John J. Wildberg (September 4, 1902 – February 8, 1959) was an American copyright attorney, who later became a

theatre producer Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communicat ...

. He was born Jacques Wildberg in

New York, NY New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on New York Harbor, one of the world's largest natural harb ...

, the eldest son of Jacob and Joan Wildberg. Wildberg's most successful show; Anna Lucasta was produced in 1944. Together with

Cheryl Crawford Cheryl Crawford (September 24, 1902 – October 7, 1986) was an American theatre producer and director. Biography Born in Akron, Ohio, Crawford majored in drama at Smith College. Following graduation in 1925, she moved to New York City a ...

, he co-produced the first revival of

Porgy and Bess ''Porgy and Bess'' ( ) is an English-language opera by American composer George Gershwin, with a libretto written by author DuBose Heyward and lyricist Ira Gershwin. It was adapted from Dorothy Heyward and DuBose Heyward's play ''Porgy (play), ...

(1942) and

One Touch of Venus ''One Touch of Venus'' is a 1943 musical with music written by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Ogden Nash, and book by S. J. Perelman and Nash, based on the 1885 novella ''The Tinted Venus'' by Thomas Anstey Guthrie, and very loosely spoofing the Pygma ...

(1943). Wildberg's fourth marriage (her third), to novelist Ursula Parrott in 1934, ended in June 1938 on the grounds of his intolerable cruelty. In 1950 his fifth wife took an overdose of sedatives and died in bed next to him. Wildberg had various business ventures in London, England, and eventually moved there in 1951. He died there on February 8, 1959, and was cremated in

Golders Green Crematorium Golders Green Crematorium and Mausoleum was the first crematorium to be opened in London, and is one of the oldest crematoria in Britain. The land for the crematorium was purchased in 1900, costing £6,000 (the equivalent of £136,000 in 2021), ...

Selected productions

* A Woman's a Fool - to Be Clever, October 18, 1938 - October 1938 *

, January 22, 1942 - September 26, 1942 (co-producer) * Porgy and Bess, September 13, 1943 - October 2, 1943 (associate producer) *

, October 7, 1943 - February 10, 1945 (co-producer) * Porgy and Bess, February 7, 1944 - April 8, 1944 * Anna Lucasta (all-black cast), August 30, 1944 - November 30, 1946 * Memphis Bound, May 24, 1945 - June 23, 1945 * Anna Lucasta, September 22, 1947 - October 18, 1947 * Black Chiffon, September 27, 1950 - January 13, 1951

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wildberg, John J. 1902 births 1959 deaths American theatre managers and producers Lawyers from New York City 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American businesspeople