Margaret Webster

(1905-) American born actress, producer and director. Daughter of the British actors Benjamin and May Webster. Grew up in England, and became particularly famous for her work on and in Shakespeare, initially with the Old Vic and at Stratford-Upon-Avon, and later in America. Perhaps her greatest triumph was Othello (1943), starring Paul Robeson in the title role and Jose Ferrer as Iago, which ran for 296 performances, by far the longest run of a Shakespearean production on Broadway, a record that has not been remotely approached since. Author of the book Shakespeare Without Tears (1942). Visited South Africa to direct plays for including Eugene O’Neill’s A Touch of the Poet (NTO, 1961) and Robert Bolt’s A Man for All Seasons (Kushlick-Gluckman, 1962).

Sources

See Hartnoll, 19*; Stead, ,1985; Tucker, 1997

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