Michael Butler (producer)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Michael Butler
Butler (front) with James Rado (in black T-shirt and cap) and a 2006 Hair cast
Born(1926-11-26)November 26, 1926
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
DiedNovember 7, 2022(2022-11-07) (aged 95)
Santa Barbara, California, U.S.
OccupationTheatrical producer
Notable workHair, Lenny, Reggae

Michael Butler (November 26, 1926 – November 7, 2022) was an American

Public Theater to Broadway in 1968.[1][2] During his time as Hair producer he was dubbed "the hippie millionaire" by the press.[3]
His other Broadway production credits include the play Lenny in 1971 and the musical Reggae in 1980.

Early life

Butler was born in

Oak Brook, Illinois[5][6] and the Oak Brook Polo Club.[7]

Butler was the

Joe and John F. Kennedy (JFK). Butler and JFK often socialized in Hyannisport, Greenwich Village and Newport, Rhode Island
.

Early career

Butler served as Special Advisor to then-Senator

Otto Kerner, Jr., and the president of the Illinois Sports Council. He was a Democratic candidate in Du Page County for the State Senate.[9]

Hair

In 1967, Butler was preparing to run for the

Otto Kerner, Jr.'s Commission about Civil Disorders, he attended the show Hair at the Public Theater and, noting its strong anti-war statement, decided to obtain the rights to the show.[4] Hair opened on Broadway in April 1968 and became a huge success, running for 1,750 performances, and leading to many other productions. By the time the Broadway production closed in 1972, Butler had overseen nine national productions and nineteen international productions.[11]

Activism

Around the time of his first association with Hair, Butler became a political activist. Before the

Richard Nixon's Enemies List.[3]

Personal life

Butler dated

Nati Abascal and Audrey Hepburn, with whom he had a relationship in the early 1950s before her marriage to Mel Ferrer. Butler was involved in Hepburn accepting a role in the New York production of the play Ondine, where she worked with Ferrer not long before marrying him.[3] He has a son, Adam, from his 1962 marriage to Loyce Stinson Hand.[3]

Butler died on November 7, 2022, in Santa Barbara, California, at the age of 95.[12][13][14]

References

  1. ^ "Flow It, Show It: 50 Years of ‘Hair’". American Theatre. October 17, 2017. By Amy Saltz
  2. ^ " Review: 'Hair' shows much has changed but it's still great to be young ". Chicago Tribune, Aug 4 2017, by Chris Jones.
  3. ^ a b c d e Kogan, Rick; The Aging of Aquarius, Chicago Tribune, 6/30/96, michaelbutler.com, Retrieved 1/15/10
  4. ^
    ISBN 978-0-472-03402-4
    . p. 45–.
  5. ^ "Memoirs of a Millionaire Hippie: Michael Butler, 88, on Chicago politics and why Hair still matters". Chicago Magazine, By Lauren Williamson May 11, 2015
  6. ^ "In Village It Created, Butler Family Feels Loss Of Clout". Chicago Tribune, July 14, 1986|By Barbara Mahany.
  7. ^ Interview on Culture Catch, culturecatch.com, Dusty Wright interviewer, Retrieved February 10, 2010
  8. ^ Pages From Michael Butler's Journal - Stories of the Papacy, orlok.com, Retrieved January 29, 2010
  9. ^ "The Butlers of Oak Brook, Five". Classic Chicago, March 7, 2016. . By Megan McKinney
  10. ISBN 978-0-8108-8901-9
    . p. 111–.
  11. ^ "Hippie replacement - Hair returns to London's West End". Telegraph, By Mick Brown, 27 Mar 2010
  12. ^ Pedersen, Erik (8 November 2022). "Michael Butler Dies: Producer Of Broadway's 'Hair' & Its Film Version Was 95". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 8, 2022.
  13. ^ "Hair Producer Michael Butler Passes Away at 95". Playbill.com. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  14. ^ [1] [dead link]

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_Butler_(producer)&oldid=1157901875"