Michael Seymour Langham (22 August 1919 – 15 January 2011) was an English director and actor, who spent much of his career living and working in Canada and the United States. He was educated at Radley College and studied law at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

before enlisting in the British Army in 1939. After spending five years as a prisoner of war, Langham set his sights on the theatre and led several repertory theatres in the UK including Coventry (1946–1948), Birmingham (1948–1950) and Glasgow (1953–1954). Langham was the second artistic director at the Stratford Festival in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

from 1956 to 1967, and he directed 38 productions over a 53 year association with Stratford. He was the third artistic director of the Guthrie Theater from 1971 to 1977. He was also director of the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

from 1979 to 1982, and again from 1987 to 1992. In 1995 he directed two plays for the inaugural season of the Atlantic Theatre Festival in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. Langham was married to actress Helen Burns. Their son is the writer and comedy actor Chris Langham. Langham died on 15 January 2011 in Cranbrook, Kent, England, after a short illness.

Video clips

*
Interview
with Stratford Festival costumer Cynthia MacLennan on working with Langham.

References

External links

* * * 1919 births 2011 deaths Alumni of the University of London British Army personnel of World War II British theatre directors Juilliard School faculty People educated at Radley College People from Bridgwater Military personnel from Somerset English expatriates in Canada English expatriate male actors in the United States Male actors from Somerset {{england-actor-stub