José Quintero
Photo byCarl Van Vechten, 1958
Born	José Benjamín Quintero (1924-10-15)15 October 1924 Panama City,Panama
Died	26 February 1999(1999-02-26) (aged 74) Manhattan, New York City
Education	Los Angeles City College University of Southern California(BA) Art Institute of Chicago(BFA)
Occupation	Theatre director
Years active	1950s-1999
Partner	Nicholas Tsacrios (1950s-1999)
Awards	Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director 1956The Iceman Cometh 1974A Moon for the Misbegotten Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play 1974A Moon for the Misbegotten

José Benjamín Quintero (15 October 1924 – 26 February 1999) was aPanamanian theatre director,producer, andpedagogue best known for his interpretations of the works ofEugene O'Neill.

Quintero was born inPanama City,Panama, the fourth of 4 children, to Carlos Quintero Rivera, from Panama, and Consuelo Palmerola from Panama. As a boy he was anacolyte, though he described his childhood in other ways as a disaster—the result of a domineering and overbearing father.^[1] He was educated in the United States atLos Angeles City College, theUniversity of Southern California, and theGoodman School of Drama at theArt Institute of Chicago (now atDePaul University).^[2][3] where he decided on a career in theatre. After notification of his intention, his father, who wanted him to be aphysician, declared him dead, leading to Jose's seven-year estrangement from his family.^[4]

Quintero co-founded theCircle in the Square Theatre inGreenwich Village withTheodore Mann in 1951; this is regarded as the birth ofOff-Broadway theatre. He became one of the most celebratedBroadway and Off Broadway directors and producers and worked with some of the greatest names inAmerican theatre. His own name is inextricably linked to that of the American playwright Eugene O'Neill. Quintero's interest contributed to the rediscovery of O'Neill. Quintero staged several of his works, includingThe Iceman Cometh in 1956, which launched the career ofJason Robards. Later that year, Quintero's production of the New York premiere ofLong Day's Journey into Night established his reputation as the quintessential director of O'Neill's dramas and wonTony Awards for Best Play and Best Actor (Fredric March). In 1963, he directedStrange Interlude, with a cast which includedGeraldine Page,Jane Fonda,Franchot Tone,Ben Gazzara,Pat Hingle andBetty Field. In 1967, he directedIngrid Bergman inMore Stately Mansions inLos Angeles and New York. In 1968, Quintero traveled toMexico to direct the Mexican starDolores del Río inThe Lady of the Camellias but was dismissed by the actress because of his problem with alcohol.^[5] His production ofA Moon for the Misbegotten, at the Academy Playhouse, Lake Forest, Illinois in 1973, won the Tony award for Best Direction in 1974. In 1988, he directed the revival ofLong Day's Journey Into Night with Jason Robards Jr andColleen Dewhurst. In the course of his career Quintero directed O'Neill plays nineteen times.^[6]

Quintero did not limit himself to the works of O'Neill. He directed over seventy productions by a great number of writers, includingTruman Capote,Jean Cocteau,Thornton Wilder,Jean Genet andBrendan Behan. He also directed plays byTennessee Williams, including the 1952 production ofSummer and Smoke which madeGeraldine Page a star and the short-lived 1968 production ofThe Seven Descents of Myrtle. In 1961, he directedVivien Leigh andWarren Beatty in the film version of Williams'sThe Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone which broughtLotte Lenya anAcademy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress. In 1973, he also directed three one act plays at the Academy Playhouse in Lake Forest, Illinois.Hello From Bertha,Lady of Larkspur Lotion andThe Orchestra. He chose a cast he said belonged on Broadway. The brilliant cast included Jeanie Columbo, Ralph Williams, Betty Miller, Nancy Wickwire, Charlotte Jones and Janet Dowd. In 1990, he directedLiv Ullmann inNoël Coward'sPrivate Lives at theNational Theatre inOslo. He also directed operas for theMetropolitan Opera and theDallas Opera.

Quintero was a noted teacher and lectured on theatre and gave master classes in acting at theUniversity of Houston andFlorida State University. In 1996 he directed two early O'Neill plays,The Long Voyage Home andIle, at the Provincetown Repertory Theater inMassachusetts.

Quintero battledalcoholism and with the help of hislife partner, Nicholas Tsacrios,^[7] was able to defeat his addiction in the 1970s. He was diagnosed withthroat cancer in 1987 that necessitated the removal of hislarynx which ultimately led to his 1999 death at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan. He remained active until nearly the end of his life.

TheJosé Quintero Theatre onWest 42nd Street in Manhattan was named in his honor. Quintero is also a member of theAmerican Theater Hall of Fame. He was inducted in 1979.^[8]

The Jose Quintero Lab Theatre, a 200 black box theatre used byUniversity of Houston School of Theatre and Dance, is named in his honor.

• Directors Guild of America
• Stage Directors and Choreographers Society^[9]

• Quintero, José (1974).If You Don't Dance They Beat You. Boston: Brown and Company.ISBN 0-316-72920-5.
• Gabrielle (Buffalo, New York, 1974). Play.
• Quintero, José (1974),Gabrielle, Buffalo, New York (play)

• 1949: The Glass Menagerie (T. Williams), Woodstock Summer Theatre, New York.
• 1951: Dark of the Moon (Richardson and Berney), Circle in the Square Theatre, New York.
• 1951: Burning Bright (Steinbeck), Circle in the Square Theatre, New York.
• 1951: Bonds of Interest (Benavente y Martinez), Circle in the Square Theatre, New York.
• 1952: Yerma (Lorca), Circle in the Square Theatre, New York.
• 1952: Summer and Smoke (T. Williams), Circle in the Square Theatre, New York.
• 1953: The Grass Harp (Capote), Circle in the Square Theatre, New York.
• 1953: American Gothic (Wolfson), Circle in the Square Theatre, New York.
• 1953: In the Summer House (Bowles), Broadway, New York.
• 1954: The Girl on the Via Flaminia (Hayes), Circle in the Square Theatre, New York.
• 1954: Portrait of a Lady (Archibald, adapted from James), ANTA Theatre, New York.
• 1954: The Hostage (Behan), Circle in the Square Theatre, New York.
• 1955: The Long Christmas Dinner (Wilder), University of Boston, Massachusetts.
• 1955: The King and the Duke, Circle in the Square Theatre, New York.
• 1955: La Ronde (Schitzler), Circle in the Square Theatre, New York.
• 1955: The Cradle Song (Underhill), Circle in the Square Theatre, New York.
• 1955: The Iceman Cometh (O'Neill), Circle in the Square Theatre, New York.
• 1956: The Innkeepers (Apstein), New York.
• 1956: Long Day's Journey Into Night (O'Neill), Helen Hayes Theatre, New York.
• 1957: Lost in the Stars (M. Anderson), City Opera, New York.
• 1957: The Square Root of Wonderful (McCullers), Princeton University, New Jersey.
• 1958: Children of Darkness (Mayer), Circle in the Square Theatre, New York.
• 1958: A Moon for the Misbegotten (O'Neill), Festival of Two Worlds, Spoleto, Italy.
• 1958: Cavalleria Rusticana (Mascagni), Metropolitan Opera, New York.
• 1958: I Pagliacci (Leoncavallo), Metropolitan Opera, New York.
• 1958: The Quare Fellow (Behan), Circle in the Square Theatre, New York.
• 1959: Our Town (Wilder), Circle in the Square Theatre, New York.
• 1959: Macbeth (Shakespeare), Boston, Massachusetts.
• 1960: The Balcony (Genet), Circle in the Square Theatre, New York.
• 1960: Camino Real (T. Williams), Circle in the Square Theatre, New York.
• 1960: The Triumph of Saint Joan (Joio), City Opera, New York.
• 1960: Laurette (Young, adapted from Courtney), New Haven, Connecticut.
• 1961: Look, We've Come Through (Wheeler), New York.
• 1962: Plays for Bleecker Street (Wilder), Circle in the Square Theatre, New York.
• 1962: Great Day in the Morning (Cannon), New York.
• 1962: Pullman Car Hiawatha (Wilder), Circle in the Square Theatre, New York.
• 1963: Desire Under the Elms (O'Neill), Circle in the Square Theatre, New York.
• 1963: Strange Interlude (O'Neill), Broadway, New York.
• 1964: Marco Millions (O'Neill),Lincoln Center, New York.
• 1964: Hughie (O'Neill), Royale Theatre, New York.
• 1964: Susanna, Metropolitan Opera, New York.
• 1964: La Bohème (Puccini), Metropolitan Opera, New York.
• 1965: Diamond Orchid (Lawrence and Lee), New York.
• 1965: Matty and the Moron and the Madonna (Leiberman), New York.
• 1965: A Moon for the Misbegotten (O'Neill), Arena Stage, Buffalo, New York.
• 1966: Pousse Cafe, New York.
• 1967: More Stately Mansions (O'Neill), Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles, and New York.
• 1968: The Seven Descents of Myrtle (T. Williams), New York.
• 1968: The Lady of the Camellias (Dumas), Mexico City
• 1969: Episode in the Life of an Author (Anouilh) and The Orchestra (Anouilh), Buffalo, New York.
• 1970: Gandhi, Playhouse Theatre, New York.
• 1971: Johnny Johnson (Green), New York.
• 1971: The Big Coca-Cola Swamp in the Sky, Westport, Connecticut.
• 1973: A Moon for the Misbegotten (O'Neill) The Orchestra (Jean Annouilh) Hello From Bertha/Lady of Larkspur Lotion (T. Williams) Academy Playhouse/Academy Festival Theatre Lake Forest Ill.
• 1973: A Moon for the Misbegotten (O'Neill), Morosco Theatre, New York.
• 1974: Gabrielle (Quintero), Studio Arena, Buffalo, New York, and Washington, D.C.
• 1975: The Skin of Our Teeth (Wilder), Washington, D.C.
• 1975: A Moon for the Misbegotten (O'Neill), Oslo, Norway.
• 1976: Knock, Knock (Feiffer), New York.
• 1976: Hughie (O'Neill), Chicago, Illinois.
• 1977: Anna Christie (O'Neill), New York, Toronto, and Washington, D.C.
• 1977: A Touch of the Poet (O'Neill), New York.
• 1978: Same Time, Next Year, Oslo, Norway.
• 1978: The Bear (Chekhov) and The Human Voice (Cocteau), Melbourne and Sydney, Australia.
• 1979: The Human Voice (Cocteau), Circle in the Square Theatre, New York.
• 1979: Faith Healer (Friel), Boston, Massachusetts, and Longacre Theatre, New York.
• 1980: Clothes for a Summer Hotel (T. Williams), Washington, D.C., and Cort Theatre, New York.
• 1980: Welded (O'Neill), University of Columbia, New York.
• 1980: Ah! Wilderness (O'Neill), National Theatre, Mexico City.
• 1981: The Time of Your Life (Saroyan), Brandeis University, Boston, Massachusetts.
• 1981: Ah! Wilderness (O'Neill), West Palm Beach, Los Angeles.
• 1983: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (T. Williams), Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles.
• 1984: Rainsnakes, Long Wharf Theatre, New Haven, Connecticut.
• 1985: The Iceman Cometh (O'Neill), Washington D.C., New York, and Los Angeles.
• 1988: Long Day's Journey into Night (O'Neill), Yale University and New York.
• 1990: Private Lives (Coward), Oslo, Norway.
• Films
  • The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone, 1961.
• Television
  • Our Town, 1959
  • The Nurses, 1963
  • Medea, 1963
  • J. F. Kennedy's Profiles in Courage, 1965
  • A Moon for the Misbegotten, 1973
  • The Human Voice, 1979
  • Hughie, 1981.
• Radio
  • In the Zone, 1988
  • The Long Voyage Home, 1988
  • The Moon of the Caribbees, 1989
  • Bound East for Cardiff, 1989
  • The Hairy Ape, 1989
  • The Emperor Jones, 1990.

• José Quintero at theInternet Broadway Database
• José Quintero atIMDb

• 1924 births
• 1999 deaths
• People from Panama City
• Panamanian people of Spanish descent
• American theatre directors
• Deaths from esophageal cancer in New York (state)
• Drama Desk Award winners
• LGBTQ theatre directors
• Panamanian gay men
• Tony Award winners
• Los Angeles City College alumni
• University of Southern California alumni
• 20th-century Panamanian LGBTQ people
• 20th-century Panamanian people

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