Lucille Lortel was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 actress and theater producer who is remembered as the namesake of an off-Broadway

Off-Broadway

Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...

 playhouse and theatrical award.

Born Lucille Wadler in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, Lucille Lortel was originally an actress during the 1920s (she once recollected comparing breast sizes with Helen Hayes

Helen Hayes

Helen Hayes Brown was an American actress whose career spanned almost 70 years. She eventually garnered the nickname "First Lady of the American Theatre" and was one of twelve people who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony Award...

). She went on to become an off-Broadway

Off-Broadway

Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...

 theater producer and impresario

Impresario

An impresario is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays or operas; analogous to a film producer in filmmaking, television production and an angel investor in business...

 with the help of a wealthy husband, industrialist Louis Schweitzer

Louis Schweitzer (Philanthropist)

Louis Schweitzer was a Russian-born United States paper industrialist and philanthropist who purchased the U.S. radio station WBAI from Theodore Deglin for $34,000 in 1957...

, whom she married in 1931. Her age was a well-kept mystery until nearly the end of her life.

Lortel founded The White Barn Theatre

White Barn Theatre

The White Barn Theatre was a small theater founded by actress, producer and theater impresario Lucille Lortel on the property of her estate in Norwalk, Connecticut that premiered numerous plays from major playwrights and plays that went on to successful Broadway and Off-Broadway runs.Lortel founded...

 at her estate in Norwalk, Connecticut

Norwalk, Connecticut

Norwalk is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of the city is 85,603, making Norwalk sixth in population in Connecticut, and third in Fairfield County...

 in 1947.

The Lucille Lortel Theatre

Lucille Lortel Theatre

The Lucille Lortel Theatre is an off-Broadway playhouse located at 121 Christopher Street in New York City's Greenwich Village.The venue was built in 1926 as a 590-seat movie theater called the New Hudson, later known as Hudson Playhouse...

, on Christopher Street, in Greenwich Village

Greenwich Village

Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...

, New York City, which hosts the Lucille Lortel Awards

Lucille Lortel Awards

The Lucille Lortel Awards recognize excellence in New York Off-Broadway theatre. The Awards are named for Lucille Lortel, an actress and theater producer, and have been awarded since 1986...

 for achievement in off-Broadway productions, and the Lortel Archives, which provides the Internet Off-Broadway Database

Lortel Archives

The Lortel Archives, or the Internet Off-Broadway Database is an online database that catalogues theatre productions shown off-Broadway.The archives are named in honor of actress and theatrical producer Lucille Lortel.-See also:...

, are named in her honor and supported by her foundation.

She died of natural causes in New York at the age of 98 and is interred at the Westchester Hills Cemetery

Westchester Hills Cemetery

The Westchester Hills Cemetery, approximately 20 miles north of New York City, was established at 400 Saw Mill River Road in Hastings-on-Hudson, Westchester County, New York. It welcomes the burial of Christians and Jews, and many well-known entertainers and performers are interred there...

 in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York

Hastings-on-Hudson, New York

Hastings-on-Hudson is a village in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is located in the southwest part of the town of Greenburgh. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 7,849. It lies on U.S. Route 9, "Broadway" in Hastings...

.

External links

• "Lucille's Biography" – Official Website of the Louise Lortel Foundation.
• Lucille Lortel Papers, 1902-2000 held by the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
  New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
  The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center houses one of the world's largest collections of materials relating to the performing arts. It is one of the four research centers of the New York Public Library's Research library system, and it is also one...