Sam Wanamaker
Samuel Wanamaker, CBE, (born Wattenmacker; June 14, 1919 – December 18, 1993) was an American actor and director who moved to the United Kingdom after becoming fearful of being blacklisted in Hollywood due to his communist views. He is credited as the person most responsible for saving The Rose Theatre, which led to the modern recreation of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London, where he is commemorated in the name of the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, the site's second theatre.
Sam Wanamaker
December 18, 1993 (aged 74)
- Actor
- director
1934–1993
3, including Zoë
Marc Wanamaker (nephew)
Early life[edit]
Wanamaker was born in Chicago, the son of tailor Maurice Wattenmacker (Manus Watmakher)[1] and Molly (née Bobele). His parents were Russians of Jewish descent.[2] He was the younger of two brothers, the elder being William, long-term cardiologist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
He trained at the Goodman School of Drama at the Art Institute of Chicago (now at DePaul University) and at Drake University and began working with summer stock theatre companies in Chicago and northern Wisconsin, where he helped build the stage of the Peninsula Players Theatre in 1937.
Personal life[edit]
In 1940, Wanamaker married Canadian actress Charlotte Holland.
In the 1970s, he reportedly entered into a long-lasting personal relationship with the American actress Jan Sterling. In the 2014 memoir I Said Yes to Everything, Lee Grant claimed that during production of the film Voyage of the Damned (1976), Wanamaker engaged in an affair with British actress Lynne Frederick, who was 21 at the time.[15]
Actress Zoë Wanamaker is his daughter, and film historian Marc Wanamaker is his nephew.[16]
Death[edit]
Wanamaker died of prostate cancer in London on December 18, 1993, aged 74,[17] before the grand opening of the Globe by Queen Elizabeth II on June 12, 1997.[18] He was survived by three daughters, Abby, Zoë, and Jessica.