Kermit Bloomgarden (December 15, 1904 – September 20, 1976) was an American theatrical producer. He was an accountant before he began producing plays on Broadway including ''

Death of a Salesman ''Death of a Salesman'' is a 1949 stage play written by the 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 ...

'' (1949), '' The Diary of Anne Frank'' (1955), ''

The Music Man ''The Music Man'' is a musical theatre, musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns a confidence trick, con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and ...

'' (1957), '' Look Homeward, Angel'' (1957), and '' Equus'' (1973).

Early life

Bloomgarden was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

to Zemad and Annie (née Groden) Bloomgarden, where he attended the local public schools. He majored in accounting at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

and became a

Certified Public Accountant Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is the title of qualified accountants in numerous countries in the English-speaking world. It is generally equivalent to the title of chartered accountant in other English-speaking countries. In the United Stat ...

after his graduation in 1926.

Career

Bloomgarden transitioned into theater after meeting Arthur Beckhard at a 1932 dinner party, who convinced Bloomgarden, as he later recounted, that "the theater was for me". He worked for Beckhard as his general manager, before accepting the same position with Herman Shumlin. In his ten years with Shumlin, he helped produce a number of

Lillian Hellman Lillian Florence Hellman (June 20, 1905 – June 30, 1984) was an American playwright, Prose, prose writer, Memoir, memoirist, and screenwriter known for her success on Broadway as well as her communist views and political activism. She was black ...

's plays, including '' The Children's Hour'' (1934), '' The Little Foxes'' (1939), and '' Watch on the Rhine'' (1942), and '' The Lark'' (1952), Hellman's English-language version of the play ''L'Alouette'' by

Jean Anouilh Jean Marie Lucien Pierre Anouilh (; ; 23 June 1910 – 3 October 1987) was a French dramatist and screenwriter whose career spanned five decades. Though his work ranged from high drama to absurdist farce, Anouilh is best known for his 1944 play ...

. Bloomgarden also mounted Hellman's last play '' Toys in the Attic'' (1960). His first producing effort was '' Heavenly Express'' (1940), starring

John Garfield John Garfield (born Jacob Julius Garfinkle; March 4, 1913 – May 21, 1952) was an American actor who played brooding, rebellious, working-class characters. He grew up in poverty in New York City. In the early 1930s, he became a member of ...

, which closed shortly after it opened. His first hit was '' Deep Are the Roots'' (1945), followed by Hellman's '' Another Part of the Forest'' (1946). '' Command Decision'' (1947) written by William Wister Haines, followed, with Paul Kelly sharing the Best Actor Tony Award that year for his performance and James Whitmore earning the Tony for "Best Performance by a Newcomer". Bloomgarden had a major string of success that culminated with the February 1949 opening of

Arthur Miller Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are '' All My Sons'' (1947), '' Death of a Salesman'' (1 ...

's ''

'', which earned a

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Awards are among the most esteemed honors in New York theater, recognizing outstanding achievements across Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway productions within the same categories. The awards are considered a signific ...

and the

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

. The winning streak ended with Lillian Hellman's works ''

Montserrat Montserrat ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about long and wide, wit ...

'' (1949) and ''

The Autumn Garden ''The Autumn Garden'' is a 1951 Play (theatre), play by Lillian Hellman. The play is set in September, 1949 in a summer home in a resort on the Gulf of Mexico, about 100 miles from New Orleans. The play is a study of the defeats, disappointments ...

'' (1950), but he got back on track with a revival of Hellman's ''The Children's Hour'' soon thereafter. Bloomgarden produced Arthur Miller's modestly successful ''

A View From the Bridge ''A View from the Bridge'' is a play by American playwright Arthur Miller. It was first staged on September 29, 1955, as a one-act verse drama with '' A Memory of Two Mondays'' at the Coronet Theatre on Broadway. The run was unsuccessful, ...

'' and '' The Diary of Anne Frank'', both in 1955, followed by '' The Most Happy Fella'' (1956), starring Robert Weede, and ''

'' in 1957. In November 1957, Bloomgarden opened '' Look Homeward, Angel'', based on the novel by

Thomas Wolfe Thomas Clayton Wolfe (October 3, 1900 – September 15, 1938) was an American novelist and short story writer. He is known largely for his first novel, '' Look Homeward, Angel'' (1929), and for the short fiction that appeared during the last ye ...

. Ketti Frings, better known for her screenplays, wrote the play, and

George Roy Hill George Roy Hill (December 20, 1921 – December 27, 2002) was an American actor and film director. His films include ''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'' (1969) and ''The Sting'' (1973), both starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford; both fil ...

, who had worked mostly in television, directed. The show made Anthony Perkins a star.

Later career and death

Arteriosclerosis forced the amputation of his right leg in 1971. Producer Scott Rudin worked for Bloomgarden; Rudin relates on NPR's ''

Fresh Air ''Fresh Air'' is an American radio talk show broadcast on National Public Radio stations across the United States since 1985. It is produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The show's hosts are Terry Gross and Tonya Mosl ...

'' (June 6, 2016), how he once carried the artificial leg for repair on NY public transport calling it one of the most memorable days in his life. After a lengthy recuperation, Kermit triumphantly returned to producing with the

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

transfer of the Circle Repertory Company production of Lanford Wilson's '' The Hot l Baltimore'', which ran for 1,166 performances and won the

New York Drama Critics Circle Award The New York Drama Critics' Circle is made up of 23 drama critics from daily newspapers, magazines and wire services based in the New York City metropolitan area. The organization is best known for its annual awards for excellence in theater.Jon ...

for Best American Play. Afterwards, he brought Peter Shaffer's '' Equus'' to the stage in 1974, which he had co-produced with Doris Abrahams. Bloomgarden died at age 71 in his

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

home on September 20, 1976, having dealt with a

brain tumor A brain tumor (sometimes referred to as brain cancer) occurs when a group of cells within the Human brain, brain turn cancerous and grow out of control, creating a mass. There are two main types of tumors: malignant (cancerous) tumors and benign ...

for six months before his death. In 1983, Bloomgarden was posthumously inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.

Personal life

Bloomgarden's first wife, Hattie Richardson, who sang under the name Linda Lee, died in 1942. His marriage to his second wife, Virginia Kaye, ended in divorce. He had two sons with Kaye.

References

External links

*
Kermit Bloomgarden Papers
at the

Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research The Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research (WCFTR) is a major archive of motion picture, television, radio, and theater research materials. Located in the headquarters building of the Wisconsin Historical Society in Madison, Wisconsin, th ...

Kermit Bloomgarden professional files, 1936-1967
held by the 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, is located at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, in the Lincoln Center complex on the Upper West Side in Manhattan, New York City. Situated between the Metropolitan O ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bloomgarden, Kermit 1904 births 1976 deaths American theatre managers and producers Deaths from brain cancer in New York (state) American accountants New York University Stern School of Business alumni People from Brooklyn 20th-century American businesspeople