The Diary of Anne Frank is a stage adaptation of the book The Diary of a Young Girl

The Diary of a Young Girl

The Diary of a Young Girl is a book of the writings from the Dutch language diary kept by Anne Frank while she was in hiding for two years with her family during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. The family was apprehended in 1944 and Anne Frank ultimately died of typhus in the Bergen-Belsen...

. The play is a dramatization by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett

Albert Hackett

Albert Maurice Hackett was an American dramatist and screenwriter most noted for his collaborations with his partner and wife Frances Goodrich.-Early years:...

. It opened at the Cort Theatre

Cort Theatre

The Cort Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 138 West 48th Street in the Theatre District of midtown Manhattan in New York City...

, Broadway

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

, on October 5, 1955, in a production by Kermit Bloomgarden

Kermit Bloomgarden

Kermit Bloomgarden was an American theatrical producer, who had started out as an accountant, before producing plays on Broadway including Death of a Salesman, Look Homeward, Angel, The Music Man and Equus.Bloomgarden was born in Brooklyn to Zemad and Annie Groden Bloomgarden, where he attended...

, directed by Garson Kanin

Garson Kanin

Garson Kanin was a prolific American writer and director of plays and films.-Film and stage career:...

 and designed by Boris Aronson

Boris Aronson

Boris Aronson was an American scenic designer for Broadway and Yiddish theatre. He won the Tony Award for Scenic Design six times in his career.-Biography:...

. The cast was led by Joseph Schildkraut

Joseph Schildkraut

Joseph Schildkraut was an Austrian stage and film actor.-Early life:Born in Vienna, Austria, Schildkraut was the son of stage actor Rudolph Schildkraut. The younger Schildkraut moved to the United States in the early 1900s. He appeared in many Broadway productions...

 as Otto Frank, Susan Strasberg

Susan Strasberg

Susan Elizabeth Strasberg was an American film and stage actress.-Background and career:Strasberg was born in New York City, New York, the daughter of theatre director and drama coach Lee Strasberg of the Actors Studio and former actress Paula Strasberg...

 as Anne Frank, Stephen Press as Peter van Daan, Gusti Huber

Gusti Huber

Auguste Huber was an Austrian theater and film actress.She received her acting training from Dr. Beer who also arranged her debut in Zurich...

 as Edith Frank, Jack Gilford

Jack Gilford

Jack Gilford was an American actor on Broadway, films and television.-Early life:Gilford was born Jacob Aaron Gellman on the lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City, and grew up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn...

 as Mr. Dussel, Miriam Karlin

Miriam Karlin

Miriam Karlin, OBE was a British actress who worked on screen for over 60 years. She was best known for her role as Paddy in The Rag Trade, a 1960s BBC and 1970s LWT sitcom , especially for her catchphrase "Everybody out!"...

 as Mrs. Van Daan and Lou Jacobi

Lou Jacobi

Louis Harold "Lou" Jacobi was a Canadian character actor.-Life and career:Jacobi was born Louis Harold Jacobovitch in Toronto, Ontario to Joseph and Fay Jacobivitch...

 as Mr. Van Daan. The play later transferred to the Ambassador Theatre

Ambassador Theatre (New York)

The Ambassador Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 219 West 49th Street between Broadway and 8th Avenue in Midtown Manhattan.Designed by architect Herbert J. Krapp for the Shuberts, the structure is unusual in that it is situated diagonally on its site to fit the maximum number of...

.
The play received the Tony Award

Tony Award

The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...

 for Best Play

Tony Award for Best Play

The Tony Award for Best Play is an annual award celebrating achievements in live American theatre, including musical theatre, honoring productions on Broadway in New York. It currently takes place in mid-June each year.There was no award in the Tony's first year...

 and was also nominated for Best Actress

Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play

This is a list of the winners and nominations of Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. The award has been presented since 1947, and is for performance in new productions or revivals.-1940s:...

 (Susan Strasberg), Best Scenic Design (Boris Aronson), Best Costume Design (Helene Pons), Best Director (Garson Kanin). The play also received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama

Pulitzer Prize for Drama

The Pulitzer Prize for Drama was first awarded in 1918.From 1918 to 2006, the Drama Prize was unlike the majority of the other Pulitzer Prizes: during these years, the eligibility period for the drama prize ran from March 2 to March 1, to reflect the Broadway 'season' rather than the calendar year...

 for Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich. Susan Strasberg won the 1956 Theatre World Award

Theatre World Award

The Theatre World Award, first awarded for the 1945-46 season, is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or off-Broadway.-History:...

. It also received the 1956 New York Drama Critics Circle award for best play.

The play ran until 1957.

1997 revival

The play was revived on October 1997, in a new adaptation by Wendy Kesselman

Wendy Kesselman

-Life:Wendy Kesselman came to the Actors Theater of Louisville in 1980. She lives in Wellfleet, Massachusetts.-Works:*Becca, 1977, 1980*Merry-Go-Round, 1981, 1981*I Love You, I Love You Not, 1982, 1982*Cinderella In A Mirror, 1987...

, directed by James Lapine

James Lapine

James Lapine is an American stage director and librettist. He has won the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical three times, for Into the Woods, Falsettos, and Passion. He has frequently collaborated with Stephen Sondheim and William Finn.-Biography:Lapine was born in Mansfield, Ohio and graduated...

. Otto Frank was played by George Hearn

George Hearn

George Hearn is an American actor and singer, primarily in Broadway musical theatre.-Early years:Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Hearn studied philosophy at Southwestern at Memphis, now Rhodes College before he embarked on a career in the theater, training for the stage with actress turned acting...

, Anne by Natalie Portman

Natalie Portman

Natalie Hershlag , better known by her stage name Natalie Portman, is an actress with dual American and Israeli citizenship. Her first role was as an orphan taken in by a hitman in the 1994 French action film Léon, but major success came when she was cast as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel...

, Mrs. Van Daan by Linda Lavin

Linda Lavin

Linda Lavin is an American singer and actress. She is best known for playing the title character in the sitcom Alice and for her Broadway performances.After acting as a child, Lavin joined the Compass Players in the late 1950s...

, Mr. Van Daan by Harris Yulin

Harris Yulin

Harris Yulin is an American actor who has appeared in dozens of Hollywood and television films.-Life and career:Yulin was born in...

 and Edith Frank by Sophie Hayden. The play previewed in Boston in the Colonial Theatre before opening at the Music Box Theatre

Music Box Theatre

The Music Box Theater is a Broadway theatre located at 239 West 45th Street in midtown-Manhattan.The once most aptly named theater on Broadway, the intimate Music Box was designed by architect C. Howard Crane and constructed by composer Irving Berlin and producer Sam H. Harris specifically to...

 in December 1997.

The production received two nominations for 1999 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play

Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play

The Tony Award for Best Revival has only been awarded since 1994. Prior to that, plays and musicals were considered together for the Tony Award for Best Revival...

 and for Best featured actress

Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play

This is a list of winners and nomination of the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress. The award was first presented in 1947.-1940s:* 1947: Patricia Neal – Another Part of the Forest* 1949: Shirley Booth – Goodbye, My Fancy-1950s:...

 (Linda Lavin). It also received two Drama Desk nominations, for Outstanding Featured Actor (Harris Yulin) and Outstanding Featured Actress (Linda Lavin).

External links