the List Visual Art Gallery at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.