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Sam Wanamaker

Sam Wanamaker
Sam Wanamaker - 1961.jpg
Wanamaker in 1961
Born Samuel Wanamaker
(1919-06-14)June 14, 1919
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Died December 18, 1993(1993-12-18) (aged 74)
London, England
Occupation Actor, director
Years active 1948–1993
Spouse(s) Charlotte Holland (m. 1940; his death 1993)
Children 3, including Zoë Wanamaker

Samuel "Sam" Wanamaker, CBE (born Samuel Wattenmacker; June 14, 1919 – December 18, 1993) was an American actor and director who moved to the UK after being put on the Hollywood blacklist in the early 1950s. He is credited as the person most responsible for the modern recreation of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London, where he is commemorated in the name of the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, the site's second theatre.

Wanamaker was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of tailor Maurice Wattenmacker (Manus Watmakher) and Molly (née Bobele). His parents were Ukrainian Jews from Nikolayev. He was the younger of two brothers, the elder being William, long-term cardiologist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Wanamaker trained at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago and began working with companies in Chicago and northern Wisconsin, where he helped build the stage of the Peninsula Players Theatre in 1937.

Wanamaker began his acting career in traveling shows and later worked on Broadway. In 1957, he was appointed director of the New Shakespeare Theatre, in Liverpool. In 1959, he joined the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre company at Stratford-upon-Avon, playing Iago to Paul Robeson's Othello in Tony Richardson's production that year. In the 1960s and 1970s, he produced or directed several works at venues including the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and directed the Shakespeare Birthday Celebrations in 1974.


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