Background
Tillinger was born in Tabriz, Iran. His father was German Jewish and his mother was Protestant.
Tillinger was born in Tabriz, Iran. His father was German Jewish and his mother was Protestant.
Tillinger was raised in England, where he was first exposed to the theatre. He spent his early years on Broadway as an actor, appearing in A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (standby "Freddie", 1968), Othello ("Roderigo", 1970), Hay Fever ("Sandy Tyrell", 1970), and The Changing Room ("Colin Jagger", 1973). Tillinger"s first Broadway directing cr was Solomon"s Child in 1982.
Since then he has directed: Love Letters (1989) with Colleen Dewhurst and Jason Robards, The Price (1992) with Eli Wallach, Three Men on a Horse (1993) and The Sunshine Boys (1997), both with Jack Klugman and Tony Randall, Inherit the Wind (1996) with George C. Scott and Charles Durning, Night Must Fall (1999) with Matthew Broderick, Judgment at Nuremberg (2001) with George Grizzard and Maximilian Schell, Say Goodnight, Gracie (2002) with Frank Gorshin, and Absurd Person Singular (2005) with Paxton Whitehead and Sam Robards.
Tillinger"s many Office-Broadway directing credits include Entertaining Mr Sloane (1981), After the Fall (1984), Loot (1986), What the Butler Saw (1989), The Lisbon Traviata (1989), Lips Together, Teeth Apart (1991),Sylvia (1995), and Jewtopia (2004). He has also directed numerous regional theatre productions.
He directed The Wedding Banquet at the Village Theatre, Seattle, Washington, in 2003. He was the literary consultant for the Long Wharf Theatre, New Haven, Connecticut from 1975 to 1997.
He directed many plays at the Long Wharf Theatre, including This Story of Yours and Solomon"s Child (1980), Another Country (1982), and most recently Paddywhack and Broken Glass (1994).
Personal Tillinger was married to actress/director Dorothy Lyman from ca. 1971/72 to 1977/78. They have two children, actor Sebastian Tillinger and producer Emma Tillinger. 2001 Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Director of a Play (Judgment at Nuremberg, nominee).