Gene Feist (January 16, 1923 – March 17, 2014,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

) was an American playwright, theater director and co-founder of the

Roundabout Theater Company The Roundabout Theatre Company is a leading non-profit theatre company based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, affiliated with the League of Resident Theatres. History The company was founded in 1965 by Gene Feist, Michael Fried and Elizabet ...

. He authored 15 plays or adaptations, of which two were published by Samuel French Inc. — ''James Joyce's Dublin'' and ''The Lady from Maxim's''.

Early life

Feist was born Eugene Feist in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, the son of Hattie (Fishbein), a beautician, and Henry Feist, a bar owner and, later, a cab driver. Along with his identical twin brother Harold, Feist grew up in the Coney Island neighborhood of Brooklyn. His father owned and operated a bar in Coney Island at Seagate and Surf Avenue named Indian Village but referred to as "The Bucket of Blood" due to its rough clientele. Feist's love of reading made him a target of teasing during his youth. He attended a vocational high school for newspaper printing press operators. After graduating he joined the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

where he was trained as an airplane mechanic but quickly moved to a post as editor of the Biggs (Texas) Air Field newspaper, "Bigg Stuff". During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

he was stationed in the Philippines and later in occupied Japan, writing for other military newspapers and serving as a librarian. After the war he attended Carnegie Tech, which later became Carnegie Mellon University. There he became a close friend of the artist and fellow student

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the Art movement, visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore th ...

Career

With his wife Kathe, known professionally as stage actress "Elizabeth Owens", he revived the New Theater in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

, and, in 1965, Gene and Kathe Feist founded the Roundabout Theatre Company, first located in the basement of a supermarket building owned by the housing development in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

where the Feists lived. Owens appeared in more than 30 plays over the next 25 years, while Gene Feist served as the Roundabout's founding director. In the 1960s, Gene Feist was the Dramatics Teacher, Director of the Drama Department, and 7th grade English Teacher at Albert Leonard Junior High School, in the city of New Rochelle, New York.

Personal life

Feist married Irma "Kathe" Schneider (February 26, 1928 – March 7, 2005) on February 10, 1957. They had two daughters. The couple reached their 48th wedding anniversary several weeks before her death.

Death

Kathe Feist predeceased him. She died from

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a r ...

, aged 77, on March 7, 2005. Gene Feist died at the age of 91 on March 17, 2014, in Englewood, New Jersey. He is survived by two daughters, a grandson and a granddaughter.

References

External links

* *
Gene Feist Film Reference biography
* ttp://www.nypl.org/archives/82558 Gene Feist papers, 1930s-2000 Billy Rose Theatre Division,

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, is located in Manhattan, New York City, at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on the Upper West Side, between the Metro ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Feist, Gene 1923 births American theatre directors American theatre managers and producers 2014 deaths Carnegie Mellon University alumni People from Coney Island