'Entourage' Star Jeremy Piven Devastated and 'Lost' After Death of Theater Founder Mother Joyce Aged 94: 'She Was Graceful Until Her Last Breath'
Jeremy Piven has revealed his beloved mom Joyce has passed away aged 94 by writing an emotional tribute on Instagram alongside pictures of the theater founder.
Jan. 20 2025, Published 11:58 a.m. ET
Jeremy Piven has been left devastated after the death of his beloved mom Joyce.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the Entourage star, 59, paid tribute to the theater founder on Instagram courtesy of a heartfelt message in which the actor admitted he "wasn't sure how to navigate without her."
Piven told his followers he 'wasn't sure how to navigate without her' and she 'was graceful until her last breath' during his heartfelt post.
The three-time Emmy winner also wrote 94-year-old Joyce, who was the co-founder of Evanston's renowned Piven Theatre Workshop, "was graceful until her last breath".
He wrote: "Joyce Piven has left us. I was pretending this day wouldn't come yet here we are.
"If you know me you understand how much I love this woman.
"Yes she's my mother but she was an incredible human being.
"Acting teacher to so many of us who genuinely enjoyed the evolution of her students."
Piven went on to say his mom "taught us to respect the space we occupy when we perform, instilled the integrity of the work and how lucky we are to get it."
He added: "When we would run lines together (until the end) she would enter into the character and do whatever accent was needed.
"I secretly filmed her and showed the director and she got the role!
"They all said she was too frail to fly but we did it anyway. She got a standing ovation on the set (I'm over 80 movies into it and I've never seen that)."
The Entourage star also wrote: 'If you know me you understand how much I love this woman' in his Instagram tribute to Joyce.
The Vindicta actor continued: "Not quite sure how to navigate without her yet this beautiful life is about transformation which was one of her theater games.
"Taught us comedy & drama can exist simultaneously (just like life ) she affected so many lives.
"She taught acting not so that you could be a professional, but so that you could learn more about yourself. 'Endings are import' she was graceful until her last breath."
Jeremy wrapped up his caption by writing: "Always the teacher… We don't know how long we have here in this human form but I can tell you that we lost a good one. She's dancing with my father. Be good to each other."
The actor revealed it was Joyce who first gave him a copy of Arthur Miller's 2002 short story The Performance in 2010, and his sister Shira Piven directed him in a big-screen adaptation.
"She hung on all these years until we got it made into a film," the Sweetwater star gushed.
"She would ask me about it daily. We are all walking miracles. The film is a tribute to her."
Piven plays a tap dancer who must perform for Adolf Hitler in 1937 in The Performance, which is currently screening through Thursday exclusively in AMC Theatres in limited States.
Back in the early 1970s, Piven (born Goldstein) and her late husband Byrne Piven co-founded the Piven Theatre Workshop which trained everyone from John Cusack, Joan Cusack, Kate Walsh, Lili Taylor, and Aidan Quinn.
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Piven received sympathy messages from his celebrity pals including Cindy Crawford and Jamie Foxx.
Twenty years earlier, the married couple were founding members of the improv-heavy Playwrights Theatre Club headed up by Paul Sills, who went on to create The Second City in 1959.
Joyce's teaching methods and secret acting tips were captured in the book she and Byrne co-wrote in 2012, In the Studio With Joyce Piven.
After the Entourage alum announced the sad news, a number of celebrity pals shared their condolences, including Cindy Crawford and Jamie Foxx.
