Michael Blakemore, the esteemed British stage director who was the only one in Tony history to win two awards in one season, passed away at 95 last Sunday, Dec. 10. This is according to his agents in an announcement publicized on Tuesday, Dec. 12. However, it did not mention the cause of death nor the place.
Australian actor Michael Blakemore, UK, November 1971.
The Decorated Career of Michael Blakemore, a Broadway Legend
Blakemore has been nominated for a Tony a total of seven times and was known for leading the productions of Peter Nichols and Michael Frayn, with the 1968 "A Day in the Death of Joe Egg" and 1983" Noises Off" plays, respectively.
That said, it was the aptitude and detailed approach he applied to his revival of the "Kiss Me, Kate" musical and to "Copenhagen," another of Frayn's productions, that earned him the never-done-before honor of winning two Tonys for best direction of both a play and musical, simultaneously, in the year 2000.
Although he was born in Sydney, Australia on June 18, 1928, Blakemore established his career in Britain initially as an actor. Later on, he worked alongside Laurence Olivier as an associate director at London's National Theater.
From there, he led a handful of lucrative productions in "The National Health," his satirical portrayal of hospitals in Britain; "The Front Page," a Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur parody of the press; and "Long Day's Journey Into Night" by American playwright Eugene O'Neill.
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Theatre directors John Dexter (1925 - 1990) and Michael Blakemore (right), UK, 1971. They are co-directing a production of 'Tyger' by Adrian Mitchell at the National Theatre.
For a long while, in 1973, it was the general idea that Blakemore would succeed Olivier as the National Museum's artistic director. However, the institution appointed Peter Hall, whom Blakemore had regarded as a personal rival following their previous actor-director relationship in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon. Because of this, Blakemore and Olivier's relationship became embittered, causing the former's resignation in 1976.
Blakemore then worked as a freelance director working on hit productions like Nichol's "Privates on Parade," and Frayn's 1980 "Make and Break." After that Frayn and Blakemore continued working together, making the director's future "golden goose," "Noises Off," which was adapted for Broadway in 1983 and consequently ran for a staggering total of 553 shows.
Despite earlier relational turmoil, Blakemore returned to NT in 1997 and 2003, to respectively work on "Copenhagen" and "Democracy." The former was also adapted for Broadway in 2000, but both were a clear display of Blakemore's ability to bring focus to even the most complicated of theatrical works.
In his 2013 book "Stage Blood: Five Tempestuous Years in the Early Life of the National Theatre" he said that he was known within rehearsal rooms for "getting [his] way without anyone particularly noticing." For Blakemore, his own directing style was the imposition of harmony on a gathering of divergent talents."
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