Robert Whitehead (March 3, 1916 – June 15, 2002) was a Canadian theatre producer. His first production was ''

Medea In Greek mythology, Medea (; grc, Μήδεια, ''Mēdeia'', perhaps implying "planner / schemer") is the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, a niece of Circe and the granddaughter of the sun god Helios. Medea figures in the myth of Jason an ...

'', starring

Judith Anderson Dame Frances Margaret Anderson, (10 February 18973 January 1992), known professionally as Judith Anderson, was an Australian actress who had a successful career in stage, film and television. A pre-eminent stage actress in her era, she won two ...

and

John Gielgud Sir Arthur John Gielgud, (; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Briti ...

, and he won the

Outer Critics Circle Award The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on Broadway and Off-Broadway. They are presented by the Outer Critics Circle (OCC), the official organization of New York theater writers for out-of-town newspa ...

five times. He was nominated for 19 Tony and

Drama Desk The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Fo ...

Awards, winning 4

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 cer ...

s and 5

Awards. The American Theatre Wing Tony Awards
/ref>

Life

His father owned textile mills, and his mother, Selena Mary LaBatt Whitehead, was an opera singer. (The actor

Hume Cronyn Hume Blake Cronyn Jr. OC (July 18, 1911 – June 15, 2003) was a Canadian-American actor and writer. Early life Cronyn, one of five children, was born in London, Ontario, Canada. His father, Hume Blake Cronyn, Sr., was a businessman and ...

was Whitehead's cousin on the LaBatt side.) He went to

Trinity College School Trinity College School (TCS) is a co-educational, independent boarding and day school located in Port Hope, Ontario, Canada. TCS was founded on May 1, 1865, more than two years before Canadian Confederation. It includes a Senior School ...

in Port Hope, Ontario, then worked as a commercial photographer before studying acting at the New York School of the Theatre. He spent the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

years as an ambulance driver in

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. Whitehead had a long-term association with fellow producer Roger L. Stevens. In 1964, the Lincoln Center Repertory Theatre opened with Robert Whitehead and

Elia Kazan Elia Kazan (; born Elias Kazantzoglou ( el, Ηλίας Καζαντζόγλου); September 7, 1909 – September 28, 2003) was an American film and theatre director, producer, screenwriter and actor, described by ''The New York Times'' as "one o ...

as its heads and

Harold Clurman Harold Edgar Clurman (September 18, 1901 – September 9, 1980) was an American theatre director and drama critic. In 2003, he was named one of the most influential figures in U.S. theater by PBS.

as literary adviser. In 1968, Whitehead married

Zoe Caldwell Zoe Ada Caldwell, (14 September 1933 – 16 February 2020) was an Australian actress. She was a four-time Tony Award winner, winning Best Featured Actress in a Play for '' Slapstick Tragedy'' (1966), and Best Actress in a Play for '' The Pri ...

, who starred in '' The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie''. (His first wife Virginia, an antique dealer whom he married in 1948, died in 1965.) The couple bought property in

Pound Ridge Pound Ridge is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 5,104 at the 2010 census. The town is located toward the eastern end of the county, bordered to the north and east by the town of Lewisboro, by Stamford, C ...

, a mountain area in

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...

, and built a house there. Caldwell, who won a Tony as Brodie, later appeared for Whitehead in a revival of ''Medea'' (with

as the nurse), Lillian, a one-woman show about

Lillian Hellman Lillian Florence Hellman (June 20, 1905 – June 30, 1984) was an American playwright, prose writer, memoirist and screenwriter known for her success on Broadway, as well as her communist sympathies and political activism. She was blacklisted aft ...

, and

Terrence McNally Terrence McNally (November 3, 1938 – March 24, 2020) was an American playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. Described as "the bard of American theater" and "one of the greatest contemporary playwrights the theater world has yet produced," ...

Master Class A master class is a Class (education), class given to students of a particular Academic discipline, discipline by an expert of that discipline—usually music, but also science, painting, drama, games, or on any other occasion where skills are b ...

, in which she played

Maria Callas Maria Callas . (born Sophie Cecilia Kalos; December 2, 1923 – September 16, 1977) was an American-born Greek soprano who was one of the most renowned and influential opera singers of the 20th century. Many critics praised her ''bel cant ...

Honours

2002

for Lifetime Achievement. The Commercial Theater Institute gives an annual award for "Outstanding Achievement in Commercial Theater Producing" which is named for Robert Whitehead.Commercial Theater Institute
/ref>

Broadway Productions

- 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 ''Artist Descending a Staircase'' is a radio play by Tom Stoppard, first broadcast by the BBC in 1972, and later adapted for live theatre. The play centres on a murder mystery involving an artist who dies from falling down a set of stairs. The pl ...

- Nov 30, 1989 - Dec 31, 1989 *

A Few Good Men ''A Few Good Men'' is a 1992 American legal drama film based on Aaron Sorkin's 1989 play. It was written by Sorkin, directed by Rob Reiner, and produced by Reiner, David Brown and Andrew Scheinman. It stars an ensemble cast including Tom Cru ...

- 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 ''Death of a Salesman'' is a 1949 stage play written by American playwright Arthur Miller. The play premiered on Broadway in February 1949, running for 742 performances. It is a two-act tragedy set in late 1940s Brooklyn told through a montag ...

- Sep 14, 1984 - Nov 18, 1984 *

- Mar 29, 1984 - Jul 01, 1984 *

- May 2, 1982 - Jun 27, 1982 *

The West Side Waltz ''The West Side Waltz'' is a play by Ernest Thompson. The play focuses on Margaret Mary Elderdice, an aging, widowed pianist living in a dreary Upper West Side apartment, and her relationships with a prim, virginal violinist neighbor and the young ...

- Nov 19, 1981 - Mar 13, 1982 *

Lunch Hour ''Lunch Hour'' is a 1962 British romantic drama film directed by James Hill and starring Shirley Anne Field, Robert Stephens and Kay Walsh. Based on a one-act play by John Mortimer, it is about a man and a woman who attempt to have an affair duri ...

- Nov 12, 1980 - Jun 28, 1981 *

Betrayal Betrayal is the breaking or violation of a presumptive contract, trust, or confidence that produces moral and psychological conflict within a relationship amongst individuals, between organizations or between individuals and organizations. Ofte ...

- Jan 05, 1980 - May 31, 1980 *

Carmelina ''Carmelina'' is a musical with a book by Joseph Stein and Alan Jay Lerner, lyrics by Lerner, and music by Burton Lane. Based on the 1968 film ''Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell'', it focuses on an Italian woman who has raised her teenaged daughter Gi ...

- Apr 08, 1979 - Apr 21, 1979 *

Bedroom Farce A bedroom farce or sex farce is a type of light comedy, which centres on the sexual pairings and recombinations of characters as they move through improbable plots and slamming doors. Overview The most famous bedroom farceur is probably George ...

- Mar 29, 1979 - Nov 24, 1979 *

No Man's Land No man's land is waste or unowned land or an uninhabited or desolate area that may be under dispute between parties who leave it unoccupied out of fear or uncertainty. The term was originally used to define a contested territory or a dump ...

- Nov 09, 1976 - Dec 18, 1976 *

A Texas Trilogy ''A Texas Trilogy'' (also known as ''The Bradleyville Trilogy'') is a set of three plays written by Preston Jones (playwright), Preston Jones. The three plays are set in a mythical West Texas town and employ idiosyncratic language and characters th ...

: 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 ''A Matter of Gravity'' is a play by Enid Bagnold. Overview The eccentric dowager Mrs. Basil chooses to live in only one room of her Oxford mansion. Her quiet existence is disrupted by the arrival of her grandson Nicky and four of his friends and ...

- Feb 03, 1976 - Apr 10, 1976 *

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof ''Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'' is a three-act play written by Tennessee Williams. An adaptation of his 1952 short story "Three Players of a Summer Game", the play was written by him between 1953 and 1955. One of Williams's more famous works and his p ...

- Sep 24, 1974 - Feb 08, 1975
Finishing Touches
- Feb 08, 1973 - Jun 30, 1973 *

The Creation of the World and Other Business ''The Creation of the World and Other Business'' is a play by Arthur Miller first performed in 1972. Summary The play is a parable that explores the theme of good-versus-evil by way of a comedic retelling of events in the Book of Genesis in the B ...

- Nov 30, 1972 - Dec 16, 1972 *

Old Times ''Old Times'' is a play by the List of Nobel laureates in Literature, Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter. It was first performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Aldwych Theatre in London on 1 June 1971. It starred Colin Blakely, Dorothy Tutin ...

- 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 ''Tartuffe, or The Impostor, or The Hypocrite'' (; french: Tartuffe, ou l'Imposteur, ), first performed in 1664, is a theatrical comedy by Molière. The characters of Tartuffe, Elmire, and Orgon are considered among the greatest classical thea ...

- Jan 14, 1965 - May 22, 1965 *

Incident at Vichy ''Incident at Vichy'' is a one-act play written in 1964 by American dramatist Arthur Miller. It depicts a group of men who have been detained in Vichy France in 1942; they are being held for their "racial" inspection by German military officer ...

- Dec 03, 1964 - May 7, 1965 * The Changeling - Oct 29, 1964 - Dec 23, 1964 *

The Physicists ''The Physicists'' (german: Die Physiker) is a satiric drama/ tragic comedy written in 1961 by Swiss writer Friedrich Dürrenmatt. The play was mainly written as a result of the Second World War and many advances in science and nuclear technology ...

- 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 ''The Conquering Hero'' is a musical with a music by Mark Charlap, lyrics by Norman Gimbel, and book by Larry Gelbart. The musical was based on Preston Sturges's 1944 film ''Hail the Conquering Hero''. The musical ran for only eight performances ...

- Jan 16, 1961 - Jan 21, 1961 *

Much Ado About Nothing ''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' ( W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. 1387 The play ...

- 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 "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" (originally titled "The Story of the Three Bears") is a 19th-century English fairy tale of which three versions exist. The original version of the tale tells of an obscene old woman who enters the forest home ...

- Oct 11, 1958 - Feb 28, 1959 *

A Touch of the Poet ''A Touch of the Poet'' is a play by Eugene O'Neill completed in 1942 but not performed until 1958, after his death. It and its sequel, ''More Stately Mansions'', were intended to be part of a nine- play cycle entitled ''A Tale of Possessors Sel ...

- Oct 02, 1958 - Jun 13, 1959 * The Visit - May 5, 1958 - Nov 29, 1958 *

The Waltz of the Toreadors ''The Waltz of the Toreadors'' (''La Valse des toréadors'') is a 1951 play by Jean Anouilh. Plot This bitter farce is set in 1910 France and focuses on General Léon Saint-Pé and his infatuation with Ghislaine, a woman with whom he danced at a g ...

- Mar 04, 1958 - Mar 29, 1958 * The Day the Money Stopped - Feb 20, 1958 - Feb 22, 1958 *

Orpheus Descending ''Orpheus Descending'' is a three-act play by Tennessee Williams. It was first presented on Broadway on March 17, 1957 but had only a brief run (68 performances) and modest success. It was revived on Broadway in 1989, directed by Peter Hall an ...

- Mar 21, 1957 - May 18, 1957 *

A Hole in the Head ''A Hole in the Head'' (1959) is a DeLuxe Color comedy film, shown in CinemaScope, directed by Frank Capra, featuring Frank Sinatra, Edward G. Robinson, Eleanor Parker, Keenan Wynn, Carolyn Jones, Thelma Ritter, Dub Taylor, Ruby Dandridge, ...

- Feb 28, 1957 - Jul 13, 1957 *

- Jan 17, 1957 - May 11, 1957 * The Sleeping Prince - Nov 01, 1956 - Dec 22, 1956 *

Major Barbara ''Major Barbara'' is a three-act English play by George Bernard Shaw, written and premiered in 1905 and first published in 1907. The story concerns an idealistic young woman, Barbara Undershaft, who is engaged in helping the poor as a Major in ...

- Oct 30, 1956 - May 18, 1957 *

Separate Tables ''Separate Tables'' is the collective name of two one-act plays by Terence Rattigan, both taking place in the Beauregard Private Hotel, Bournemouth, on the south coast of England. The first play, titled ''Table by the Window'', focuses on the ...

- Oct 25, 1956 - Sep 28, 1957 *

Tamburlaine the Great ''Tamburlaine the Great'' is a play in two parts by Christopher Marlowe. It is loosely based on the life of the Central Asian emperor Timur (Tamerlane/Timur the Lame, d. 1405). Written in 1587 or 1588, the play is a milestone in Elizabethan p ...

- Jan 19, 1956 - Feb 04, 1956 *

Joyce Grenfell Joyce Irene Grenfell OBE (''née'' Phipps; 10 February 1910 – 30 November 1979) was an English diseuse, singer, actress and writer. She was known for the songs and monologues she wrote and performed, at first in revues and later in her solo s ...

Requests the Pleasure... - Oct 10, 1955 - Dec 03, 1955 *

A View From the Bridge ''A View from the Bridge'' is a play by American playwright Arthur Miller. It was first staged on September 29, 1955, as a one-act verse drama with ''A Memory of Two Mondays'' at the Coronet Theatre on Broadway. The run was unsuccessful, and M ...

A Memory of Two Mondays ''A Memory of Two Mondays'' is a one-act play by Arthur Miller. He began writing the play in 1952, while working on ''The Crucible'', and completed it in 1955. Based on Miller's own experiences, the play focuses on a group of desperate workers e ...

- Sep 29, 1955 - Feb 04, 1956 *

The Skin of Our Teeth ''The Skin of Our Teeth'' is a play by Thornton Wilder that won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It opened on October 15, 1942, at the Shubert Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut, before moving to the Plymouth Theatre on Broadway on November 18, 194 ...

- Aug 17, 1955 - Sep 03, 1955 *

Bus Stop A bus stop is a place where buses stop for passengers to get on and off the bus. The construction of bus stops tends to reflect the level of usage, where stops at busy locations may have shelters, seating, and possibly electronic passenger ...

- Mar 02, 1955 - Apr 21, 1956 *

The Flowering Peach ''The Flowering Peach'' is a 1954 dramatic play by American playwright Clifford Odets with music by Alan Hovhaness. The plot is a modern take on the Bible stories of Noah and Noah's Ark. It was the last original play by Odets produced in his li ...

- Dec 28, 1954 - Apr 23, 1955 *

Portrait of a Lady ''The Portrait of a Lady'' is a novel by Henry James, first published as a serial (literature), serial in ''The Atlantic Monthly'' and ''Macmillan's Magazine'' in 1880–81 and then as a book in 1881. It is one of James's most popular novels an ...

- Dec 21, 1954 - Dec 25, 1954 *

The Confidential Clerk First edition cover ( Faber and Faber) ''The Confidential Clerk'' is a comic verse play by T. S. Eliot. Synopsis Sir Claude Mulhammer, a wealthy entrepreneur, decides to smuggle his illegitimate son Colby into the household by employing him ...

- Feb 11, 1954 - May 22, 1954 *

The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker ''The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker'' is a 1959 DeLuxe Color film starring Clifton Webb and Dorothy McGuire directed by Henry Levin in CinemaScope. The film is based on the 1953 Broadway play of the same, which ran for 221 performances: Burgess Me ...

- 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 ''Four Saints in Three Acts'' is an opera composed in 1928 by Virgil Thomson, setting a libretto written in 1927 by Gertrude Stein. It contains about 20 saints and is in at least four acts. It was groundbreaking in form, content, and for its all-b ...

- Apr 16, 1952 - Apr 27, 1952 * Golden Boy - Mar 12, 1952 - Apr 06, 1952 *

Mrs. McThing Mary Chase ( Mary Agnes McDonough Coyle; February 25, 1906 – October 20, 1981) was an American journalist, playwright and children's novelist, known primarily for writing the 1944 Broadway (theatre), Broadway play ''Harvey (play), Harvey'', w ...

- Feb 20, 1952 - Jan 10, 1953 * Night Music - Apr 08, 1951 - Apr 14, 1951 *

The Member of the Wedding ''The Member of the Wedding'' is a 1946 novel by Southern writer Carson McCullers. It took McCullers five years to complete, although she interrupted the work for a few months to write the novella '' The Ballad of the Sad Café''.McDowell, Marga ...

- Jan 05, 1950 - Mar 17, 1951 *

Crime and Punishment ''Crime and Punishment'' ( pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform rus, Преступление и наказание, Prestupléniye i nakazániye, prʲɪstʊˈplʲenʲɪje ɪ nəkɐˈzanʲɪje) is a novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. ...

- Dec 22, 1947 - Jan 24, 1948 *

- 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 Reference:

Awards and nominations

*1996 Tony Award® Best Play -

- winner *1996 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Play -

- winner *1994 Tony Award® Best Play - Broken Glass - nominee *1984 Tony Award® Best Reproduction -

- winner *1984 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Revival -

- winner *1979 Tony Award® Best Play -

- 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) -

: The Oldest Living Graduate - winner *1977 Drama Desk Award Outstanding New Play (Foreign) -

- nominee *1968 Tony Award® Best Play - The Price - nominee *1965 Tony Award® Best Producer of a Play -

- 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 -

- nominee *1959 Tony Award® Best Play - The Visit - nominee *1957 Tony Award® Best Play -

- nominee *1957 Tony Award® Best Play -

- nominee *1956 Tony Award® Best Play -

- nominee Reference:

Notes

External links

Obituary of Robert Whitehead ''The Independent''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitehead, Robert Canadian theatre managers and producers 1916 births 2002 deaths People from Montreal Anglophone Quebec people People from Pound Ridge, New York Canadian expatriates in the United States