Robert Downing(1914-1975)
- Actor
- Writer
Actor, critic (Denver Post) and production manager who began a long
show-business career in the 1930s, touring with Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne in
"The Seagull", "Idiot's Delight" and "Amphitryon 38", as well as
working for the Federal Theater and Federal Writers projects. By 1940
he was assistant stage manager for "There Shall Be No Night" on
Broadway, and during World War II he managed and appeared in the stage
productions of "Junior Miss" and "The Man Who Came to Dinner" for the
USO Camp Shows. During that period he also appeared in "The Naked
Genius" on the New York stage. By 1945 he was the production manager
for an all-GI presentation of Shakespeare's "Hamlet" (produced by
Maurice Evans) and, by 1947, "A Streetcar Named Desire". By the 1950s he
managed "Seagulls Over Sorrento", "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof", "The Tender
Trap" and "Seventeen" for the stage. His last stage works were
"Camelot" in 1960 and as production stage manager for the Repertory
Theatre at Lincoln Center three years later. By 1970 he was named drama
critic for the Denver Post, and he died at 61.
