Cheryl Crawford | |
|---|---|
 Cheryl Crawford, from the 1925 Smith College yearbook | |
| Born | September 24, 1902 Akron, Ohio, US |
| Died | October 7, 1986 (Aged 84) New York City, US |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1926–1983 |
| Partner(s) | Dorothy Patten (c.1930–c.1937) Ruth Norman (c.1944–c.1977) |
Cheryl Crawford (September 24, 1902 – October 7, 1986) was an Americantheatre producer anddirector.[1]
Born inAkron, Ohio, Crawford majored in drama atSmith College. Following graduation in 1925, she moved to New York City and enrolled at theTheatre Guild's school. By then she knew that she did not want to pursue an acting career, but saw no other way to gain access to the organization producing the highest quality theatre of its time. Finishing her training in 1927, she was hired byTheresa Helburn, the Guild's Executive Director, as a casting secretary. She then worked her way through various backstage jobs, including assistant stage manager, to assistant to the “Board of Managers,” an important administrative job.[2] While working at the Guild, she metHarold Clurman andLee Strasberg who had also been working there as play reader and actor, respectively. She was impressed with these two young men and joined their animated discussions about the need for a radically new form of American theatre.
In 1930 Crawford urged Clurman to start giving semi-public talks to groups of like-minded actors. After he followed her suggestion and the talks attracted more people than could fit in Clurman's apartment, Crawford arranged for the use of a showroom at theSteinway Piano Company. In 1931, Crawford, Clurman and Strasberg announced the formation ofThe Group Theatre and invited 28 young actors who had been attending Clurman's talks to join them for a twelve-week-long summer of training and rehearsal atBrookfield Center, Connecticut.[3]
Crawford had a major role in selecting the early plays produced by The Group, beginning with their first one,The House of Connelly by North Carolina playwrightPaul Green, whom she later introduced to composerKurt Weill. She encouraged their subsequent collaboration, Weill's first American project, the musicalJohnny Johnson, was the last production she worked on before resigning from The Group Theatre in 1937 to become an independent producer.[4]
Crawford was influential in the early careers of such actors asHelen Hayes,Bojangles Robinson,Mary Martin,Ethel Barrymore,Ingrid Bergman,Tallulah Bankhead, andPaul Robeson, among many others. In 1946, she andEva Le Gallienne founded the American Repertory Theatre. In 1947, together with former Group Theatre membersElia Kazan andRobert Lewis, she founded theActors Studio, which trainedMarlon Brando,James Dean,Paul Newman,Joanne Woodward,Rip Torn,Geraldine Page,Marilyn Monroe,Al Pacino,Robert De Niro,Dustin Hoffman,Steve McQueen,Martin Landau,Shelley Winters,Jane Fonda,Ellen Burstyn,Harvey Keitel,Jack Nicholson,John Astin, and many more. Former partner Strasberg joined them as artistic director in 1951.[5]
Crawford is a member of theAmerican Theater Hall of Fame, earning induction in 1979.[6]
Crawford was a lesbian and was linked romantically with her fellow Group Theatre actressDorothy Patten, with whom she lived for several years in the 1930s.[7] Patten had also financed several of the group's shows. Patten and Crawford visited each other's family homes in Chattanooga and Akron.[8] Following her break-up with Patten circa 1937, Crawford later became the lifelong partner of chef Ruth Norman.[9]
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