Vincent Liff (c. 1951–2003) was an American casting director of Broadway musicals and plays. According to ''

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

'', he "changed the face of Broadway by bringing more children, minorities and foreigners to the stage."

Early life

Vincent Liff was born circa 1951.Jesse McKinley
Vincent Liff, 52, Casting Director for Many Broadway Hits
''The New York Times'', February 27, 2003Murray Horwitz
Remembering Vincent Liff
''NPR'', February 28, 2003 His uncle

Biff Liff Samuel "Biff" Liff (April 14, 1919 – August 10, 2015) was an American Broadway stage manager and producer. Early life Samuel Liff was born on April 14, 1919, in Boston, Massachusetts.James BarronBiff Liff, Broadway Manager and Powerhouse Agent, ...

, was a Broadway manager and producer.Robert Hofler
Vincent Liff
''Variety'', February 25, 2003

Career

Liff was a casting director. In the 1970s, he met Geoffrey Johnson through his uncle. Together, they founded Liff-Johnson, a casting agency. Their first casting job was for ''

The Wiz ''The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical "Wonderful Wizard of Oz"'' is a Musical theatre, musical with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls (and others) and book by William F. Brown (writer), William F. Brown. It is a retelling of L. Frank Baum's childr ...

'', a 1975 musical on

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 ...

. They went on to cast two more Broadway musicals: '' Ain't Misbehavin''' in 1978, and ''

Dreamgirls ''Dreamgirls'' is a Broadway musical, with music by Henry Krieger and lyrics and book by Tom Eyen. Based on the show business aspirations and successes of R&B acts such as The Supremes, The Shirelles, James Brown, Jackie Wilson, and others,Gro ...

'' in 1981. Additionally, they cast the following plays: '' Night and Day'', ''Indiscretions'', ''

The Elephant Man Joseph Carey Merrick (5 August 1862 – 11 April 1890), often erroneously called John Merrick, was an English man known for having severe deformities. He was first exhibited at a freak show under the stage name "the Elephant Man" and then wen ...

'', ''

Morning's at Seven ''Morning's at Seven'' is a play by Paul Osborn. Its plot focuses on four aging sisters living in a small Midwestern town in 1928, and it deals with ramifications within the family when two of them begin to question their lives and decide to mak ...

'', ''

Amadeus Amadeus may refer to: *Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791), prolific and influential composer of classical music *Amadeus (name), a given name and people with the name * ''Amadeus'' (play), 1979 stage play by Peter Shaffer * ''Amadeus'' (film), ...

'', ''

The Dresser ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

'', ''Contact'', and '' The Producers''. According to ''

'', he "changed the face of Broadway by bringing more children, minorities and foreigners to the stage."

Personal life

Liff was openly gay. He was in a romantic relationship with Ken Yung. They resided 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 ...

, New York City.

Death

He died of

brain cancer A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and secondar ...

in 2003.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liff, Vincent 1950s births 2003 deaths People from Manhattan American casting directors Gay men Deaths from brain cancer in the United States Deaths from cancer in New York (state) LGBT people from New York (state) 20th-century LGBT people