Langner, Lawrence, 1890-1962

Dates

• Existence: May 30, 1890 - December 26, 1962

Biography

Lawrence Langner was born in Swansea, South Wales in 1890, and immigrated to the United States in 1903. After settling in New York City, as a young man he studied patent law and was involved in New York theatre, assisting in establishing and writing plays for the Washington Square Players and The Provincetown Players, among others. With a small group of other New York theatre devotees Langner established the Theatre Guild in 1918. Langner spent the remainder of his life as co-director of the Guild with Theresa Helburn, producing stage, radio, and television shows and introducing important playwrights, directors, and actors as well as innovative stage techniques to American audiences. In 1931 Langner and his wife, Armina Marshall, established the Westport Country Playhouse near their home in Connecticut, and he founded the American Shakespeare Festival Theatre and Academy in Stratford, Connecticut, in 1951. In addition to his work in the performing arts, he was a senior partner in the law firm of Langner, Parry, Card and Langner, and was a leader in the field of patent law. A prolific writer of plays, articles, and books, Langner's autobiography, The Magic Curtain: the Story of a Life in Two Fields, Theatre and Invention, was published in 1951. He died in New York in 1962.