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William Woodman Biography (1932-1995)

Full name, William Ezra Woodman, Jr.; born October 1, 1932; married ElizabethRoberts (a casting director), June 5, 1971. Addresses: OFFICE--320 West End Avenue, New York, NY 10023. AGENT--Jack Tantleff, 360 W. 20th Street,New York, NY, 10011.

Born William Ezra Woodman, Jr., October 1, 1932, in New York, NY; died of cardiac arrest, December 19, 1995, in New York, NY. Director. William Woodman isbest remembered for his work in regional theater, especially his tenure as artistic director of the Goodman Theater in Chicago from 1973 to 1978. Woodmanwas educated at Hamilton College and Columbia University and worked at the American Shakespeare Festival, the Robin Hood Theatre in Ardentown, Delaware,and at the Juilliard School of Drama before coming to the Goodman Theater. Heexpanded the repertoire of the Goodman Theater, introducing experimental pieces by writers such as David Mamet, Sam Shepard, Edward Bond, and Studs Terkel. His direction of Brian Friel's Freedom of the City (1973) won a Joseph Jefferson Award. Woodman also directed for television, and his credits include episodes of Another World, Guiding Light, The Doctors, and the special Long Day's Journey into Night (1983), starring Ruby Dee and Earle Hyman. He also staged the operas La Dafne in Spoleto, Italy, at the Festival of Two Worlds, andThe Lighthouse for Chicago Opera Theater. He had completed a staging of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night in Syracuse, New York, just before his death.

Gender

Male

Occupation

director, stage manager, producer

Birth Details

October 1, 1932

New York, New York, United States

Death Details

December 19, 1995

New York, New York, United States

Famous Works

• Credits
• FIRST STAGE WORK--Assistant stage manager, Othello, The Merchant of Venice, and Much Ado about Nothing, all American Shakespeare Festival, Stratford,CT, 1957.
• Credits;PRINCIPAL STAGE WORK; DIRECTOR
• Tall Story, Robin Hood Theatre, Arden, DE, 1961.
• The Night of the Iguana, Cleveland Playhouse, Cleveland, OH, 1963.
• The Imaginary Invalid, Hartford Stage Company, Hartford, CT, 1964.
• A Midsummer Night's Dream, Front Street Theatre, Memphis, TN, 1965.
• Tartuffe and Carved in Snow, both Cleveland Playhouse, 1965.
• Becket and Antony and Cleopatra, both Front Street Theatre, 1966.
• The Bat, Barter Theatre, Abingdon, VA, 1966.
• The Miser and The Skin of Our Teeth, both Cleveland Playhouse, 1966.
• The Wood Demon, Master Theatre, New York City, 1967.
• The Tavern, Craft Avenue Theatre, Pittsburgh, PA, 1967.
• Night of the Dunce, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Louisville, KY, 1968.
• Capriccio (opera), Lake Erie Opera Company, Severance Hall, Cleveland, OH, 1968.
• Othello, Loretto-Hilton Repertory Theatre, St. Louis, MO, 1970.
• Hamlet, American Shakespeare Festival, Stratford, CT, 1970.
• Huckleberry Finn, Juilliard Opera Center, New York City, 1971.
• Marat/Sade, Loretto-Hilton Repertory Theatre, 1972.
• The Rivals, Walnut Street Theatre, Philadelphia, PA, 1972.
• Twentieth Century, Goodman Theatre, Chicago, IL, 1973.
• La Dafne, Festival of Two Worlds, Spoleto, Italy, 1973.
• The Freedom of the City, Goodman Theatre, Chicago, IL, 1973, then Alvin Theatre, New York City, 1974.
• The Sea and Henry IV, Parts I and II, both Goodman Theatre, 1974.
• Arturo Ui, Goodman Theatre, 1975.
• King Lear, Asolo Theatre, Sarasota, FL, then Goodman Theatre, both 1975.
• Electra, The Devil's Disciple, and Design for Living, all Goodman Theatre, 1976.
• Richard III, Goodman Theatre, 1977.
• Much Ado about Nothing and Otherwise Engaged, both Goodman Theatre, 1978.
• Dandelion Wine, Phoenix Theatre, New York City, 1978.
• Moby Dick Rehearsed, Denver Theatre Center, Denver, CO, 1980.
• The Taming of the Shrew, McCarter Theatre, Princeton, NJ, 1980.
• Dear Daddy, Philadelphia Drama Guild, Philadelphia, PA, 1981.
• Power and Glory, The Diary of Anne Frank and All My Sons, and Philadelphia Drama Guild, 1982.
• Blithe Spirit, McCarter Theatre, The Member of the Wedding and The Father, both Philadelphia Drama Guild, 1983.
• Sundays at the Itchey Foot, Center Theatre Group, Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles, CA, 1986.
• Buried Child and Long Day's Journey into Night, Dramski Teatar, Skopje, Yugoslavia, 1987.
• Man and Superman, Roundabout Theatre, New York City, 1988.
• Saint Joan, St. Louis Repertory Theatre, St. Louis, MO, 1989.
• Credits;MAJOR TOURS
• Stage manager, Much Ado about Nothing, U.S. cities, 1957.
• Credits;PRINCIPAL TELEVISION WORK; ALL AS DIRECTOR SERIES
• Another World, NBC.
• The Guiding Light, CBS.
• The Doctors, NBC.
• Credits;SPECIALS
• Long Day's Journey into Night, 1983.

Further Reference

Books:

• Who's Who in America, 49th edition, Marquis, 1994.

Periodicals:

• Chicago Tribune, December 21, 1995, sec. 3, p. 9.
• New York Times, December 27, 1995, p. B6.