Gene Feist, American theater director. Lucille Lortel Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award, 1996. Member Dramatists Guild American, Society Stage Directors and Choreographers, League American Theaters and Producers, International Theatre Institute, League Resident Theatres.
Background
Feist was born in Brooklyn, the son of Hattie (Fishbein), a beautician, and Henry Feist, an automobile mechanic. Along with his twin brother Harold, Feist grew up in the Coney Island district where his father owned and operated a bar in Coney Island at Seagate and Surf Avenue named Indian Village but referred to as "The Bucket of Blood" due to its rough clientele.
Education
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Carnegie Mellon University, 1951. Master of Arts, New York University, 1952.
Career
He authored 15 plays or adaptations, of which two were published by Samuel French Incorporated. — James Joyce"s Dublin and The Lady from Maxim"son Feist"s love of reading made him a target of teasing during his youth.
After graduating he joined the United States Army Air Forces where he was trained as an airplane mechanic but quickly moved to a post as editor of the Biggs (Texas) Air Field newspaper, "Bigg Stuff".
During World World War II he was stationed in the Philippines and later in occupied Japan, writing for other military newspapers and serving as a librarian. After the war he attended Carnegie Technical, which later became Carnegie Mellon University.
There he became a close friend of the artist and fellow student Andy Warhol. Owens appeared in more than 30 plays over the next 25 years.
Gene Feist remains the Roundabout"s founding director
Kathe Feist predeceased him. She died from breast cancer, aged 77, on March 7, 2005. Gene Feist died at the age of 91 on March 17, 2014, in Englewood, New Jersey.
Achievements
Membership
Member Dramatists Guild American, Society Stage Directors and Choreographers, League American Theaters and Producers, International Theatre Institute, League Resident Theatres.
Connections
Married Kathe Snyder (Elizabeth Owens), February 10, 1957. Children: Nicole, Gena.