This collection is unprocessed. Materials are arranged in the order received.
Donated by Lucille Lortel, 1992 May
[identification of item], Lucille Lortel Papers, SPEC.TRI.LLW, Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute, Ohio State University
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This collection is unprocessed. Finding aid written by: Lindsay Resnick, 2022 August
Lucille Lortel (born Lucille Wadler, 1900-1999) was an American actress, theatrical producer, and theater owner. Born in Manhattan (New York, N.Y.), she was raised there and in the Bronx. In 1920, she enrolled at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts to study acting, and later studied in Berlin. She acted in her first Broadway performance in 1925, and retired from acting soon after marrying philanthropist Louis Schweitzer in 1931. Lortel and Schweitzer lived in Westport, Connecticut, where Lortel founded the not-for-profit White Barn Theatre on a portion of her property. Lortel produced and staged experimental works by well-known and up-and-coming playwrights. In 1955, Schweitzer purchased an Off-Broadway theater on Christopher Street in Manhattan, the Theatre de Lys, as an anniversary gift for Lortel. She produced at least seven plays there, and upon her 81st birthday, it was renamed in her honor as the Lucille Lortel Theatre, a name it still holds as of 2022. In 1961, Lortel became the first recipient of the Margo Jones Award, an award presented by the Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute at Ohio State University. This award is given annually to a person who has made significant contributions to live theater and playwriting. The White Barn Theatre closed in 2002 and was demolished in 2007, but its legacy lives on through the White Barn Center at Westport Country Playhouse, which only stages non-profit productions. Lucille Lortel died at her home in Manhattan at the age of 98.
The Lucille Lortel Papers, dated 1953-1992, contains playbills, clippings, advertisements, and reviews from the acting and producing careers of Lucille Lortel, particularly in relation to the two theaters she owned: the White Barn Theatre in Westport, Connecticut, and the Theatre de Lys (later Lucille Lortel Theatre) in New York City. The White Barn was a summer playhouse that showed experimental plays and the Theatre de Lys was a traditional Off-Broadway theater.