Mortimer V. Halpern (May 12, 1909 – January 3, 2006) was an actor and long-time production stage manager who worked on over 45 Broadway plays in a theatre career that spanned some 60 years.

Life and career

Mortimer "Morty" Halpern was born in the

Bronx, New York The Bronx () is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state, state of New York (state), New York. It is south of Westchester County, New York, Westchester County; north and east of the ...

, to Jewish immigrants, Harry and Rose Halpern. His father came from Russia and was employed in New York as a garment cutter. Halpern’s mother was born in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and would later work as a sewing machine operator at a dress factory after the death of her husband. Over his early years Halpern lived with his mother in the Bronx working as a salesman for a pharmaceutical house. He first appeared on Broadway as Murray Codner in ''Kith and Kin'', a three-act play by Wallace A. Manheimer that disappeared after its May 13, 1930, debut at the Waldorf Theatre. Halpern’s return to Broadway came fourteen years later as a performer (chorus) and assistant stage manager with

Walter Kerr Walter Francis Kerr (July 8, 1913 – October 9, 1996) was an American writer and Broadway theatre critic. He also was the writer, lyricist, and/or director of several Broadway plays and musicals as well as the author of several books, genera ...

's 1944–1945

musical revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own du ...

''Sing Out, Sweet Land'', which was staged at the International Theatre on West 59th Street with

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and

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. The following year Halpern was the stage manager for the Theatre Guild Shakespeare Repertory Company where he met and subsequently married actress Jennifer Howard, the daughter of

Sidney Howard Sidney Coe Howard (June 26, 1891 – August 23, 1939) was an American playwright, dramatist and screenwriter. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1925 and a posthumous Academy Award in 1940 for the screenplay for '' Gone with the Wind'' ...

and Clare Eames. Their marriage ended in divorce sometime before Howard remarried in the summer of 1950. Halpern later wed the actress and Broadway stage manager, Sherry Lambert.Mortimer Halpern - Broadway stage manager; Variety; January 13, 2006
accessed October 6, 2012Mortimer Halpern - Internet Broadway Database
accessed October 6, 2012 As production stage manager Halpern worked on a number of Broadway hits, including

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's ''

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'' with

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and

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, Leonard Sillman's '' New Faces of 1952 and New Faces of 1956,'' ''

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'' with

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and

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, ''The Andersonville Trial'' with George C. Scott, ''

Rhinoceros A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant taxon, extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family (biology), family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member ...

'' with

Zero Mostel Samuel Joel "Zero" Mostel (February 28, 1915 – September 8, 1977) was an American actor, comedian, and singer. He is best known for his portrayal of comic characters such as Tevye on stage in ''Fiddler on the Roof'', Pseudolus on stage and on ...

, ''

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'' with

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and

Richard Kiley Richard Paul Kiley (March 31, 1922 – March 5, 1999) was an American stage, film and television actor and singer. He is best known for his distinguished theatrical career in which he twice won the Tony Award for Best Actor In A Musical. Kiley ...

, ''

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'' with Cleavon Little and Sherman Hemsley, '' In Praise of Love'' with Julie Harris and

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and '' Ma Rainey's Black Bottom'' with Charles S. Dutton and

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. Halpern's last Broadway production was the 1990 play that was later made into the film with the same title, '' The Cemetery Club''. Over his career Halpern spent 23 off-seasons as stage manager for

Guy Lombardo Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo (June 19, 1902 – November 5, 1977) was an Italian-Canadian-American bandleader, violinist, and hydroplane racer. Lombardo formed the Royal Canadians in 1924 with his brothers Carmen, Lebert and Victor, and oth ...

's summer musicals staged at the

Jones Beach Theater Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater (commonly known as the Jones Beach Theater) is an outdoor amphitheatre at Jones Beach State Park in Wantagh, New York. It is one of two major outdoor arenas in the New York metropolitan area, along with ...

in Wantagh, and due to a 1958 rule change, Halpern became the first stage manager to serve as an

Actors' Equity The Actors' Equity Association (AEA), commonly referred to as Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American labor union representing those who work in live theatrical performance. Performers appearing in live stage productions without a boo ...

representative during a 1959 production of '' Song of Norway''.Has Double Job. The Raleigh Register (Beckley, West Virginia), October 12, 1959; p. 7 Halpern died at age 96 in New York and was survived by his wife, Sherry Lambert. At the time of his death Halpern was considered the dean of Broadway stage managers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Halpern, Mortimer 1909 births 2006 deaths Jewish American male actors American people of Austrian-Jewish descent American people of Russian-Jewish descent Stage crew 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews