Robert Sherwood Fryer (November 18, 1920 - May 28, 2000)
was an American theatrical and film producer. Beginning in the early 1950s, Robert Fryer produced and co-produced many Broadway hits. Some of his most notable theatrical productions include: ''
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn'', ''
Wonderful Town
''Wonderful Town'' is a 1953 musical with book written by Joseph A. Fields and Jerome Chodorov, lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and music by Leonard Bernstein. The musical tells the story of two sisters who aspire to be a writer and act ...
'', ''
Auntie Mame
''Auntie Mame: An Irreverent Escapade'' is a 1955 novel by American author Patrick Dennis chronicling the madcap adventures of a boy, Patrick, growing up as the ward of his Aunt Mame Dennis, the sister of his dead father.
The book is often desc ...
'', ''Redhead'', ''
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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'', ''On The Twentieth Century'', and ''Sweeney Todd''. His notable film productions include: ''
Mame
MAME (formerly an acronym of Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) is a free and open-source emulator designed to recreate the hardware of arcade game systems in software on modern personal computers and other platforms. Its intention is to preserve ...
'', ''
Voyage of the Damned
''Voyage of the Damned'' is a 1976 drama film directed by Stuart Rosenberg, with an all-star cast featuring Faye Dunaway, Oskar Werner, Lee Grant, Max von Sydow, James Mason, and Malcolm McDowell.
The story was inspired by actual events conc ...
'', ''
The Boys from Brazil'', and ''
The Shining''.
Early life
Robert Fryer was born in
Washington, D.C.
)
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in 1920. His father was a successful department store manager, but died of
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
in 1929. Fryer spent the bulk of his childhood in Cleveland, Ohio, where his mother raised him and his sister, Eleanor (later Massell). Fryer graduated from
Case Western Reserve University
Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a private research university in Cleveland, Ohio. Case Western Reserve was established in 1967, when Western Reserve University, founded in 1826 and named for its location in the Connecticut Western Reser ...
, and served in the Army during World War II.
Theatrical career
After the War, Robert worked in New York City as an assistant to the producer of the
Old Vic
Old or OLD may refer to:
Places
*Old, Baranya, Hungary
* Old, Northamptonshire, England
*Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD)
*OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Ma ...
season at the
Century Theatre. His first Broadway hit was ''A Tree Grows in Brooklyn''" which he co-produced with
George Abbott
George Francis Abbott (June 25, 1887 – January 31, 1995) was an American theatre producer, director, playwright, screenwriter, film director and producer whose career spanned eight decades.
Early years
Abbott was born in Forestville, New Yo ...
.
Robert Fryer won multiple Tony Awards,
and the plays he produced received a total of 37
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 cer ...
.
Between 1971 and 1988 he was the director of the
Center Theatre Group
Center Theatre Group is a non-profit arts organization located in Los Angeles, California. It is one of the largest theatre companies in the nation, programming subscription seasons year-round at the Mark Taper Forum, the Ahmanson Theatre and th ...
's
Ahmanson Theatre
The Ahmanson Theatre is one of the four main venues that compose the Los Angeles Music Center.
History
The theatre was built as a result of a donation from Howard F. Ahmanson Sr, the founder of H.F. Ahmanson & Co., an insurance and savings an ...
in Los Angeles. Shortly after his death in 2000, Fryer was posthumously inducted into the
American Theater Hall of Fame
The American Theater Hall of Fame in New York City was founded in 1972. Earl Blackwell was the first head of the organization's Executive Committee. In an announcement in 1972, he said that the new ''Theater Hall of Fame'' would be located in the ...
.
Film career
Fryer's most memorable film production was ''
The Shining''. Fryer was once quoted as stating, "
vies pay the rent but stage is my true love.".
References
External links
Allmusic.com Profile of Robert Fryer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fryer, Robert
1920 births
2000 deaths
People from Washington, D.C.
Case Western Reserve University alumni
Film producers from New York (state)
Broadway theatre producers
20th-century American businesspeople
United States Army personnel of World War II