Robert Whitehead (March 3, 1916 – June 15, 2002) was a Canadian theatre producer. His first production was Medea, starring Judith Anderson and John Gielgud, and he won the Outer Critics Circle Award five times.Outer Critics Circle Awards He was nominated for 19 Tony and Drama Desk Awards, winning 4 Tony Awards and 5 Drama Desk Awards.DramaDesk.org retrieved January 26, 2015
Early life Whitehead was born in Montreal on March 3, 1916. Whitehead's father owned textile mills, and his mother, Selena Mary LaBatt Whitehead, was an opera singer. Her family owned LaBatt brewery. The actor Hume Cronyn was Whitehead's cousin on the LaBatt side. The two shared a love of theatre as children.
After attending Trinity College School in Port Hope, Ontario, he moved to New York and studied acting. In 1938, he began work at the Barter Theater in Abingdon, Virginia where he worked as an actor, stage manager and built scenery.
He spent the Second World War years as an ambulance driver in North Africa and Italy.
Theater producing career After the war, Whitehead became the producer of Medea, by Robinson Jeffers. The play opened on Broadway in 1947 and starred Judith Anderson and John Gielgud. Following that production, Whitehead produced a dramatization of Crime and Punishment, also on Broadway. The two productions cemented Whitehead's reputation as a producer of successful, critically-acclaimed Broadway productions.
Whitehead's work was marked by collaborations with artist whose own careers were enhanced by their association with him. Among the playwrights Whitehead worked with were Arthur Miller, Carson McCullers, William Inge, Terence Rattigan, Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Tennessee Williams, Tom Stoppard and Terrence McNally. Among the well-known actors Whitehead cast in his productions were Lillian Gish, Julie Harris, Ethel Waters, Ralph Richardson, Kim Stanley, Helen Hayes, Alfred Lunt, Lynn Fontanne, Katharine Hepburn, Paul Scofield, Jason Robards, and Dustin Hoffman.
In 1949, Whitehead collaborated with director Harold Clurman on the Broadway production of The Member of the Wedding. Over the years, they worked on successful productions of Bus Stop, Orpheus Descending, The Waltz of the Toreadors, A Touch of the Poet, The Time of the Cuckoo and Incident at Vichy.
Whitehead had a long-term association with fellow producer Roger L. Stevens. They formed The Producers Theatre. From 1960 to 1964, Whitehead was co-artistic director of the new Repertory Theatre of Lincoln Center with Elia Kazan. Clurman was literary adviser.
In his New York Times obituary, Whitehead was referred to as "debonair and distinguished." The Guardian called him "dapper, urbane." Terrence McNally, in a 2002 New York Times piece, said he was "unarguably America's greatest living theatrical producer."
Honors In 2002, Whitehead was given a special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement Achievement in the Theater. Whitehead and Clurman were jointly honored by the Stella Adler Studio of Action in 2002 when two adjoining studios were named for them. The Broadway League's Commercial Theater Institute gives an annual award for "Outstanding Achievement in Commercial Theater Producing" which is named for Robert Whitehead.Commercial Theater Institute
Personal life Whitehead's first wife, Virginia, died in 1965. In 1968, Whitehead married Zoe Caldwell. They were introduced by Cronyn. She later starred in Whitehead's production of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie among others. Whitehead had two sons, Sam, a theater critic, and Charlie, also in theater production. They lived in Manhattan and Pound Ridge, New York.
Broadway productions Reference:
Master Class - Nov 05, 1995 - Jun 29, 1997 Broken Glass - Apr 24, 1994 - Jun 26, 1994 Park Your Car in Harvard Yard - Nov 07, 1991 - Feb 22, 1992 The Speed of Darkness - Feb 28, 1991 - Mar 30, 1991 Artist Descending a Staircase - Nov 30, 1989 - Dec 31, 1989 A Few Good Men - Nov 15, 1989 - Jan 26, 1991 The Petition - Apr 24, 1986 - Jun 29, 1986 Lillian - Jan 16, 1986 - Feb 23, 1986 Death of a Salesman - Sep 14, 1984 - Nov 18, 1984 Death of a Salesman - Mar 29, 1984 - Jul 01, 1984 Medea - May 2, 1982 - Jun 27, 1982 The West Side Waltz - Nov 19, 1981 - Mar 13, 1982 Lunch Hour - Nov 12, 1980 - Jun 28, 1981 Betrayal - Jan 05, 1980 - May 31, 1980 Carmelina - Apr 08, 1979 - Apr 21, 1979 Bedroom Farce - Mar 29, 1979 - Nov 24, 1979 No Man's Land - Nov 09, 1976 - Dec 18, 1976 A Texas Trilogy: The Oldest Living Graduate - Sep 23, 1976 - Oct 29, 1976 A Texas Trilogy: The Last Meeting of the Knights of the White Magnolia - Sep 22, 1976 - Oct 31, 1976 A Texas Trilogy: Lu Ann Hampton Laverty Oberlander - Sep 21, 1976 - Oct 30, 1976 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue - May 4, 1976 - May 8, 1976 A Matter of Gravity - Feb 03, 1976 - Apr 10, 1976 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - Sep 24, 1974 - Feb 08, 1975 Finishing Touches - Feb 08, 1973 - Jun 30, 1973 The Creation of the World and Other Business - Nov 30, 1972 - Dec 16, 1972 Old Times - Nov 16, 1971 - Feb 26, 1972 Sheep on the Runway - Jan 31, 1970 - May 2, 1970 The Price - Feb 07, 1968 - Feb 15, 1969 The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie - Jan 16, 1968 - Dec 14, 1968 Where's Daddy? - Mar 02, 1966 - Mar 19, 1966 Tartuffe - Jan 14, 1965 - May 22, 1965 Incident at Vichy - Dec 03, 1964 - May 7, 1965 The Changeling - Oct 29, 1964 - Dec 23, 1964 The Physicists - Oct 13, 1964 - Nov 28, 1964 But For Whom Charlie - Mar 12, 1964 - Jul 02, 1964 Marco Millions - Feb 20, 1964 - Jun 18, 1964 Foxy - Feb 16, 1964 - Apr 18, 1964 After The Fall - Jan 23, 1964 - May 29, 1965 A Man for All Seasons - Nov 22, 1961 - Jun 01, 1963 Midgie Purvis - Feb 01, 1961 - Feb 18, 1961 The Conquering Hero - Jan 16, 1961 - Jan 21, 1961 Much Ado About Nothing - Sep 17, 1959 - Nov 07, 1959 The Cold Wind and the Warm - Dec 08, 1958 - Mar 21, 1959 The Man in the Dog Suit - Oct 30, 1958 - Nov 29, 1958 Goldilocks - Oct 11, 1958 - Feb 28, 1959 A Touch of the Poet - Oct 02, 1958 - Jun 13, 1959 The Visit - May 5, 1958 - Nov 29, 1958 The Waltz of the Toreadors - Mar 04, 1958 - Mar 29, 1958 The Day the Money Stopped - Feb 20, 1958 - Feb 22, 1958 Orpheus Descending - Mar 21, 1957 - May 18, 1957 A Hole in the Head - Feb 28, 1957 - Jul 13, 1957 The Waltz of the Toreadors - Jan 17, 1957 - May 11, 1957 The Sleeping Prince - Nov 01, 1956 - Dec 22, 1956 Major Barbara - Oct 30, 1956 - May 18, 1957 Separate Tables - Oct 25, 1956 - Sep 28, 1957 Tamburlaine the Great - Jan 19, 1956 - Feb 04, 1956 Joyce Grenfell Requests the Pleasure... - Oct 10, 1955 - Dec 03, 1955 A View From the Bridge / A Memory of Two Mondays - Sep 29, 1955 - Feb 04, 1956 The Skin of Our Teeth - Aug 17, 1955 - Sep 03, 1955 Bus Stop - Mar 02, 1955 - Apr 21, 1956 The Flowering Peach - Dec 28, 1954 - Apr 23, 1955 Portrait of a Lady - Dec 21, 1954 - Dec 25, 1954 The Confidential Clerk - Feb 11, 1954 - May 22, 1954 The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker - Dec 30, 1953 - Jul 10, 1954 The Emperor's Clothes - Feb 09, 1953 - Feb 21, 1953 Sunday Breakfast - May 28, 1952 - Jun 08, 1952 Four Saints in Three Acts - Apr 16, 1952 - Apr 27, 1952 Golden Boy - Mar 12, 1952 - Apr 06, 1952 Mrs. McThing - Feb 20, 1952 - Jan 10, 1953 Night Music - Apr 08, 1951 - Apr 14, 1951 The Member of the Wedding - Jan 05, 1950 - Mar 17, 1951 Crime and Punishment - Dec 22, 1947 - Jan 24, 1948 Medea - Oct 20, 1947 - May 15, 1948 Heart of a City - Feb 12, 1942 - Mar 07, 1942 Mr. Big - Sep 30, 1941 - Oct 04, 1941 Steel - Dec 19, 1939 - Dec 30, 1939 Cure For Matrimony - Oct 25, 1939 - Nov 25, 1939
Awards and nominations
1996 Tony Award Best Play -Master Class - winner 1996 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Play -Master Class - winner 1994 Tony Award Best Play -Broken Glass - nominee 1984 Tony Award Best Reproduction -Death of a Salesman - winner 1984 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Revival -Death of a Salesman - winner 1979 Tony Award Best Play -Bedroom Farce - nominee 1977 Drama Desk Award Outstanding New Play (American) -A Texas Trilogy: Lu Ann Hampton Laverty Oberlander - winner 1977 Drama Desk Award Outstanding New Play (American) -A Texas Trilogy: The Last Meeting of the Knights of the White Magnolia - winner 1977 Drama Desk Award Outstanding New Play (American) -A Texas Trilogy: The Oldest Living Graduate - winner 1977 Drama Desk Award Outstanding New Play (Foreign) -No Man's Land - nominee 1968 Tony Award Best Play -The Price - nominee 1965 Tony Award Best Producer of a Play -Tartuffe - nominee 1962 Tony Award Best Play -A Man for All Seasons - winner 1962 Tony Award Best Producer of a Play -A Man for All Seasons - winner 1959 Tony Award Best Play -A Touch of the Poet - nominee 1959 Tony Award Best Play -The Visit - nominee 1957 Tony Award Best Play -The Waltz of the Toreadors - nominee 1957 Tony Award Best Play -Separate Tables - nominee 1956 Tony Award Best Play -Bus Stop - nominee Reference:
References
External links
Obituary of Robert Whitehead The Independent "Robert Whitehead, Who Brought Top Playwrights to Broadway, Dies at 86" by Mel Gussow The New York Times June 17, 2002