Jim Zulevic, resident director of the gay and lesbian comedy troupe known as GayCo, died on Jan. 7 in his home in Lakeview. He was 40.
Zulevic was an accomplished actor, director, improviser and writer. Between 1999 and 2005, he directed two GayCo film shorts and several revues. As an example of his improvisational skills, Zulevic altered the musical number ‘Lesbian Death Bed,’ a musical number featuring cats singing about love without sex, adding two frat guys with binoculars who are stunned by the lack of action in the women’s bedroom. Several contemporaries and troupe members lauded Zulevic, who was not gay, as a leader and friend who was concerned about social justice and who knew of the capacity of works to expand minds. According to IMDB.com, he appeared in several films, including Matchstick Men and 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover, as well as TV series such as The Shield and Prison Break. In addition, Zulevic taught improv classes at Second City, for whom he also acted and wrote, and at Columbia College.
On Jan. 14, GayCo held a performance that was a tribute to Zulevic at the Chicago Sketch Festival. The show featured scenes he directed as well as two sketches he wrote.
Zulevic was the son of Ruth and the late Michael Zulevic and was the brother of Kathleen Shannon and Michael A. Zulevic. The funeral was held on Jan. 13 from the Andrew J. McGann & Son Funeral Home, 10727 S. Pulaski, to St. Thomas More Church.