Roger Lacey Stevens (March 12, 1910 – February 2, 1998) was an American theatrical producer, arts administrator, and real estate executive. He was the founding Chairman of both the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (1961) and the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

(1965).

Biography

Born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

, Stevens was educated at The Choate School (now Choate Rosemary Hall) in

Wallingford, Connecticut Wallingford is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, centrally located between New Haven and Hartford, and Boston and New York City. The population was 44,396 at the 2020 census. The community was named after Wallingford, in En ...

. He was about to enter

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

but his father's financial difficulties ended his plan. He attended the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

for a year before dropping out. He then worked on a Ford assembly line and at a gas station during the Depression. In 1934, he joined a Detroit real estate firm. By 1937, before he was 30, his real estate work had made him a small fortune of about $50,000. He led a syndicate (along with Ben Tobin and Alfred R. Glancy Jr.) that bought the Empire State Building in 1951 for $51 million, then a titanic sum; he more than doubled his investment when he sold his interest in the building three years later. In 1953, together with Alfred R. Glancy Jr., Ben Tobin, and H. Adams Ashforth, he founded Unico Properties to develop a 10-acre

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...

site in central

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

. In politics, he made a mark as chairman of the Democratic Party's finance committee in 1956. He produced more than 100 plays and musicals over his career, including ''West Side Story'', ''Bus Stop'', and ''Cat on a Hot Tin Roof''. In 1971, he received

Special Tony Award The Special Tony Award category includes the Lifetime Achievement Tony Award and the Special Tony Award. These are non-competitive honorary awards, and the titles have changed over the years. The Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre ...

for his body of work. He became known for introducing plays by such adventurous writers as Harold Pinter, Arthur Kopit and Tom Stoppard. Stevens was the General Administrator of the Actors Studio as well as one of the producers of the Playwrights Company, a member of the board of the American National Theatre and Academy (ANTA), and one of the members of a Broadway producing company he founded in 1953 with Robert Whitehead, and Robert Dowling. In 1961, he was asked by President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

to help establish a ''National Cultural Center,'' and became Chairman of Board of Trustees of what was eventually named the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

from 1961 to 1988. In 1965, he received an appointment from President Lyndon Johnson as first Chairman of the National Council on the Arts later named the

. In 1986, Stevens was inducted into the

American Theater Hall of Fame The American Theater Hall of Fame in New York City was founded in 1972. Earl Blackwell was the first head of the organization's Executive Committee. In an announcement in 1972, he said that the new ''Theater Hall of Fame'' would be located in the ...

. On January 13, 1988, Stevens was presented with the

Presidential Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, along with the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by the president of the United States to recognize people who have made "an especially merit ...

by President Ronald Reagan. In 1988, he was also awarded the National Medal of Arts.

Personal life

Roger Stevens, Chairman, Kennedy Center for the Arts

Stevens was married to Christine Gesell Stevens, founder of the

Animal Welfare Institute The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) is an American non-profit charitable organization founded by Christine Stevens in 1951 with the goal of reducing suffering inflicted on animals by humans. It is one of the oldest animal welfare organizations i ...

in 1951. He served as the organization's treasurer until his death in 1998. They had a daughter, Christabel. He had his first heart attack in 1970. In 1993, he suffered strokes that left him partly paralyzed and deprived him of much of his speech. Roger Stevens died of pneumonia on February 2, 1998 at

Georgetown University Medical Center Georgetown University Medical Center is a biomedical research and educational organization that responsible for over 80% of Georgetown University's sponsored research funding and is led by Edward B. Healton, MD, the Executive Vice President for He ...

in Washington, D.C. He was 87.

Stage productions

* ''Broken Glass'' (1994) Tony Award nominee, Best Play *'' The Kentucky Cycle'' (1993) Tony Award nominee, Best Play *''

She Loves Me ''She Loves Me'' is a musical with a book by Joe Masteroff, music by Jerry Bock, and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick. The musical is the third adaptation of the 1937 play '' Parfumerie'' by Hungarian playwright Miklós László, following the 194 ...

'' (1993) Tony Award nominee, Best Revival of a Musical *'' Shadowlands'' (1990) Tony Award nominee, Best Play *''

Death of a Salesman ''Death of a Salesman'' is a 1949 stage play written by American playwright Arthur Miller. The play premiered on Broadway in February 1949, running for 742 performances. It is a two-act tragedy set in late 1940s Brooklyn told through a montage ...

'' (1984) Tony Award winner, Best Reproduction *''

On Your Toes ''On Your Toes'' (1936) is a musical with a book by Richard Rodgers, George Abbott, and Lorenz Hart, music by Rodgers, and lyrics by Hart. It was adapted into a film in 1939. While teaching music at Knickerbocker University, Phil "Junior" Dolan ...

'' (1983) Tony Award winner, Best Reproduction (Play or Musical) *'' Bedroom Farce'' (1979) Tony Award nominee, Best Play *'' Deathtrap'' (1978) Tony Award nominee, Best Play *''

Old Times ''Old Times'' is a play by the Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter. It was first performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Aldwych Theatre in London on 1 June 1971. It starred Colin Blakely, Dorothy Tutin, and Vivien Merchant, and was direct ...

'' (1971) Tony Award nominee, Best Play *'' Indians'' (1969) Tony Award nominee, Best Play *''

Half a Sixpence ''Half a Sixpence'' is a 1963 musical comedy based on the 1905 novel ''Kipps'' by H. G. Wells, with music and lyrics by David Heneker and a book by Beverley Cross. It was written as a vehicle for British pop star Tommy Steele. Background ...

'' (1965) Tony Award nominee, Best Musical *'' Slow Dance On the Killing Ground'' (1964) Tony Award nominee, Best Producer of a Play *''

Strange Interlude ''Strange Interlude'' is an experimental play in nine acts by American playwright Eugene O'Neill. O'Neill began work on it as early as 1923 and developed its scenario in 1925; he wrote the play between May 1926 and the summer of 1927, and complete ...

'' (1963) Tony Award nominee, Best Producer of a Play *'' A Man for All Seasons'' (1962) Tony Award winner, Best Play and Best Producer of a Play *''

The Caretaker ''The Caretaker'' is a play in three acts by Harold Pinter. Although it was the sixth of his major works for stage and television, this psychological study of the confluence of power, allegiance, innocence, and corruption among two brothers a ...

'' (1961) Tony Award nominee, Best Play *'' The Visit'' (1958) Tony Award nominee, Best Play *''

A Touch of the Poet ''A Touch of the Poet'' is a play by Eugene O'Neill completed in 1942 but not performed until 1958, after his death. It and its sequel, ''More Stately Mansions'', were intended to be part of a nine- play cycle entitled ''A Tale of Possessors Sel ...

'' (1958) Tony Award nominee, Best Play *''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play '' Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid ...

'' (1957) (by arrangement) Tony Award nominee, Best Musical *'' Time Remembered'' (1957) Tony Award nominee, Best Play *''

The Rope Dancers ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' (1957) Tony Award nominee, Best Play *''

Separate Tables ''Separate Tables'' is the collective name of two one-act plays by Terence Rattigan, both taking place in the Beauregard Private Hotel, Bournemouth, on the south coast of England. The first play, titled ''Table by the Window'', focuses on the ...

'' (1956) Tony Award nominee, Best Play *''

The Waltz of the Toreadors ''The Waltz of the Toreadors'' (''La Valse des toréadors'') is a 1951 play by Jean Anouilh. Plot This bitter farce is set in 1910 France and focuses on General Léon Saint-Pé and his infatuation with Ghislaine, a woman with whom he danced at a g ...

'' (1956) Tony Award nominee, Best Play *'' Bus Stop'' (1955) Tony Award nominee, Best Play *'' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'' (1955) Tony Award nominee, Best Play

References

* * * *
''The American Presidency Project''

External links

* *
The Library of Congress exhibitPublic Leadership in the Arts Awards listing, 1998
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stevens, Roger L. 1910 births 1998 deaths Businesspeople from Detroit People from Wallingford, Connecticut American theatre managers and producers Kennedy Center honorees Choate Rosemary Hall alumni University of Michigan alumni 20th-century American businesspeople Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Special Tony Award recipients