Ellen Stewart was an American theatre director and producer and the founder of Louisiana MaMa, E.T.C.
Background
Ellen Stewart was born either in Chicago, Illinois or possibly Alexandria, Louisiana. As an observer wrote, "Her history is somewhat difficult to sort out—indeed it takes on a legendary quality—since on different occasions she gives different versions of the same stories." Of her parents, Stewart stated that her father was a tailor from Louisiana and her mother was a teacher and that they divorced during her youth.
Career
In the 1950s she worked as a fashion designer for Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, Lord & Taylor, and Henri Bendel. This inexactitude stems from Stewart"s reticence about revealing details of her early life. Around 1939 Stewart may have become the second wife of Larry Lebanus Hovell (born August 10, 1910 — died October 1963, a Chicago waiter who was a native of Alexandria, Louisiana, although it is possible they never legally wed.
They had one child, a son, Larry Lebanus Hovell, II (1940—1998).
In 1950 Stewart moved to New York City, where she worked as a trimmer in the brassiere-and-corset department at Saks Fifth Avenue and, later as a dress designer, under the direction of Edith Lances, head of the department store"s custom-corset department. Stewart continued to work as a fashion designer throughout the 1960s and 1970s, notably for a manufacturer called Victor Bijou, where she designed "sport dresses and beach wraps".
In 1961 Stewart together with Paul Foster and others founded Café Louisiana MaMa, which became one of the most successful Office-Office-Broadway theatrical companies - Louisiana MaMa Experimental Theatre Club. In 1992, Stewart was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.
In 2005 Tom O"Horgan presented Stewart with the Stewardship Award from the New York Innovative Theatre Awards.
This honor was bestowed to Stewart on behalf of her peers and fellow artists of the Office-Office-Broadway community "in recognition of her significant contributions to the Office-Office-Broadway community through service, support and leadership". Ellen Stewart died on January 13, 2011, aged 91. Stewart had a history of heart trouble and died at Beth Israel Hospital, New York City, after a long illness.
Her memorial service was held at the Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City on Monday, January 17, 2011.
Membership
Member of Seoul International Theatre Institute.