Background
Hammerstein was the son of Oscar Hammerstein II, and his Australian-born second wife, Dorothy Kiaora (née Blanchard).
Hammerstein was the son of Oscar Hammerstein II, and his Australian-born second wife, Dorothy Kiaora (née Blanchard).
Hammerstein attended the George School in Newtown, Pennsylvania, where he met fellow student Stephen Sondheim.
The best known of these was Susan, whose husbands included Henry Fonda and Richard Widmark. He began his Broadway career as a stage manager, notably for shows such as South Pacific, Maine and Juliet, and Flower Drum Song, all co-written by his father Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard Rodgers. The first play he produced was Blue Denim, by James Leo Herlihy and William Noble, and the first play he directed was the comedy Absence of a Cello in 1964.
The New York Times wrote: "James Hammerstein has staged the piece with a great deal of verve." His other directing credits include The Indian Wants the Bronx, Wise Child and Butley.
Hammerstein directed the New York City Opera production of The Sound of Music in 1990. He co-directed the Rodgers and Hammerstein stage musical State Fair in 1996.
Among the other Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals he directed were Oklahoma! (London and Australia), The King and I (Tel Aviv, United States and United Kingdom tours), and Carousel. Foreign many years he directed staged readings of notable playwrights, such as Jeff Wanshel, Ron Cowan, and Werner Liepolt as "American Triptych," under the auspices of George White and Lloyd Richards" National Playwrights Conference at the O"Neill Memorial Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut
He died in Manhattan after suffering a heart attack.