Vivian Matalon (11 October 1929 – 15 August 2018) was a British

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

. Born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, Matalon began his career as an actor in a series of forgettable British films, but his greatest success has been as a director of West End,

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 ...

and regional theatre productions. His West End credits include ''

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 ...

'' with

Lee Remick Lee Ann Remick (December 14, 1935 – July 2, 1991) was an American actress and singer. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for the film '' Days of Wine and Roses'' (1962), and for the 1966 Tony Award for Best Actress in ...

and

Keir Dullea Keir Atwood Dullea (; born May 30, 1936) is an American actor. He played astronaut David Bowman in the 1968 film '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'' and its 1984 sequel, '' 2010: The Year We Make Contact''. His other film roles include '' David and Lisa ...

, ''

I Never Sang for My Father ''I Never Sang for My Father'' is a 1970 American drama film, based on the 1968 play of the same name. It tells the story of a widowed college professor who feels dominated by his aging father, yet still has regrets about his plan to leave him be ...

'' with

Raymond Massey Raymond Hart Massey (August 30, 1896 – July 29, 1983) was a Canadian actor, known for his commanding, stage-trained voice. For his lead role in '' Abe Lincoln in Illinois'' (1940), Massey was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor. Amo ...

and ''

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 ...

'' with

Anna Massey Anna Raymond Massey (11 August 19373 July 2011) was an English actress. She won a BAFTA Award for the role of Edith Hope in the 1986 TV adaptation of Anita Brookner's novel ''Hotel du Lac'', a role that one of her co-stars, Julia McKenzie, h ...

. He was artistic director for three years at the

Hampstead Theatre Hampstead Theatre is a theatre in South Hampstead in the London Borough of Camden. It specialises in commissioning and producing new writing, supporting and developing the work of new writers. Roxana Silbert has been the artistic director since ...

, where his productions included

Clifford Odets Clifford Odets (July 18, 1906 – August 14, 1963) was an American playwright, screenwriter, and actor. In the mid-1930s, he was widely seen as the potential successor to Nobel Prize-winning playwright Eugene O'Neill, as O'Neill began to withdra ...

' ''

Awake and Sing ''Awake and Sing!'' is a drama written by American playwright Clifford Odets. The play was initially produced by The Group Theatre in 1935. Summary and characters The play is set in The Bronx borough of New York City, New York, in 1933. It co ...

'' and the

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an premiere of ''

Small Craft Warnings ''Small Craft Warnings'' is a two-act play by Tennessee Williams, written in late 1971 and early 1972. Williams expanded his two-scene play ''Confessional'' (1970), which had been published in his 1970 compilation ''Dragon Country'', into this ...

'' by

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 thre ...

. Matalon served on the Artistic Advisory Board of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

's New World's Theatre Project, which makes late 19th and early 20th century

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...

plays accessible to contemporary audiences in modern English translations. He died from complications of

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...

in August 2018, at the age of 88.Vivian Matalon, Tony-Winning Director, Is Dead at 88
''The New York Times'', 21 August 2018

Filmography

*'' The Weapon'' (1956) - Private (uncredited) *'' Fire Down Below'' (1957) - 1st U.S. Sailor *''

Subway in the Sky ''Subway in the Sky'' is a 1959 British crime film directed by Muriel Box and starring Van Johnson, Hildegard Knef and Albert Lieven. Hildegard Knef, who changed career in the 1960s to become a cabaret singer and songwriter, sings one song in t ...

'' (1959) - Stefan Grant *''

Too Young to Love "Too Young to Love" is the debut single by The Big Pink. "Too Young to Love" was released with the double A-side track "Crystal Visions" on 7" vinyl on October 7, 2008, and both tracks were later re-recorded and included on their debut album '' A ...

'' (1960) - Larry Webster *''

Crack in the Mirror ''Crack in the Mirror'' is a 1960 drama film directed by Richard Fleischer. The three principal actors, Orson Welles, Juliette Gréco, and Bradford Dillman, play dual roles in two interconnected stories as the participants in two love triangles. ...

'' (1960) - Young man at Buvette *''

King and Country ''King and Country'' (stylised as ''King & Country'') is a 1964 British war film directed by Joseph Losey, shot in black and white, and starring Dirk Bogarde and Tom Courtenay. The film was adapted for the screen by British screenwriter Evan ...

'' (1964) - Padre

Stage productions

*'' After the Rain'' (1967) *''Noël Coward in Two Keys'' (1974) *'' P. S. Your Cat Is Dead!'' (1975) *''

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 ...

'' (1980 revival) *''

Brigadoon ''Brigadoon'' is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, and music by Frederick Loewe. The song " Almost Like Being in Love", from the musical, has become a standard. It features two American tourists who stumble upon Brigadoon, a ...

'' (1980 revival) *'' The American Clock'' (1980) *''

The Corn Is Green ''The Corn Is Green'' is a 1938 semi-autobiographical play by Welsh dramatist and actor Emlyn Williams. The play premiered in London at the Duchess Theatre in September 1938; with Sybil Thorndike as Miss Moffat and Williams himself portraying Mo ...

'' (1983 revival) *''

The Tap Dance Kid ''The Tap Dance Kid'' is a musical based on the novel ''Nobody's Family is Going to Change'' by Louise Fitzhugh. It was written by Charles Blackwell with music by Henry Krieger and lyrics by Robert Lorick. Synopsis Act I William Sheridan, a su ...

'' (1983) *''

Souvenir A souvenir (), memento, keepsake, or token of remembrance is an object a person acquires for the memories the owner associates with it. A souvenir can be any object that can be collected or purchased and transported home by the traveler as a m ...

'' (2005)

Awards and nominations

;Awards *1980: Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play – ''Morning's at Seven'' *1980: Drama Desk Award Outstanding Director of a Play – ''Morning's at Seven'' ;Nominations *1984: Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical – ''The Tap Dance Kid''

References

External links

* * 1929 births 2018 deaths Drama Desk Award winners English theatre directors LGBT theatre directors Theatre people from Greater Manchester {{UK-bio-stub