Gene Frankel
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Gene Frankel (c. 1920 – April 20, 2005) was a United States theater director and acting teacher who was notable for directing the off-Broadway production of Jean Genet's play The Blacks which is regarded as a seminal production in African-American theatre.
Born Eugene Frankel in New York in 1919 or 1920 he spent his life in the city. During WWII he served in the military but rarely discussed this later in life. Frankel mentioned that he worked in theater with the military, but also made reference to being a gunner on a bomber plane.
He began his career as an actor, and was one of the earliest members of the Actors' Studio. He eventually moved behind the scenes and became a theater director on and off Broadway. His greatest success was his off-Broadway production of Genet's The Blacks, which opened in 1961 and ran for more than 1,400 performances at the St. Mark's Theatre. His original cast included James Earl Jones, Roscoe Lee Browne, Louis Gossett, Cicely Tyson, Godfrey Cambridge, Maya Angelou Make (before she dropped her last name) and Charles Gordone.
His most notable Broadway production was Arthur Kopit's Indians which starred Stacy Keach, who won the 1970 Tony Award as Best Actor for his portrayal Buffalo Bill. The production was also nominated for a Tony Award for best play of 1970. His other Broadway productions included A Cry of Players (1968), Kurt Weill's Lost in the Stars (1972) and Harry Chapin's The Night That Made America Famous (1975). His off-Broadway productions included Brecht on Brecht, (starring Viveca Lindfors, Lotte Lenya, Eli Wallach and Anne Jackson), and To Be Young, Gifted and Black starring Cicely Tyson.
As well as directing over 200 shows and managing at least twelve theaters, throughout his career, Frankel taught acting, writing and direction. His last base was the Gene Frankel Theatre and Film Workshop at 24 Bond Street in Greenwich Village. His slogan at the Gene Frankel Theatre Workshop read, "You don't get the Gene Frankel technique. You get Gene Frankel." He said that the heart of successful acting was ""Truth. I don't let my actors tell lies. The camera doesn't lie, the stage doesn't let you lie".
Here he taught, directed, and inspired many. His true love was the theater and he believed in the art and magic of the stage. He was more interested in passing on his experience than in making stars. Gene's passion was the work by William Shakespeare. He was not only loved and respected by his students by also by other acting coaches and professional who he warmly welcomed to also instruct at his studio. Frankel's sense of humour was unique and attracted the attention of aficionados around the world.
Frankel opened and closed more than twelve theatres during the course of his professional career. He often joked of having an endless stream of bad luck with theatrical space. On August 4, 1973, his Mercer Arts Center, a complex of seven small theatres, which had been located on the first two floors of the residential Broadway Central Hotel, physically collapsed. Frankel, who had been conducting a rehearsal at the time, noticed the ceiling and walls beginning to buckle and heroically led the actors and several residents to safety. Five people died in the collapse. All of his other theatres closed or were rescued by others. Only his last theater was a commercial success, serving as home to Artistic Director Christopher Groenwald's New Mercury Players and as a satellite location for Artistic Director Marilyn Majeski's Grove Street Playhouse. One of Gene's last managers at his theater school was Mary Kotz
He won the first Obie award for directing, for his production of Volpone (1958) and has won two since. He also received the first Lola d'Annunzi and Vernon Rice awards for outstanding achievement in theatre.
Frankel suffered a bad fall and broke his shoulder on April 11, 2005 and was hospitalized. Frankel died April 20, 2005 at the age of 85 due to congestive heart failure at New York University Medical Center. Frankel had two children from his marriage, Laura and Ethan. He is survived by his daughter, Laura Frankel. His son, Ethan, a very talented actor, had struggled with substance abuse which led Frankel to have him temporarily placed in a treatment facility. Tragically, Ethan was murdered by another patient on the grounds of the facility. For many years Frankel attempted to pursue justice for his son. He always referred to Ethan's death as the greatest heartbreak of his life.
[edit] Awards
- 1956-1957 Obie Award - Best Director - Volpone
- 1959-1960 Obie Award - Best Director - Machinal
- 1960-1961 Obie Award - Best Play - Jean Genet's The Blacks
- Drama Desk - Vernon Rice Award - Outstanding Achievement in Theatre
- Lola D'Annunzio Award - Lifetime Achievement In Theatre
