Eugene Clair "Gene" Persson (January 12, 1934 – June 6, 2008) was an American actor, theatrical and film producer,
best known for his work as the co-producer and co-creator of the original 1967 production of the
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
musical comedy
Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...
, ''
You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown
''You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown'' is a 1967 musical with music and lyrics by Clark Gesner and (in a 1999 revision) Andrew Lippa. It is based on the characters created by cartoonist Charles M. Schulz in his comic strip ''Peanuts''. The musical ...
'', as well as the show's 1999
Broadway revival
A revival is a restaging of a stage production after its original run has closed. New material may be added. A filmed version is said to be an adaptation and requires writing of a screenplay. Revivals are common in Broadway theatre
Broa ...
, which won two
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...
s.
[
]
Early life and career
Gene Persson was born in Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California.
Incorporate ...
the son of Oscar Persson and Leah Krascoff. He began his career in entertainment as a child actor on radio, television and film,[ including one of the kids in '']Ma and Pa Kettle
Ma and Pa Kettle are comic film characters of the successful film series of the same name, produced by Universal Studios, in the late 1940s and 1950s. The hillbilly duo had their hands full with a ramshackle farm and a brood of rambunctious child ...
'' (1949) and two of its followups. He returned to acting after having served in the United States military
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is th ...
during the Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
, appearing in B movies, including Paramount Pictures' ''The Party Crashers
''The Party Crashers'' is a 1958 American drama film directed by Bernard Girard and written by Bernard Girard and Dan Lundberg. The film stars Mark Damon, Bobby Driscoll (in his last feature film role), Connie Stevens, Frances Farmer (in her las ...
'' (1958), as well as ''Earth vs. the Spider
''Earth vs. the Spider'' (a.k.a. ''The Spider'') is an independently made 1958 American black-and-white science fiction horror film produced and directed by Bert I. Gordon, who also provided the plot upon which the screenplay by George Wort ...
'' (1958) and '' Bloodlust!'' (1961).[
]
Producer
Persson married actress Shirley Knight
Shirley Knight Hopkins (July 5, 1936 – April 22, 2020) was an American actress who appeared in more than 50 feature films, television films, television series, and Broadway and Off-Broadway productions in her career, playing leading and charac ...
in 1959.[ He soon began switching his career focus from acting to producing around the time of his marriage.][ In 1964 their daughter Kaitlin was born, He began producing plays in New York City and Los Angeles in which Knight held a starring position.][ Their joint productions included early plays by LeRoi Jones, who is also known as Amiri Baraka, such as ''The Slave'', ''The Toilet'' and '' Dutchman''.][ Their Broadway plays later included ]Stanley Mann
Stanley Mann (August 8, 1928 – January 11, 2016) was a Canadian screenwriter. Born in Toronto, Ontario, he began his writing career in 1951 at CBC Radio, and was nominated for an Oscar for his work on the 1965 film '' The Collector'', based on ...
's ''Room''.[ He also produced a controversial play entitled '' The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald'' on Broadway in 1967.][
On screen, Persson produced '' Dutchman'' with ]Anthony Harvey
Anthony Harvey (3 June 1930 – 23 November 2017) was an English filmmaker who began his career as a teenage actor, was a film editor in the 1950s and moved into directing in the mid-1960s. Harvey had fifteen film credits as an editor, and he ...
, who was a first time director at the time of production.[ The film, which starred Shirley Knight and ]Al Freeman Jr.
Albert Cornelius Freeman Jr. (March 21, 1934 – August 9, 2012) was an American actor, director, and educator. A life member of The Actors Studio, Freeman appeared in a wide variety of plays, ranging from Leroi Jones' ''Slave/Toilet'' to Joe P ...
, is still screened at film festivals and museums today, according to ''Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
''.
Knight and Persson later divorced in 1969, but remained lifelong personal and professional friends.[ Their daughter was raised by Knight's second husband, the English writer John Hopkins.
Persson moved to ]London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
in 1969.[ There he produced a total of five plays for British playwright Peter Barnes, including '' The Ruling Class''.][ He later collaborated with ]Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the thr ...
during the 1970s to produce the British revival of ''The Glass Menagerie
''The Glass Menagerie'' is a memory play by Tennessee Williams that premiered in 1944 and catapulted Williams from obscurity to fame. The play has strong autobiographical elements, featuring characters based on its author, his Histrionic persona ...
'' as well as ''The Red Devil Battery Sign
''The Red Devil Battery Sign'' is a three-act play by American writer Tennessee Williams. He copyrighted the text in 1975 for its premiere in Boston, but revised the play in 1979; that later version was published by New Directions in 1988.
Syno ...
'', both of which were produced in the United Kingdom.[ Persson and Williams also teamed up to bring '' An Evening with Tennessee Williams'' and '']This Is This Is... may refer to:
* This Is... (book series), a series of children's travel books by Miroslav Sasek
* This Is... (TV series), a British entertainment show
* This Is... Icona Pop, an album by Icona Pop
* This Is...24-7 Spyz!, an EP by 24- ...
'' to San Francisco.[
In 1972 he married Ruby Persson and they had two sons: Lukas and Markus.
]
Charlie Brown productions
Persson and Arthur Whitelaw co-produced and co-created ''You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown
''You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown'' is a 1967 musical with music and lyrics by Clark Gesner and (in a 1999 revision) Andrew Lippa. It is based on the characters created by cartoonist Charles M. Schulz in his comic strip ''Peanuts''. The musical ...
'' in 1967.[ The musical was based on the Peanuts characters created by cartoonist ]Charles M. Schulz
Charles Monroe "Sparky" Schulz (; November 26, 1922 – February 12, 2000) was an American cartoonist and the creator of the comic strip ''Peanuts'', featuring what are probably his two best-known characters, Charlie Brown and Snoopy. He is wi ...
. The book in which they and their creative team adapted the musical was by John Gordon, which was a pseudonym.[ According to ]Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
, Persson's musical "has gone on to be one of the most produced musicals ever."[ Persson later returned as the producer of the 1999 Broadway revival of ''You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown''.][ The show earned two ]Tony Awards
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual c ...
in 1999.
Persson also produced the 1973 television special of the original musical, ''You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown
''You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown'' is a 1967 musical with music and lyrics by Clark Gesner and (in a 1999 revision) Andrew Lippa. It is based on the characters created by cartoonist Charles M. Schulz in his comic strip ''Peanuts''. The musical ...
'' for the Hallmark Hall of Fame.[ Persson continued to produce stage productions for much of the next decade.][ Among these included the Peanuts musical comedy '']Snoopy!!! The Musical
''Snoopy: The Musical'' is a musical comedy with music by Larry Grossman, lyrics by Hal Hackady, and a book by Warren Lockhart, Arthur Whitelaw, and Michael Grace. The characters are from the Charles M. Schulz comic strip ''Peanuts''. This sequ ...
'', which he both directed and produced.[
Persson was working on a musical stage version of the 1965 television holiday classic, '' A Charlie Brown Christmas'', at the time of his death in 2008.][
]
Death
Gene Persson died of a heart attack in Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
on June 6, 2008, at the age of 74.[ He was survived by his wife of 36 years, actress and artist Ruby Persson, and his three children, ]Kaitlin Hopkins
Kaitlin Persson Hopkins (born February 1, 1964) is an American actress and singer, the daughter of actress Shirley Knight and stage producer/director Gene Persson.
Biography
Hopkins was born in New York City to actress Shirley Knight and ac ...
, an actress; Lukas Persson, a filmmaker and writer; and Markus Persson, a musician.[
]
References
External links
*
*
UPI: Theater producer Persson dead at 74
* ttps://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/21/movies/21persson.html New York Times: Gene Persson, Film and Theater Producer, Dies at 74
{{DEFAULTSORT:Persson, Gene
1934 births
2008 deaths
American theatre managers and producers
Film producers from California
American film directors
American people of Swedish descent
Male actors from Long Beach, California
American male child actors