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Ben Edwards Biography (1916-)

Full name, George Benjamin Edwards; born July 5, 1916, in Union Springs, AL;son of William Thomas (in business) and Sarah (McLaurine) Edwards; married Jane Greenwood (a costume designer), September 21, 1963. Addresses: Contact--United Scenic Artists, 1540 Broadway, New York, NY 10036.

Nationality

American

Gender

Male

Birth Details

July 5, 1916

Union Springs, Alabama, United States

Famous Works

• Credits; STAGE WORK; SET DESIGNER,EXCEPT WHERE NOTED
• Mrs. Moonlight, Barter Theatre, Abingdon, VA, 1935-39.
• Pursuit of Happiness, Barter Theatre, 1935-39.
• Smilin' Through, Barter Theatre, 1935-39.
• Beyond the Hills, Barter Theatre, 1935-39.
• The Silver Cord, Barter Theatre, 1935-39.
• Diff'rent, New York State Federal Theatre, Works Progress AdministrationProject, Maxine Elliott's Theatre, New York City, 1938.
• Pygmalion, New York State Federal Theatre, Works Progress AdministrationProject, Maxine Elliott's Theatre, 1938.
• Coriolanus, New York State Federal Theatre, Works Progress AdministrationProject, Maxine Elliott's Theatre, 1938.
• Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines, New York State Federal Theatre, WorksProgress Administration Project, Maxine Elliott's Theatre, 1938.
• Another Sun, National Theatre, New York City, 1940.
• Medea, National Theatre, 1947, and New York City Center Theatre, 1949.
• Sundown Beach, Belasco Theatre, New York City, 1948.
• (With William De Forest) Diamond Lil, Coronet Theatre, New York City, 1949.
• (And costume designer) The Taming of the Shrew and Julius Caesar, Woodstock Playhouse, Woodstock, NY, 1949.
• Costume designer, Legend of Sarah, Fulton Theatre, New York City, 1950.
• Costume designer, The Bird Cage, Coronet Theatre, 1950.
• Captain Brassbound's Conversion, New York City Center Theatre, 1950.
• The Royal Family, New York City Center Theatre, 1951.
• King Richard II, New York City Center Theatre, 1951.
• The Taming of the Shrew, New York City Center Theatre, 1951.
• Costume designer, Desire Under the Elms, ANTA Theatre, New York City, 1952.
• (And costume designer) Sunday Breakfast, Coronet Theatre, 1952.
• (And lighting designer) The Time of the Cuckoo, Empire Theatre, New YorkCity, 1952.
• Costume designer, The Emperor's Clothes, Ethel Barrymore Theatre, New York City, 1953.
• (And lighting and costume designer) The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker, Coronet Theatre, 1953.
• (And lighting designer) Lullaby, Lyceum Theatre, New York City, 1954.
• Sing Me No Lullaby, Phoenix Theatre, New York City, 1954.
• (And lighting and costume designer) The Traveling Lady, Playhouse Theatre, New York City, 1954.
• (And costume designer) Anastasia, Lyceum Theatre, 1954.
• (And lighting designer) Tonight in Samarkand, Morosco Theatre, New York City, 1955.
• The Honeys, Longacre Theatre, New York City, 1955.
• (And lighting designer) Someone Waiting, John Golden Theatre, New York City, 1956.
• (And lighting designer) The Ponder Heart, Music Box Theatre, New York City, 1956.
• (And lighting and costume designer) The Waltz of the Toreadors, Coronet Theatre, 1957.
• The Dark at the Top of the Stairs, Music Box Theatre, 1957.
• (And lighting designer) Jane Eyre, Belasco Theatre, 1958.
• (And lighting and costume designer) A Touch of the Poet, Helen Hayes Theatre, New York City, 1958.
• The Disenchanted, Coronet Theatre, 1958.
• (And lighting designer) God and Kate Murphy, Fifty-Fourth Street Theatre,New York City, 1959.
• (And lighting designer) Heartbreak House, Billy Rose Theatre, New York City, 1959.
• Lighting designer, Ages of Man, Forty-Sixth Street Theatre, New York City, 1959.
• (And lighting designer) Face of a Hero, Eugene O'Neill Theatre, New YorkCity, 1960.
• Midgie Purvis, Martin Beck Theatre, New York City, 1961.
• (And producer with Louis Allen) Big Fish, Little Fish, ANTA Theatre, 1961.
• (And lighting designer) Purlie Victorious, Cort Theatre, New York City, 1961.
• (And lighting designer) A Shot in the Dark, Booth Theatre, New York City,1961.
• (And lighting designer) The Aspern Papers, The Playhouse Theatre, 1962.
• (And producer) Harold, Cort Theatre, New York City, 1963.
• (And producer with Lewis Allen) The Ballad of the Sad Cafe, Martin Beck Theatre, 1963.
• Hamlet, Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, New York City, 1964.
• Costume designer, The Changeling, Repertory Theatre of Lincoln Center, Washington Square Theatre, New York City, 1964.
• (And lighting designer) The Family Way, Lyceum Theatre, 1965.
• (And lighting designer, and producer with Elaine Perry) A Race of Hairy Men!, Henry Miller's Theatre, New York City, 1965.
• Family Things, Falmouth Playhouse, Falmouth, MA, and Westport Country Playhouse, Westport, CT, 1965.
• (With George Jenkins) Production supervisor, The Royal Hunt of the Sun, ANTA Theatre, 1965.
• (And lighting designer) Where's Daddy?, Billy Rose Theatre, 1966.
• (And lighting designer) Nathan Weinstein, Mystic, Connecticut, Brooks Atkinson Theatre, New York City, 1966.
• (And lighting designer) How's the World Treating You?, Music Box Theatre,1966.
• (With Jean Rosenthal, and lighting designer) The Freaking Out of Stephanie Blake, Eugene O'Neill Theatre, 1967.
• More Stately Mansions, Broadhurst Theatre, 1967.
• Twelfth Night, and The Master Builder, Minnesota Theatre Company, TyroneGuthrie Theatre, Minneapolis, MN, 1968.
• (And lighting designer) The Mother Lover, Booth Theatre, 1969.
• Purlie, Broadway Theatre, New York City, 1970, then Billy Rose Theatre, 1972.
• (And lighting designer) Hay Fever, Helen Hayes Theatre, 1970.
• (And lighting designer) Look Away, Playhouse Theatre, 1973.
• (And lighting designer) Finishing Touches, Plymouth Theatre, New York City, 1973.
• A Moon for the Misbegotten, Morosco Theatre, 1973, and Ahmanson Theatre,1975.
• (And lighting designer) The Headhunters, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, DC, 1974.
• (And lighting designer) Figures in the Sand, Theatre at St. Clements, NewYork City, 1974.
• Long Day's Journey Into Night, John F. Kennedy Center for the PerformingArts, 1975-76, then Brooklyn Academy Opera House, New York City, 1976.
• A Matter of Gravity, Broadhurst Theatre, 1976, and Ahmanson Theatre, 1976-77.
• (And lighting designer) A Texas Trilogy, Broadhurst Theatre, 1976.
• (And lighting designer) Anna Christie, Imperial Theatre, New York City, 1977.
• (And lighting designer) A Touch of the Poet, Helen Hayes Theatre, 1977.
• (And lighting designer) An Almost Perfect Person, Belasco Theatre, 1977.
• The West Side Waltz, Ethel Barrymore Theatre, 1981-82.
• To Grandmother's House We Go, Biltmore Theatre, New York City, 1981.
• Medea, Cort Theatre, 1982, and Clarence Brown Theatre, Knoxville, TN, 1982.
• Death of a Salesman, Broadhurst Theatre, 1984.
• The Iceman Cometh, Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, 1985.
• Lillian, Ethel Barrymore Theatre, 1986.
• Opera Comique, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 1986-87.
• Long Day's Journey into Night, Yale Repertory Theatre, New Haven, CT, 1987-88.
• The Chosen, Second Avenue Theatre, New York City, 1987-88.
• Long Day's Journey Into Night, Neil Simon Theatre, New York City, 1988.
• Also set designer for Studio Arena Theatre, Buffalo, NY, 1969-70 and 1976-77.
• Credits; MAJOR TOURS
• Set and lighting designer, What Do You Really Know About Your Husband?, U.S. cities, 1967.
• Set and lighting designer, Finishing Touches, U.S. cities, 1973-74.
• Set designer, A Matter of Gravity, U.S. cities, 1976-77.
• Set designer, The West Side Waltz, U.S. cities, 1980-81.
• Credits; FILM WORK
• Production designer, Lovers and Other Strangers, Cinerama, 1970.
• Art director, Jennifer on My Mind, United Artists, 1971.
• Art director, Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Paramount, 1972.
• Production designer, Class of '44, Warner Brothers, 1973.
• Production designer, Fort Apache, The Bronx, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1981.
• Production designer, Hanky-Panky, Columbia, 1982.
• Production designer, Sweet Liberty, Universal, 1986.
• Also worked as visual consultant on Fast Forward, 1985.
• Credits; TELEVISION WORK; SERIES
• Production designer, The Ed Wynn Show, NBC, 1952.
• Production designer, Armstrong Circle Theatre, CBS, 1955.
• Art director, Fame, NBC, 1982.
• Production designer, Bagdad Cafe, CBS, 1990.
• Credits; TELEVISION WORK; MOVIES
• Art director, Mayflower: The Pilgrim's Adventure, CBS, 1979.
• Art director, The Royal Romance of Charles and Diana, CBS, 1982.
• Art director, Jacobo Timerman: Prisoner Without a Name, Cell Without a Number, NBC, 1983.
• Production designer, Kennedy, NBC, 1983.
• Production designer, A Special Friendship, CBS, 1987.
• Production designer, Liberace: Behind the Music, CBS, 1988.
• Production designer, Everybody's Baby: The Rescue of Jessica McClure, ABC, 1989.
• Credits; TELEVISION WORK; SPECIALS
• Art director, The World of Magic, NBC, 1975.
• Art director, Breaking Up, ABC, 1978.
• Art director, Home to Stay, CBS, 1978.
• Also art director of The Easter Promise, 1975; The Rivalry, 1975; and Addie and the King of Hearts, 1976. Production designer for Phobia, 1980; Heartbreak House, 1986; Ike, 1986; The Kingdom Chums: Little David's Adventure, 1986; Winston Churchill, 1986; Lyndon Johnson, 1987; and An Enemy of the People,1990. Sculptor for Apology, 1986.

Further Reference

PERIODICALS

• Theatre Crafts, August/September, 1989.