Guthrie McClintic (August 6, 1893 – October 29, 1961) was an American

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

, and producer based in New York.

Life and career

McClintic was born in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, attended Washington University in St. Louis and New York's

American Academy of Dramatic Arts The American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) is a Private college, private drama school with two locations, one in New York City and one in Los Angeles. The academy offers an associate degree in occupational studies and teaches drama and related ...

, and became an actor, but soon became a stage manager and

casting director In the performing arts industry such as theatre, film, or television, casting, or a casting call, is a pre-production process for selecting a certain type of actor, dancer, singer, or extra to land the role of a character in a script, screenp ...

for major Broadway producer

Winthrop Ames Winthrop Ames (November 25, 1870 – November 3, 1937) was an American theatre director and producer, playwright and screenwriter. For three decades at the beginning of the 20th century, Ames was an important force on Broadway, whose repertoir ...

. His Broadway directorial debut was on

A. A. Milne Alan Alexander Milne (; 18 January 1882 – 31 January 1956) was an English writer best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh, as well as children's poetry. Milne was primarily a playwright before the huge success of Winnie-th ...

's ''The Dover Road''. McClintic's first major success was on '' The Barretts of Wimpole Street'' featuring his wife, the American actress Katharine Cornell, in 1931. He also directed ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

'' featuring

John Gielgud Sir Arthur John Gielgud ( ; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Britis ...

in New York in 1936. Katharine Cornell served on the Board of Directors of The Rehearsal Club, a place where young actresses could stay while looking for work in the theatre. McClintic sometimes found roles for the young women in his plays. In what may have been a

lavender marriage A lavender marriage is a male–female mixed-orientation marriage, undertaken as a marriage of convenience to conceal the socially stigmatized sexual orientation of one or both partners. The term dates from the early 20th century and is used almo ...

, gay McClintic was married for forty years to actress Katharine Cornell - herself a lesbian. After they were married, they formed a production team M.C. & C Company, which produced plays for the rest of his life. He directed every play that Cornell starred in, including ''

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

'', '' Candida'', ''

Antony and Cleopatra ''Antony and Cleopatra'' is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The play was first performed around 1607, by the King's Men at either the Blackfriars Theatre or the Globe Theatre. Its first appearance in print was in the First Folio published ...

'', '' No Time for Comedy'', ''

Antigone ANTIGONE (Algorithms for coNTinuous / Integer Global Optimization of Nonlinear Equations), is a deterministic global optimization solver for general Mixed-Integer Nonlinear Programs (MINLP). History ANTIGONE is an evolution of GloMIQO, a global ...

'', '' Saint Joan'', '' The Doctor's Dilemma'', '' Three Sisters'', and ''

There Shall Be No Night ''There Shall Be No Night'' is a three-act play written by American playwright Robert E. Sherwood. Production The play was presented by the Theatre Guild on Broadway at the Alvin Theatre (now renamed the Neil Simon Theater), from April 29 thro ...

'', and '' The Constant Wife''. Their production company brought over many of the leading Shakespearean actors of the day, giving them their first prominent Broadway roles, including

, Ralph Richardson, Maurice Evans, and

Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier ( ; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director. He and his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud made up a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage of the m ...

. McClintic died of cancer on October 29, 1961, at his home in Sneden's Landing, New York. His widow retired from acting shortly after his death, her last role being in Jerome Kilty's dramatization of ''Dear Liar'' in 1961.

Theatre

*'' The Dover Road'' (1921) *'' The Green Hat'' (1925) *'' The Letter (1927) *'' The Barretts of Wimpole Street'' (1931) *''Alien Corn'' (1933) *''

'' (1934) *'' The Old Maid'' (1935) *'' Winterset'' (1935) *'' Ethan Frome'' (1936) *'' Saint Joan'' (1936) *''

'' (1936) *'' Candida'' (1937) *'' High Tor'' (1937) *'' Key Largo'' (1939) *'' No Time for Comedy'' (1939) *'' The Doctor's Dilemma'' (1941) *'' The Playboy of the Western World'' (1946) *'' Dishonored Lady'' (1947) *''

'' (1947) *''

Medea In Greek mythology, Medea (; ; ) is the daughter of Aeëtes, King Aeëtes of Colchis. Medea is known in most stories as a sorceress, an accomplished "wiktionary:φαρμακεία, pharmakeía" (medicinal magic), and is often depicted as a high- ...

'' (1949) *''Dear Liar'' (1960)

Films

*''

On Your Back ''On Your Back'' is a 1930 American pre-Code drama film directed by Guthrie McClintic and written by Howard J. Green. The film stars Irene Rich, Raymond Hackett, H. B. Warner, Wheeler Oakman, Marion Shilling and Ilka Chase. The film was re ...

'' (1930) *''

Once a Lady ''Once a Lady'' is a 1931 American Pre-Code drama film directed by Guthrie McClintic and starring Ruth Chatterton, Ivor Novello and Jill Esmond. The film, produced and distributed by Paramount Pictures, is a remake of the Pola Negri silent f ...

'' (1931) *'' Once a Sinner'' (1931)''Once a Sinner''
Retrieved 07/10/2007

References

External links

* *

{{DEFAULTSORT:McClintic, Guthrie 1893 births 1961 deaths Film directors from Washington (state) American theatre directors Deaths from cancer in New York (state) American gay men LGBTQ theatre directors LGBTQ people from Washington (state) Artists from Seattle Washington University in St. Louis alumni American Academy of Dramatic Arts alumni