Lucille Lortel

Lucille Lortel
Lucille Lortel, ca. 1920s by Achille Volpe
Born	Lucille Wadler (1900-12-16)December 16, 1900 New York, New York, U.S.
Died	April 4, 1999(1999-04-04) (aged 98) New York, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actress; theatrical producer/artistic director
Years active	1925–1999
Spouse(s)	Louis Schweitzer (1931-1971; his death)

Lucille Lortel (December 16, 1900 – April 4, 1999) was an American actress, artistic director and producer. In the course of her career Lortel produced or co-produced nearly 500 plays, 5 of which were nominated for Tony Awards: As Is by William M. Hoffman, Angels Fall by Lanford Wilson, Blood Knot by Athol Fugard, Mbongeni Ngema's Sarafina! and A Walk in the Woods by Lee Blessing. She also produced Marc Blitzstein's adaptation of Bertolt Brecht's, and Kurt Weill's Threepenny Opera, a production which ran for seven years and according to The New York Times "caused such a sensation that it...put Off Broadway on the map."

Lortel was born Lucille Wadler on December 16, 1900 at 153 Attorney Street in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, one of four siblings born to Anny and Harris Wadler, Jewish immigrants of Polish descent. Her father was a manufacturer of women's clothes and frequently traveled to Europe to buy designs that he would copy. She had two brothers, Mayo (a violinist) and Seymour, and a sister, Ruth. She was raised in both The Bronx and New York City. She was home schooled and after attended school at Adelphi University in Brooklyn, New York. She was remembered by her friends for being vivacious, outgoing, flirtatious and was known to be found dancing at parties well into her 80s.

In 1920, Lortel (her stage surname) began to study acting and theatre at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. In 1921 she briefly left the United States to further continue her training with Max Reinhardt in Berlin. She made her Broadway debut in 1925 in the Theatre Guild's production of Caesar and Cleopatra with Helen Hayes. In 1926 she appeared in Michael Kallesser's One Man's Woman at the 48th Street Theatre in New York. She also appeared in David Belasco's The Dove with Judith Anderson, and as Poppy in the touring company of The Shanghai Gesture with Florence Reed. In 1929 Lortel played the female lead in The Man Who Laughed Last with star Sessue Hayakawa. She performed the role both on stage and on film in what was one of the first talking pictures.