José Quintero

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José Quintero
Photo by Carl Van Vechten, 1958
Born	José Benjamin Quintero October 15, 1924 (1924-10-15) (age 83) Panama City, Panama
Died	February 26, 1999 (aged 74)
Occupation	Director
Awards won Tony Awards Best Direction of a Play 1974 A Moon for the Misbegotten

José Benjamin Quintero (October 15, 1924 – February 26, 1999) was a theatre director and teacher, best known for his interpretations of the works of Eugene O'Neill.

[edit] Biography

Quintero was born in Panama City, Panama and came to the USA to study medicine but became involved in the theatre instead and, by founding the Circle in the Square Theatre in Greenwich Village, became the pioneer of Off-Broadway theatre. He became one of the most celebrated Broadway and Off Broadway directors and producers and worked with some of the greatest names in American theatre. His own name is inextricably linked to that of the American playwright Eugene O'Neill. It was, in fact, Quintero's interest which contributed to the rediscovery of O'Neill. Quintero staged several of his works, including The Iceman Cometh in 1956, which launched the career of Jason Robards. Later that year, Quintero's production of the New York premiere of Long Day's Journey Into Night established his reputation as the quintessential director of O'Neill's dramas and won Tony awards for Best Play and Best Actor (Fredric March). In 1963, he directed Strange Interlude, with a cast which included Geraldine Page, Jane Fonda, Franchot Tone, Ben Gazzara, Pat Hingle and Betty Field. In 1967, he directed Ingrid Bergman in More Stately Mansions in Los Angeles and New York. His production of A Moon for the Misbegotten, in 1973, won the Tony award for Best Direction. In 1988, he directed the revival of Long Day's Journey Into Night with Jason Robards Jr and Colleen Dewhurst. In the course of his career Quintero directed O'Neill plays nineteen times.

Quintero did not limit himself to the works of O'Neill. He directed over seventy productions by a great number of writers, including Truman Capote, Jean Cocteau, Thornton Wilder, Jean Genet and Brendan Behan. He also directed plays by Tennessee Williams, including the 1952 production of Summer and Smoke which made Geraldine Page a star and the short-lived 1968 production of The Seven Descents of Myrtle. In 1961, he directed Vivien Leigh and Warren Beatty in the film version of Williams' The Roman Spring of Mrs Stone which brought Lotte Lenya an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress. In 1990, he directed Liv Ullman in Noel Coward's Private Lives at the National Theatre in Oslo. He also directed operas for the Metropolitan Opera and the Dallas Opera.

Quintero was also a noted teacher. He lectured on theatre and gave master classes in acting at the University of Houston and Florida State University.

In the 1970s, he battled with alcoholism and in 1987, throat cancer necessitated the removal of his larynx. Despite this, Quintero was active almost until the end of his life. In 1996 he directed two early O'Neill plays, The Long Voyage Home and Ile, at the Provincetown Repertory Theater in Massachusetts. He died in New York City.

He is commemorated by The Jose Quintero Theatre on West 42nd Street, New York.

[edit] Bibliography

• Quintero, José (1974). If You Don't Dance They Beat You. ISBN 0316729205. 

[edit] External links

• José Quintero at the Internet Broadway Database
• José Quintero at the Internet Movie Database