Filed under: News, Obituaries
Off-off-Broadway pioneer and founding director of the La MaMa Experimental Theater Club, Ellen Stewart, died Thursday after a long illness. She was 91 years young.
During Stewart's 49-year tenure, La MaMa presented some 3,000 productions, hosted artists from more than 70 countries and earned countless cultural accolades. The theatrical grande dame also received the prestigious MacArthur Foundation "genius grant" in 1985 and a Tony Honor for Excellence in Theater 11 years later.
Stewart was beloved by countless folks in the industry for nurturing young talent and for always maintaining an open mind when colleagues presented innovative and new ways of changing things up in her artistic field.
Stewart was born in Alexandria, La., in 1919. She was never eager to speak about her life before her move to New York City, and details about it are practically nonexistent. She was married at least once and had a son, Larry Hovell, who died in 1998.
In 1950, Stewart ventured out and wound up in New York. She landed a job as a trimmer in the brassiere] and corset department at Saks Fifth Avenue and then became a fairly successful fashion designer for the famed chic department store. In 1961, with no training or experience in theater and performance, Stewart founded Café La MaMa in the East Village. Two years later Stewart relocated the cafe and changed its name, it became one of the most successful Off-off-Broadway theatrical companies, La MaMa Experimental Theater Club. In 1967, the theater also earned a non-profit status.
La diva Stewart, who was the first off-off Broadway producer ever inducted into the Broadway Hall of Fame (in 1993), continued to oversee all of La MaMa's operations throughout the years from productions to directorial duties to designing and sewing costumes. Stewart was a visionary whose ideas helped to redefine New York City's downtown performance scene and whose generosity helped alternative artists explore their ideas.
Stewart is credited with helping launch the careers of countless actors, playwrights and directors, including Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, Bette Midler, Philip Glass, Harvey Fierstein, Sam Shepard, Lanford Wilson and Nick Nolte, who all walked through La MaMa's doors.
"She had a profound impact on the lives of countless artists, and she left a mark on the city of New York that will never be erased," Oskar Eustis, artistic director of The Public Theater, said in a statement.
Stewart is survived by her adopted son, Duk Hyung Yoo, and eight grandchildren. A funeral Mass will be celebrated on Monday at New York City's St. Patrick's Cathedral.