Documents for "Theater: Biographies":

• Abbott, George 1887-1995, American theatrical producer, director, and playwright, b. Forestville, N.Y. He began (1913) in the theater as an actor and, during a career that spanned eight decades, was celebrated as...

• Adams, Maude 1872-1953, American actress, b. Salt Lake City, Utah. Her father's name was Kiskadden, but she used her mother's maiden name. She began acting at an early age and became leading lady to John Drew...

• Adler, Stella ăd´ler , 1901-92, American actress, director, and acting teacher, b. New York City. The daughter of Jacob and Sarah Adler, stars in New York's Yiddish theater, she made her acting debut in 1906 in one of...

• Alleyn, Edward 1566-1626, English actor. He was the foremost member of the Admiral's Men , joining the group c.1587, and was the only rival of Richard Burbage. An exceptionally large man, he gained fame for his portrayals in Marlowe's Tamburlaine, Jew of Malta, and Doctor Faustus. He married the stepdaughter of Philip Henslowe and with Henslowe owned the Rose and Fortune theaters. His popularity brought him wealth, which he employed in the founding of Dulwich College in 1613...

• Anderson, Dame Judith 1898-1992, British actress, b. Adelaide, S. Australia, originally named Frances Margaret Anderson. She made her debut in Sydney in 1915 and by 1924 had become celebrated for her portrayals of...

• Anderson, Laurie 1947-, American performance artist, b. Chicago. Originally a sculptor, she was influenced by Philip Glass and other avant-garde composers in the early 1970s and soon turned to the creation of multimedia...

• Andreini, Isabella Canali 1562-1604, Italian actress. Beautiful, elegant, and well-educated, she was one of the most famous performers of her time. She joined the Gelosi troupe, becoming a leading player, and married the...

• Antoine, André 1858-1943, French theatrical director, manager, and critic. In opposition to the teachings of the Paris Conservatory, he formed (1887) his own company, the Théâtre Libre. There he presented, by private subscriptions, foremost works of the naturalistic school. He emphasized an intimate style of acting and a realistic use of space and tried to eliminate grand...

• Appia, Adolphe 1862-1928, Swiss theorist of modern stage lighting and décor. In interpreting Wagner's ideas in scenic designs for his operas, Appia rejected painted scenery for the three-dimensional set; he felt...

• Arliss, George 1868-1946, English actor. He first appeared on the stage in 1887. In 1901 he came to the United States with Mrs. Patrick Campbell to appear in the Belasco production of The Darling of the Gods, and...

• Ayckbourn, Sir Alan 1939-, English playwright and director, b. London. One of Britain's most successful and prolific dramatists, he had his first play produced in 1959 and since then has written more than 50 works...

• Béjard French family of actors: see Béjart.

• Béjart or Béjard , French family of actors associated with Molière , who joined their amateur company, Les Enfants de Famille. Their professional debut in Paris (1643) was as the Illustre-Théâtre; this failed (1645) and the company returned to the provinces only to...

• Bancroft, Anne 1931-2005, American actress, b. New York City as Anna Maria Italiano. Her New York stage debut in Two for the Seesaw (1958) was a major triumph. She was acclaimed for her performance in The Miracle...

• Bancroft, Marie Effie Wilton, Lady 1839-1921, English actress and manager. She made her debut (1856) at the Lyceum Theatre, London, and in 1865 became joint manager of the Prince of Wales's Theatre, London, with Sir Squire Bancroft, 1841-1926, whose entire name was Squire Bancroft White Butterfield. They were married in 1867. With their production of Caste in the same year, the Bancrofts, as co-stars, began an association with its author, Tom Robertson , that was to prove most successful. Their presentations of his plays, which were more true to life than the current melodramas, and their utilization of the reforms of Mme Vestris introduced realism to the 19th-century English stage. They continued their work at the Haymarket theater in London (1880-85). The Bancrofts appeared together until 1886, when Mrs. Bancroft retired...

• Bankhead, Tallulah 1903-68, American actress, b. Huntsville, Ala.; daughter of William Brockman Bankhead. After her debut in 1918, Bankhead had great success on the London stage, where she appeared (1923-30) in 16 plays....

• Barnum, P. T. (Phineas Taylor Barnum) , 1810-91, American showman, b. Bethel, Conn. As a youth Barnum worked at diverse sales jobs and managed a boardinghouse. He made his first sensation in 1835 when he bought and exhibited Joice Heth,...

• Baron, Michel 1653-1729, one of the first great French actors. A protégé of Molière, he acted at the Hôtel de Bourgogne and at the Comédie Française. He brought a naturalness to the bombastic acting style...

• Barrault, Jean-Louis 1910-94, French actor and director. A pupil of Charles Dullin, he joined the Comédie Française in 1940. After World War II he organized his own company at the Théâtre Marigny with his wife,...

• Barrett, Lawrence 1838-91, American actor, b. Paterson, N.J. An excellent romantic actor, he is best remembered for his portrayal of Cassius to the Brutus of Edwin Booth. Barrett made his New York debut (1856) in The Hunchback and appeared (1858-59) with the Boston Museum Company. He was associated with Booth from 1866 to 1889. A dignified actor, tall, with classic features, Barrett excelled in Shakespeare. He wrote a...

• Barry, Elizabeth 1658-1713, English actress. She gained entrance to the stage through the patronage of the earl of Rochester. From the time of her appearances at the Theatre Royal (1682-95) until her last...

• Barrymore Anglo-American family of actors.

• Baylis, Lilian see Old Vic.

• Beaton, Sir Cecil Walter Hardy 1904-80, English scenery and costume designer, photographer, writer, painter, and diarist. After designing his first stage show (1935), Beaton worked on numerous productions, including Lady Windermere's Fan, Vanessa (opera), Gigi (film, 1951), My Fair Lady (stage, 1956; film, 1964), and Coco (1969). He is also recognized for his photography, particularly his glamorous portraits of the rich and famous, many of whom were either friends or acquaintances, and for the numerous books he...

• Beck, Julian 1925-85, American theatrical director, actor, and producer, b. New York City. He married Judith Malina, 1926-, also an American theatrical director, actor, and producer, b. Germany. Together they founded the Living Theater in 1947, which inaugurated the off-off Broadway movement. Their productions...

• Bedford, Brian 1935-, English actor, b. Morley, Yorkshire; studied Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London. During his long career, Bedford has performed on stage in England, Canada, and the United States, notably...

• Bel Geddes, Norman 1893-1958, American designer, b. Adrian, Mich. as Norman Melancton Geddes. He began his career in 1918 as scene designer for the Metropolitan Opera. He became known for imaginative designs both...

• Belasco, David 1853-1931, American theatrical manager and producer, b. San Francisco. He was actively connected with the theater from his youth, and while associated with Dion Boucicault in Virginia City, Nev.,...

• Benda, Wladyslaw Theodor 1873-1948, Polish American painter and illustrator, b. Poland. He studied at the Art Academy in Cracow and in Vienna, San Francisco, and New York City. In addition to decorative works and many...

• Bennett, Michael 1943-87, American dancer and choreographer, b. Buffalo, N.Y. He appeared in West Side Story and Subways Are for Sleeping. During the 1970s, he was one of the most successful directors and choreographers...

• Bernhardt, Sarah 1844-1923, stage name of Rosine Bernard, French actress, b. Paris. At age 13 she entered the Paris Conservatory, and later attracted attention during appearances at the Odéon (1866-72). With the...

• Betterton, Thomas 1635?-1710, English actor and manager. He joined Sir William D'Avenant's company at Lincoln's Inn Fields theater in 1661 and became the leading actor of the Restoration stage, the theatrical...

• Booth, Edwin 1833-93, one of the first great American actors, b. "Tudor Hall," near Bel Air, Md. After years of touring with his father, Junius Brutus Booth , he appeared in New York City (1857) and later toured (1861-63) England. On returning to New York he leased the Winter Garden Theatre, where in 1864 he presented his famous 100-night run of Hamlet (a record unbroken until John Barrymore's 101-night run in 1922). His productions at the Winter Garden terminated in 1865, when his brother John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Lincoln. The ensuing scandal forced Edwin Booth to retire, but he returned to the Winter Garden in 1866. When it burned down, he built Booth's Theatre, New York (1869). He...

• Booth, Junius Brutus 1796-1852, Anglo-American actor. After experience in the provinces, he appeared at Covent Garden. In 1817, with his portrayal of Richard III, he established himself as a rival of Edmund Kean. In...

• Boucicault, Dion 1822?-1890, Anglo-Irish dramatist and actor. At 19 he had success with his play London Assurance at Covent Garden, London. In 1853 he went to the United States with his wife, Agnes Robertson, an actress who was the adopted daughter of Charles Kean. Boucicault became known for his work there as...

• Boyron, Michel see Baron, Michel.

• Bracegirdle, Anne 1663?-1748, English actress. A pupil of Betterton, she was the delight of Colley Cibber and the favorite of Congreve, achieving her greatest successes as the heroines of Congreve's comedies, which...

• Brahm, Otto 1856-1912, German theatrical director, manager and critic. Inspired by the work of Antoine in Paris, he founded a theater, the Freie Bühne, in Berlin in 1889. There he devoted his efforts to...

• Brice, Fanny 1891-1951, American comedienne, b. New York City as Fanny Borach. Brice appeared in burlesque and vaudeville from 1906. She starred in the Ziegfeld "Follies" from 1910 onward, and in Broadway shows,...

• Brook, Peter 1925-, English theatrical director, b. London. An innovative, unconventional, and controversial figure, Brook mounts energetic productions in which the entire stage is utilized and realistic sets...

• Brustein, Robert Sanford 1927-, American educator and drama critic, b. New York City. As dean of the Yale Univ. Drama School (1966-78), he made it one of the major American training grounds for the theatrical arts. During...

• Burbage, Richard 1567?-1619, first great English actor. The leading tragedian of the Chamberlain's Men , he originated the title roles in Shakespeare's Hamlet, Lear, Othello, and Richard III. He may also have appeared in many of the first productions of plays by Thomas Kyd, Beaumont and Fletcher, Ben Jonson, and John Webster. By contemporary standards, his acting style was considered...

• Campbell, Mrs. Patrick 1865-1940, English actress, whose maiden name was Beatrice Stella Tanner. Remembered today for her association with G. B. Shaw, she was an actress of great beauty and wit. She made her debut in...

• Cantor, Eddie 1892-1964, American entertainer, b. New York City, originally named Edward Israel Isskowitz. Cantor became one of the best-known theatrical figures of his day. His style was typified by lively...

• Carnovsky, Morris 1897-1992, American actor, b. St. Louis. After his New York City debut in The God of Vengeance (1922), he joined the Theatre Guild and later performed with The Group Theatre, of which he was a founding member. He worked as an actor and director for the Actors Laboratory Theatre in Hollywood...

• Carte, Richard D'Oyly 1844-1901, English impresario. His choice of presentations did much to raise the level of English musical theater. In 1875 he produced Trial by Jury, the first operetta of Sir William S. Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan , and he subsequently produced all their other works. In 1881 he built the Savoy Theatre (the first to be lighted electrically), which the operettas made famous. The D'Oyly Carte company, suspended...

• Carter, Mrs. Leslie 1862-1937, American actress, b. Lexington, Ky., whose maiden name was Caroline Louise Dudley. She became a protégée of Belasco and first appeared in 1890 in The Ugly Duckling. His...

• Chevalier, Maurice 1888-1972, French singer and film actor. He made his debut in 1900 singing and dancing at the Casino de Tourelles, Paris. As the dancing partner of Mistinguett and as the star of several Paris...

• Christy, Edwin P. 1815-62, American showman, b. Philadelphia. He established c.1846 in Buffalo, N.Y., a company of minstrels that came to be known as Christy's Minstrels. The company, although not the first of its...

• Cibber, Colley 1671-1757, English dramatist and actor-manager. Joining the company at the Theatre Royal in 1690, Cibber became successful as a comedian, playing the fops of Restoration comedy. His first play, Love's Last Shift (1696), is a landmark in the history of the theater and is regarded as the first sentimental comedy. Of his 30 dramas, She Wou'd and She Wou'd Not (1702), The Careless Husband (1704), and The Nonjuror (1717) are the most notable. From 1710 to 1740 he was the manager of Drury Lane. He was appointed poet laureate in 1730. An extremely unpopular, social-climbing, and insolent man, he was ridiculed...

• Clive, Kitty (Catherine Raftor), 1711-85, English singer and actress. She made her debut (c.1728) at Drury Lane under the management of Colley Cibber and worked for many years with David Garrick, with whom she...

• Clurman, Harold 1901-80, American director, manager, critic, and author, b. New York City. In his early years he acted in minor roles, becoming associated with New York's Group Theatre as founder and managing...

• Cobb, Lee J. 1911-76, American actor, b. New York City. He first performed with the Pasadena (Calif.) Playhouse in 1929 and made his Broadway debut in Crime and Punishment (1935). Cobb created the role of Willy...

• Cohan, George Michael 1878-1942, American showman, b. Providence, R.I. As a child he appeared in vaudeville as one of "The Four Cohans" with his father, mother, and sister, Josephine. He eventually wrote the act and was the business manager. The Governor's Son (1901) was his first attempt at Broadway; Little Johnny Jones (1904) was his first success. Cohan wrote the book, music, and lyrics for 20 musicals; he was the producer, director, and most often the star. His inimitable style set the pattern of fast-moving,...

• Copeau, Jacques 1879-1949, French theatrical producer and critic. A founder (1909) and editor (1912-14) of the Nouvelle Revue française, he established the experimental Théâtre du Vieux Colombier in Paris (1913-24) in order to produce poetic drama of artistic worth. Ever in search of a more truthful and direct performance style,...

• Coquelin, Benoît Constant 1841-1909, French actor, known as Coquelin aîné [the elder]. He made his debut at the Comédie française in 1860 and achieved fame in classic comic roles, such as the valets...

• Cornell, Katharine 1898-1974, American actress, b. Berlin. Cornell made her debut in 1916 with the Washington Square Players. In 1921 she married Guthrie McClintic, a producer-director. From their first production...

• Coward, Sir Noël (Sir Noël Pierce Coward) , 1899-1973, English playwright, actor, composer, and director, b. Teddington, England. Coward gained prominence in 1924 acting in his The Vortex. He soon became synonymous with sophistication, wit, and a world-weary sentimentality. The characters in his 27 plays are usually wealthy and somewhat snobbish couples, who express themselves with...

• Crabtree, Lotta 1847-1924, American actress, b. New York City. A protégée of Lola Montez , she became, while still a child, a favorite in California mining camps with her sprightly singing, dancing, and reciting. In 1867 she scored her first success in New York City in a dramatization...

• Craig, Edward Gordon 1872-1966, English scene designer, producer, and actor. The son of Ellen Terry , Gordon Craig began acting with Henry Irving's Lyceum company (1885-97). Feeling that the realism in vogue was too limiting, he turned to scene design and developed new theories. He strove for the...

• Cushman, Charlotte Saunders 1816-76, one of the first outstanding American actresses, b. Boston. Cushman turned from opera to drama and in 1835 first played Lady Macbeth, the role in which she was said to be unequaled. Her...

• Daly, Arnold 1875-1927, American actor, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. He first appeared on the stage in 1892. Inspired by Richard Mansfield's production of The Devil's Disciple (1897-98), Daly determined to present Shaw on...

• Daly, Augustin 1838-99, American theatrical manager and dramatist, b. Plymouth, N.C. After 1859 he was drama critic for several New York City newspapers and adapted many plays from French and German. In 1867 he...

• Deburau, Jean Gaspard 1796-1846, French pantomime performer, whose original name was Jan Kaspar Dvorjak, b. Bohemia. He became famous for his introduction of the pantomime character Pierrot at the Théâtre des Funambules. With delicate charm and pathos, he captured the essence of the ever hopeful but always disappointed lover. He is the subject of a play by Sacha Guitry and of Marcel...

• Delsarte, François 1811-71, French teacher of acting and singing. He studied singing (1825-29) at the Paris Conservatoire and appeared as a tenor at the Opéra-Comique, but faulty training had damaged his voice...

• Dench, Dame Judi 1934-, British actress, b. York, England, as Judith Olivia Dench. She studied at the Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, London, and made her debut (1957) as Ophelia in the Old...

• Devrient, Ludwig 1784-1832, German actor. He abandoned a commercial career in 1804 to join a traveling theatrical company. In Berlin he was a favorite in comedy and tragedy, especially in the works of Shakespeare...

• D'Oyly Carte, Richard see Carte, Richard D'Oyly.

• Drake, Alfred 1914-92, American singer, actor, and director, b. New York City, originally named Alfred Capurro. Drake first appeared on stage in 1935 in The Mikado. The Broadway production of Oklahoma! (1943)...

• Draper, Ruth 1884-1956, American monologist, b. New York City. The author of 36 monologues, ranging from farce to tragedy, she played the various characters within each sketch with only a change of costume and...

• Drew, John 1827-62, American actor, b. Dublin. After establishing a reputation as a comedian in the 1840s, he devoted his energies to the Arch Street Theatre, Philadelphia, where he maintained a famous stock...

• Dullin, Charles 1885-1949, French actor, producer, and director. Dullin was an outstanding member of Copeau's Théâtre du Vieux Colombier. He organized and toured with his own group before opening the Théâtre de...

• Duse, Eleonora 1859-1924, Italian actress. From a theatrical family, she made a successful appearance at 14 as Juliet and in 1879 gained recognition in Emilé Zola's Thérèse Raquin. In 1893, in New York and London, her portrayal of Dumas's La Dame aux camélias was extraordinarily sensitive and deep. With her portrayal in 1895, in Paris, of Magda in Hermann Sudermann's Heimat, she became the only rival of Sarah Bernhardt. For some years a romantic attachment existed between Duse and the Italian poet Gabriele D'Annunzio , whose plays she was often the first to present and champion. She appeared in the film Cenere (1916), which she also directed. A great interpreter of Ibsen, she made her farewell appearance (1923) in his Lady from the Sea in New York. Duse's acting was characterized by simplicity, subtlety, and a lack of theatrical artifice. She excelled in emotional parts, and her dramatic power, however restrained, was tremendous...

• Evans, Dame Edith 1888-1976, English actress. After her stage debut in 1912, Evans toured with Ellen Terry. Known for her resonant voice, she worked with the Old Vic (1925-26) and had a distinguished career on the...

• Evans, Maurice 1901-89, Welsh-American actor. Evans came into prominence in 1928 and in 1934 was a leading man with the Old Vic. He first appeared on Broadway in 1936 in Romeo and Juliet with Katharine Cornell. Evans gained acclaim as a Shakespearean actor in such roles as King Richard II (1937), Hamlet (1938), and Macbeth (1941). He was also noted for his productions of Shaw's...

• Fay, Frank 1870-1931, and W. G. Fay, 1872-1947, brothers, both Irish actors. The Fay brothers formed the Irish National Theatre, an amateur group founded on the conviction that only Irish actors could perform in Irish plays. Around...

• Ferrer, José Vicente 1912-92, American actor, director, and producer, b. Santurce, Puerto Rico. Ferrer made his debut in 1935 and in 1940 gained acclaim in Charley's Aunt and again in 1943 playing Iago to Paul Robeson's...

• Fields, Lew see Weber and Fields.

• Fiske, Minnie Maddern 1865-1932, American actress, b. New Orleans. Born of a family of actors, she spent her childhood on the stage. In 1890 she married Harrison Grey Fiske, editor of the New York Dramatic Mirror, appearing thereafter under his management. Her roles in A Doll's House (1894) and later Ghosts and Hedda Gabler established Fiske as one of the greatest interpreters of the intellectual drama of her time. Her Becky Sharp and Tess of the D'Urbervilles were particularly admired, although she was best loved as...

• Fo, Dario 1926-, Italian playwright, actor, and director, b. Leggiuno Sangiano. Fo developed a sharp and irreverent satirical farce that is influenced by Bertholt Brecht and Antonio Gramsci as well as traditional commedia dell'arte (although less formal than the latter). Inspired by the circus and carnivals, his theater uses slapstick, puns, ridicule, and parody to explore social and political issues and to criticize...

• Fontanne, Lynn see Lunt, Alfred, and Lynn Fontanne.

• Forbes-Robertson, Sir Johnston 1853-1937, English actor-manager. He was trained by Samuel Phelps, made his first appearance in 1874, and thereafter performed with the Bancrofts (1878), John Hare, and Henry Irving (1882). His...

• Forrest, Edwin 1806-72, American actor, b. Philadelphia. He was the first national idol of the American theater. He appeared at 14 as Young Norval in Home's Douglas and gained experience supporting Edmund Kean in Shakespearean roles. His New York debut (1826) as Othello established Forrest as one of the century's great tragedians. His acting was bold and...

• Friel, Brian 1929-, Irish playwright, b. Killyglogher, Northern Ireland. Treating themes that enmesh both Irelands, he has become the most acclaimed contemporary Irish dramatist. Friel's family moved to Derry...

• Frohman, Charles 1860-1915, American theatrical manager and producer, b. Sandusky, Ohio. Starting his career as a box-office clerk in Brooklyn, N.Y., Frohman became a successful producer with Bronson Howard's Shenandoah (1889). In 1893 he organized the Empire Theatre Stock Company. Soon he acquired five other New York City theaters and later headed the Theatrical Syndicate. He was known for his ability to develop...

• Garrick, David 1717-79, English actor, manager, and dramatist. He was indisputably the greatest English actor of the 18th cent., and his friendships with Diderot, Samuel Johnson, Oliver Goldsmith, and other...

• Geddes, Norman Bel see Bel Geddes, Norman.

• Gielgud, Sir John (Arthur John Gielgud) , 1904-2000, English actor, director, and producer. A grandnephew of Ellen Terry , Gielgud made his debut at the Old Vic in 1921. His intelligence, sensitivity, fine voice, and ability to interpret both classic and modern playwrights established him as one of the finest actors...

• Gillette, William 1853-1937, American actor and dramatist, b. Hartford, Conn. His New York debut in Mark Twain's Gilded Age (1877) was shortly followed by his own first play, The Professor (1881). In the same year Esmeralda, written with Frances Hodgson Burnett, established his success. Held by the Enemy (1886) was the first of his popular Civil War plays, the second being Secret Service (1896). Both won him high personal praise. With Sherlock Holmes (1899), however, Gillette scored his lasting triumph, creating a play and a character with which he was permanently associated. He was one of the first to profess that an actor should build his...

• Gordon, Ruth 1896-1985, American actress and playwright, b. Wollaston, Mass. From her debut as Nibs in Peter Pan (1915), Gordon's career encompassed broad stage and film experience. Among the plays she wrote are...

• Grimaldi, Joseph 1779-1837, English pantomime actor and clown. He made his debut at the age of three in Robinson Crusoe at Sadler's Wells, London. For many years he performed there and at Drury Lane. By the time he...

• Grotowski, Jerzy 1933-99, Polish stage director and theatrical theorist. Grotowski was founder and director of the small but influential Polish Laboratory Theatre (1959). He propounded a "poor theatre," which eliminates all nonessentials, i.e., costumes, sound effects, makeup, sets, lighting, and strictly defined playing area, in an effort to redefine the relation between actors and the audience...

• Guitry, Lucien Germain 1860-1925, French actor and producer. Guitry succeeded Coquelin as France's most versatile actor. He made his debut in 1878 in La Dame aux camélias and then played nine years at the Michel...

• Guthrie, Sir Tyrone 1900-1971, English stage director, playwright, and writer. Guthrie directed the Scottish National Players (1926-28), the Festival Theatre, Cambridge (1929-30), and the Old Vic-Sadler's Wells...

• Gwyn, Nell (Eleanor Gwyn), 1650-87, English actress. Once an orange-seller at the Theatre Royal, she became a member of Killigrew's company, making her debut there in 1665. Her charm and vivacity in comic...

• Hallam, Lewis c.1714-1756, Anglo-American actor and manager of the first professional theatrical company in the United States. He arrived from England with his company in 1752 and opened at Williamsburg, Va.,...

• Hampden, Walter 1879-1955, American actor, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., whose original name was Walter Hampden Dougherty. He made his first appearance in London in 1901. Returning to the United States in 1907, he supported...

• Hare, Sir John 1844-1921, English actor-manager, whose original name was John Fairs. From 1856 to 1874 he was a prominent actor with the Bancrofts' company in the plays of Tom Robertson. He managed (1875-79) the...

• Harris, Julie 1925-, American actress, b. Grosse Point, Mich. Harris made her New York debut in It's a Gift (1945). Her versatility and power have won her enormous critical acclaim. Outstanding among her many stage...

• Harrison, Rex 1908-90, English actor. Born Reginald Carey, he entered repertory theater at 16 as an apprentice. Harrison, noted for his suave, insouciant style, has appeared in many plays, including Anne of the Thousand...

• Hayes, Helen 1900-1993, American actress, b. Washington, D.C., as Helen Hayes Brown. She made her New York stage debut at the age of nine. Performances in Caesar and Cleopatra (1925), and Mary of Scotland (1933)...

• Held, Anna 1873?-1918, American musical comedy actress, b. Paris. She is remembered for her beauty and charm and for her tempestuous off-stage life. After she had small singing and dancing parts in Paris,...

• Henslowe, Philip c.1550-1616, English businessman and theatrical manager. Although he managed the Rose Theatre, Bankside, London, and the Fortune Theatre, Cripplegate, London, he is best remembered for his...

• Holt, Helen Maud see Tree, Sir Herbert Beerbohm.

• Houdin, Jean Eugène Robert or Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin , 1805-71, French conjurer and magician. Originally a clockmaker, he was celebrated for his optical illusions and mechanical devices and for his attributing his...

• Houdini, Harry 1874-1926, American magician and writer, b. Budapest, Hungary. His real name was Erich Weiss; he took his stage name after the French magician Houdin. He was famed for his escapes from bonds of every sort—locks, handcuffs, straitjackets, and sealed chests underwater. While his stage magic skills were limited, Houdini was famously the originator...

• Hurok, Sol 1888-1974, American impresario, b. Russia. Emigrating to the United States in 1906, Hurok was a peddler, streetcar conductor, bottlewasher, and hardware salesman before becoming the foremost...

• Irving, Sir Henry 1838-1905, English actor and manager, originally named John Henry Brodribb. He made his debut in 1856 and achieved fame in 1871 with his portrayal of Mathias in Leopold Lewis's The Bells, a role he often repeated. Irving managed the Lyceum Theatre, London, from 1878 to 1903, and with Ellen Terry as his leading lady, dominated the English stage. He was a champion of the star system;...

• Jackson, Glenda 1936-, English actress and politician. Jackson's first starring role was as Charlotte Corday in Marat/Sade (1966) for the Royal Shakespeare Company. A strong personality, she has excelled in both...

• Jefferson, Joseph 1829-1905, American actor. He was the foremost of an old and distinguished family of English and American actors. Jefferson spent the first 20 years of his life as a strolling player. His fame came...

• Jolson, Al 1888-1950, American entertainer, whose original name was Asa Yoelson, b. Russia. He emigrated to the United States c.1895. The son of a rabbi, Jolson first planned to become a cantor but soon...

• Jones, James Earl 1931-, American actor, b. Tate co., Miss. Jones achieved Broadway stardom with his powerful portrayal of the fighter Jack Johnson in The Great White Hope (1968). He made his stage debut at the Univ....

• Jones, Robert Edmond 1887-1954, American scene designer, b. Milton, N.H. With his design in 1915 for The Man Who Married a Dumb Wife, a new era of scene design began in the United States. His use of color and dramatic lighting enhanced his imaginative sets. Some of Jones's most notable designs were for Macbeth, Richard III, Hamlet (for John Barrymore), and The Green Pastures. After work with the Washington Square Players, he joined Kenneth Macgowan at the Greenwich Village Theatre; working in conjunction with the Provincetown Players, he created sets for the plays of...

• Jouvet, Louis 1887-1951, French actor, producer, and director. A member of Copeau's Théâtre du Vieux Colombier after 1913, he left in 1922 to organize his own theater. He was director of the Comédie des Champs...

• Kazan, Elia 1909-2003, American stage and film director, producer, writer, actor, b. Turkey, as Elia Kazanjoglous. Immigrating with his Greek family to the United States in 1913, Kazan studied at Williams...

• Kean, Edmund 1787?-1833, English actor. Kean's acting expressed the ideal of the romantic temperament. A small man with a wild spirit and a gruff voice, he was lauded for his facial mobility; according to...

• Keene, Laura c.1826-1873, Anglo-American actress-manager, b. England. She played with Mme Vestris at the Lyceum, London. She emigrated to the United States in 1852 and became manager (1855) of Laura Keene's...

• Kemble, Adelaide see under Kemble, Roger.

• Kemble, Charles see under Kemble, Roger.

• Kemble, Elizabeth see under Kemble, Roger.

• Kemble, Fanny see under Kemble, Roger.

• Kemble, George Stephen see under Kemble, Roger.

• Kemble, John Philip see under Kemble, Roger.

• Kemble, Roger 1721-1802, English actor and manager. During his years as the leader of a traveling company, he married (1753) Sarah Wood, 1735-1806, an actress. They had 12 children, thus founding one of the most distinguished families of actors ever to grace the English stage. Five of their children became famous; the best known of...

• Kemble, Sarah see Siddons, Sarah Kemble.

• Kushner, Tony 1956-, American playwright, b. New York City. Educated at Columbia and New York Univ., he was a little-known off-Broadway playwright with several interesting works, e.g., Yes, Yes, No, No (1985) and A Bright Room Called Day (1987), to his credit when his Angels in America (1991-92) burst on the theatrical scene. This two-part, seven-hour, Pulitzer Prize- and Tony-winning drama of life in the age of AIDS mingles the political, personal, and universal in its treatment of such apparently disparate elements as gay and straight relationships, the Mormon faith, Roy Cohn, Ethel Rosenberg (see Rosenberg Case ), disease, love, and death. The play was adapted into an Emmy-winning television drama (2002), directed by Mike Nichols. Hailed as a major talent, Kushner has been praised for his intelligence, wit, and humanity. Since Angels he has written Slavs! (1994), an ironic political fantasia; Homebody/Kabul (2001), a linguistically rich drama centered about an imaginary and a real Afghanistan; and Caroline, or Change (2004), a semiautobiographical musical that focuses on issues of race and class. Inspired by a 1942 Czech opera performed by children at the Theresienstadt concentration camp, Kushner supplied the...

• Lahr, Bert 1895-1967, American comic actor, b. New York City, originally named Irving Lahrheim. Lahr first performed in burlesque and vaudeville, where he became known for his morose facial expression. After...

• Langtry, Lillie 1853-1929, English actress, b. Jersey, Channel Islands; known as the Jersey Lily. One of the first English women of elevated social rank to go on the stage, she made her debut at the Haymarket...

• Lawrence, Gertrude 1902?-1952, English actress and singer. Her original name was Gertrud Alexandra Dagmar Lawrence-Klasen. Performing on the musical stage from childhood, Lawrence made her New York debut (1924) in Charlot's...

• Le Gallienne, Eva 1899-1991, American actress, producer, director, and translator, b. London; daughter of poet Richard Le Gallienne. She made her debut in London in 1915 and in New York City the next year. She...

• Lecouvreur, Adrienne 1692-1730, French actress. With Michel Baron she helped change the traditional acting techniques of the French stage to a simpler, more natural style. She was extremely popular from her debut at the Comédie Française in 1717. Her love for...

• Leigh, Vivien see under Olivier, Laurence Kerr, Baron Olivier of Brighton.

• Lekain 1728-78, French actor, whose original names was Henri Louis Cain. In 1750 he made his debut at the Comédie Française and became a protégé of Voltaire. Together with Mlle Clairon, he took steps to introduce simple, realistic acting and historically accurate costuming. Because of the low status accorded to actors in his time, Lekain served three...

• Lemaître, Frédérick 1800-1876, French actor, originally named Antoine Louis Prosper Lemaître. First known in pantomimes and melodramas, he gained fame (1823) for his creation of the part of Robert Macaire in L'Auberge...

• Lenya, Lotte 1898-1981, Viennese singer and character actress, b. Caroline Blamauer. The wife of the composer Kurt Weill , Lenya was the foremost singer of his songs. She and Weill fled Germany in 1933 to work...

• Lillie, Beatrice (Lady Peel), 1898-1989, British comedienne, b. Toronto, Ont. as Constance Munston. Lillie first performed in London in 1914 and in New York in 1924. She won an international reputation for her...

• Logan, Joshua 1908-88, American theatrical and film director and writer, b. Texarkana, Tex. He directed several successes in New York, including Knickerbocker Holiday (1938) and Annie Get Your Gun (1946). Later...

• Lunt, Alfred, and Lynn Fontanne 1887?-1983, b. Essex, England, American acting couple. Lunt made his debut in Boston (1913), toured in vaudeville, and won fame in Booth Tarkington's Clarence in 1919. Fontanne made her London debut in 1905 and her first appearance in New York City in 1910. The couple were married in 1922 and appeared together (1924-29) in many Theatre Guild productions,...

• MacKaye, Steele (James Morrison Steele MacKaye), 1842-94, American dramatist and inventor in theatrical scene design. After studying in Europe he went to the United States (c.1872) and first appeared in New York...

• Macklin, Charles 1697?-1797, English actor and dramatist, whose original name was Charles McLaughlin, b. Ireland. He began his career as a strolling player. His style of acting was radically different from the...

• Macready, William Charles 1793-1873, English actor and manager. The son of a provincial manager, he first appeared as Romeo in his father's company in 1810. His London debut (1816) was as Orestes in The Distressed Mother. With his portrayal of Richard III at Covent Garden in 1819, Macready established himself as a tragedian of the first rank and the only rival to Edmund Kean. Although he was at his best in the plays...

• Malina, Judith see Beck, Julian.

• Marceau, Marcel 1923-, French mime. Marceau studied under Charles Dullin and Étienne Decroux in Paris. He gained renown in 1947 with the creation of Bip, a sad, white-faced clown with a tall, battered hat. Marceau and his Compagnie de Mimodrame have performed frequently...

• March, Fredric 1897-1975, American actor, b. Racine, Wis., as Frederick McIntyre Bickel. Equally distinguished on stage and screen, he won Academy Awards for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1932) and The Best Years of Our Lives (1947). Originally cast as the dashing hero because of his good looks, March's later roles took advantage of his powerful screen presence and his ability to express the weaknesses in seemingly...

• Martin, Mary 1913-90, American musical comedy star, b. Weatherford, Tex. From Martin's first stage appearance in Leave It to Me (1938), she starred in several enormously successful musicals, including One Touch...

• Merman, Ethel 1909-84, American musical comedy star, b. Astoria, N.Y., originally named Ethel Zimmerman. Merman's theater debut was in Girl Crazy (1930). Noted for her booming voice, she has appeared on Broadway...

• Merrick, David 1912-2000, American theatrical producer, b. St. Louis, Mo., as David Margulois. Merrick began his remarkably successful series of theatrical productions in 1954 with Fanny, his first Broadway musical....

• Meyerhold, Vsevolod 1874-1940?, Russian theatrical director and producer. Meyerhold led the revolt against naturalism in the Russian theater. Working with the Moscow Art Theatre, he experimented with his own...

• Mielziner, Jo 1901-76, American theatrical scene designer, b. Paris. Mielziner made his Broadway design debut in 1924 with The Guardsman. He designed sets, and usually the lighting, for more than 200 productions, including Strange Interlude, Carousel, A Streetcar Named Desire, Death of a Salesman, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, the film Picnic, and the ballet Who Cares? The most influential set designer of his time, he often utilized scrims and multiple playing areas that allowed the action to flow seamlessly from one setting to another. During World War II, he...

• Miller, Jonathan Wolfe 1934-, English director, actor, writer, and physician. Forsaking medicine, Miller made his first London (1961) and New York (1962) stage appearances as coauthor and actor in the zany satirical revue Beyond the Fringe. Miller directed The Old Glory in New York and Danton's Death, The School for Scandal, and The Merchant of Venice for the National Theatre. He has written and directed radio shows, written theater and art criticism, and in 1969 toured the United States as director of the Oxford and Cambridge Shakespeare...

• Modjeska, Helena 1844-1909, Polish actress who achieved fame in the United States primarily for her Shakespearean interpretations. After initial acclaim in Warsaw, she emigrated in 1876 to the United States with...

• Mostel, Zero 1915-77, American actor, b. New York City as Samuel Joel Mostel. Mostel made his Broadway debut in Keep 'Em Laughing (1942). A comic actor with an expressive face, he combined a large paunch with...

• Mulholland, John 1898-1970, American magician, b. Chicago, Ill. Mulholland came to be one of the most celebrated of stage performers of magic. Among his written works are Quicker than the Eye (1932), Story of Magic...

• Muni, Paul 1895-1967, American actor, b. Austria, whose original name was Muni Weisenfreund. His parents brought him to the United States in 1902 and from 1903 to 1913 toured with him in vaudeville. Turning...

• Murrow, Edward Roscoe 1908-65, American news broadcaster, b. Greensboro, N.C. He joined the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) in 1935 and became its European director two years later, assembling and training a news...

• Nazimova, Alla 1879-1945, Russian-American actress. She turned from music to drama, studying with Stanislavsky and later appearing at the Moscow Art Theater. In 1905 she emigrated to New York City and played Russian roles in her native tongue. She made her English-speaking debut (1906) in Ibsen's Hedda Gabler and thereafter became the foremost interpreter of Ibsen in the United States. In 1910 she took over the Thirty-Ninth Street Theatre, which was renamed the Nazimova. She gave memorable performances...

• Nemirovich-Danchenko, Vladimir 1859-1943, Russian stage director, cofounder and director of the Moscow Art Theater. Prior to his historical meeting with Constantin Stanislavsky in 1897, he was an actor, war correspondent, novelist,...

• Oakley, Annie 1860-1926, American theatrical performer, b. Darke co., Ohio. Her original name was Phoebe Anne Oakley Mozee. From childhood on she was a "dead shot" with a rifle. She defeated in contest the noted marksman and vaudeville star Frank E. Butler, who subsequently married her and became her manager and assistant. As a major attraction (1885-1902) of...

• Oldfield, Anne 1683-1730, English actress. The successor of Mrs. Bracegirdle, she first won acclaim in 1704 for her brilliant portrayal of Lady Modish in Colley Cibber's Careless Husband. She had a triumphant career in both tragedy and comedy, being noted for her majestic and powerful style. Her portrayal of Jane Shore in Rowe's drama was particularly admired. She is buried in...

• Olivier, Laurence Kerr, Baron Olivier of Brighton 1907-89, English actor, director, and producer. He made his stage debut at Stratford-on-Avon in 1922 and soon achieved renown through his work with the Old Vic company. Noted for his remarkable...

• Papp, Joseph 1921-91, American theatrical director and producer, b. New York City as Joseph Papirofsky. Papp, a major influence in American theater, founded the nonprofit New York Shakespeare Festival in 1954...

• Pastor, Tony c.1837-1908, American theater manager, b. New York City. Pastor appeared on the stage from childhood and became an experienced acrobat, dancer, and singer. He opened his first theater at 444...

• Perry, Antoinette 1888-1946, American actress, manager, producer, b. Denver, Colo. Perry began her career as an actress. She later produced several successful plays with Brock Pemberton, including Strictly Dishonorable, Personal Appearance, and Kiss the Boys Goodbye. Perry was noted for helping young people who were attempting theatrical careers. She was a founder of the American Theater Wing, which presents the annual Antoinette Perry (Tony) Awards in her...