HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY, 

       MARGARET WEBSTER          

                                                           MARGARET WEBSTER (MARCH 15, 1905-NOVEMBER 13, 1972 

The daughter of two famous actors, Ben Webster and Dame May Whitty, she spent the early part of her career in England, where she became well known in the theatre. She worked for several established theatrical companies, including the Old Vic from 1929-1930 (at 24 years of age!!!).

In America she began an impressive reputation when she direct  Maurice Evans in Richard ll.  It was while she was directed him in Hamlet (1938) that she began her long romantic relationship with Eva Le Gallienne. She directed her as Madame Ranevsky in The Cherry Orchard. In 1943 she directed Othello starring Paul Robeson and Jose Ferrer as Iago, which was a huge hit on Broadway lasting 296 performances, the longest run of a Shakespearean production and she also played Emilia in the production.  In 1946 Ms. Webster and Ms. Le Gallienne co-founded the American Repertory Theatre with producer Cheryl Crawford, with Webster's staging of Shakespeare's Henry Vlll

as its premiere production starring Eva as Katharine and Victor Jory in the title role. 

Often credited with first having brought Shakespeare to Broadway, and renowned for her bold casting of an African American (Paul Robeson) in the role of Othello, she was a creative force in modern American and British theater.

In Milly S, Barranger's well-researched Margaret Webster: A Life in the Theater (University of Michigan Press: First edition (2004), her story reveals the independent-minded artist undeterred by stage tradition and unmindful of rules about a woman's place in the professional theater.  In addition to providing fascinating glimpses into Webster's personal and family life, the book offers a who's-who list of the biggest names in New York and London theater of the time, as well as Hollywood: John Gielgud, Noel Coward, George Bernard Shaw, Uta Hagen, Sybil Thorndike, and John Barrymore, among others, all of whom crossed paths with Webster. Capping her amazing story is her investigation by Senator Joseph McCarthy and HUAC, which left her unable to work for a year and from which she never fully recovered.