Melvin Bernhardt (February 26, 1931 – September 12, 2015) was an American stage and

television director A television director is in charge of the activities involved in making a television program or section of a program. They are generally responsible for decisions about the editorial content and creative style of a program, and ensuring the prod ...

. He was born and raised in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

, and much of his work has been in the New York City area. He is known for his productions of ''

The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds ''The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds'' is a play written by Paul Zindel, a playwright and science teacher. Zindel received the 1971 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and a New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for the work. Production ...

'', '' Da'', and ''

Crimes of the Heart ''Crimes of the Heart'' is a play by American playwright Beth Henley. It is set in Hazlehurst, Mississippi in the mid-20th century. The play won the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play. In 1986, the p ...

''. Bernhardt began his career as a stage manager; he made his directorial debut in 1965 with ''Conerico was Here to Stay'' at the Cherry Lane Theatre.

Biography

Melvin Bernhard (he later added the "t" to his surname in tribute to Sarah Bernhardt) was born on February 26, 1931 in

. His parents were Max Bernhard and Kate Benatovich. He obtained his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree from the

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 18 ...

and his Master of Fine Arts degree from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

. Beginning January 8, 1989 Bernhardt was partnered with New York based stage/television actor and audiobook narrator Jeff Woodman. The pair were married on September 10, 2011. Bernhardt died in Manhattan, New York on September 12, 2015 after a fall at the age of 84.

Career

Melvin Bernhardt began his career as a stage manager. He served as the stage manager for the original

Broadway theatre Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...

productions of '' Diary of a Scoundrel'' and '' Livin' the Life''. Bernhardt directed his first play, ''Conerico was Here to Stay'', at the Cherry Lane Theatre 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 ...

in 1965. From there, Bernhardt directed plays throughout the United States, including productions in

Hartford Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since t ...

and

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

and a national tour of ''Who's Happy Now?'' in 1968. He made his

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

directing debut in November 1972 at the Hampstead Theatre Club with his production of ''

''. Bernhardt is known as an "actor's director", as he focuses more on character development than on elaborate

staging Staging may refer to: Computing * Staging (cloud computing), a process used to assemble, test, and review a new solution before it is moved into production and the existing solution is decommissioned * Staging (data), intermediately storing data b ...

. He is currently a member of the Honorary Advisory Committee of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.

Broadway

In addition to winning multiple Obie awards for his Off-Broadway work, Bernhardt has had a successful career as a Broadway theatre director. His first Broadway production came in 1969 when he directed ''Home Fires'' and ''Cop-Out'', a pair of one-act plays written by

John Guare John Guare ( ;; born February 5, 1938) is an American playwright and screenwriter. He is best known as the author of '' The House of Blue Leaves'' and '' Six Degrees of Separation''. Early life He was raised in Jackson Heights, Queens.Druckman ...

. The production, which was staged at the

Cort Theatre The James Earl Jones Theatre, originally the Cort Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 138 West 48th Street, between Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue, in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States. It was built in ...

, was harshly criticized and closed after just eight performances. Although the individual performances of the actors were well received, the plays themselves were seen as "enigmatic drama", "weak social satire", and "feeble exercises in juvenility". 1 May 1978 marked the debut of the original Broadway production of '' Da'', a comedy by

Hugh Leonard Hugh Leonard (9 November 1926 – 12 February 2009) was an Irish dramatist, television writer, and essayist. In a career that spanned 50 years, Leonard wrote nearly 30 full-length plays, 10 one-act plays, three volumes of essay, two autobiograph ...

which proved to be one of the more successful plays in Bernhardt's career. The play, which ran for nearly 700 performances at the Morosco Theatre, earned Bernhardt the 1978

Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play The Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play has been given since 1960. Before 1960 there was only one award for both play direction and musical direction, then in 1960 the award was split into two categories: ''Dramatic'' and ''Musical''. In 1976 ...

and the 1978 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play. Bernhardt's other major Broadway success was ''

'', which opened at the

John Golden Theatre The John Golden Theatre, formerly the Theatre Masque and Masque Theater, is a Broadway theater at 252 West 45th Street ( George Abbott Way) in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1927, the Golden Theatre was ...

on 4 November 1981. The production earned a slew of awards and nominations, including nominations for the 1981 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Direction of a Play and the 1982 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play.

Television

Although the majority of Bernhardt's directorial work has taken place on the stage, he has also had some experience in television directing. His work on '' Another World'' earned him a nomination for the 1979 and 1980

Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series Directing Team The Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series Directing Team is an award presented annually by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) and Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS). It was first awarded at the 1st D ...

. He earned another nomination for this award in 1985 for his work on '' One Life to Live''. Other television work includes several episodes of ''All My Children'', and, in 1984, a live production of ''Mister Roberts'' for ''NBC Live Theater''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernhardt, Melvin 1931 births 2015 deaths American theatre directors Drama Desk Award winners LGBT people from New York (state) LGBT theatre directors Tony Award winners Artists from Buffalo, New York Yale School of Drama alumni University at Buffalo alumni