Benjamin Rush "Rusty" Magee was an accomplished comedian, actor and composer/lyricist for theatre, television, film and commercials.
Education
Born in Washington, District of Columbia, Magee attended Angell Elementary School in Ann Arbor, Michigan and graduated from Eaglebrook School in Deerfield, Massachusetts in 1970. He attended one year in Lycée Alphonse Daudet in Nîmes and at Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire in 1973.
Career
He received his bachelor"s degree in music at Brown University in 1978 and was awarded an honorary Masters of Fine Arts. from the Yale School of Drama after working there for three years as Musical Consultant for the Yale Repertory Theatre and the Yale School of Drama. This adaptation has been produced at Civil Service Commission Repertory Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre, the Intiman Playhouse in Seattle, the Court in Chicago, and American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. His full length musical The Green Heart was produced by The Manhattan Theatre Club, and is published by Samuel French.
He wrote the music and lyrics for ART"s production of Carlo Goldoni"s Servant of Two Masters and Molière"s The Imaginary Invalid.
Magee was Music Director of the Irish Repertory Theatre (Manhattan) and continued in that role after his illness was diagnosed. He played the piano at the annual Irish Repertory Theatre Gala.
His last musical, 19th Street Shuffle, cowritten with Billy Aronson, was to have been finished with additional material added by Lynn Shenkel, under the direction of Sheryl Kaller. His music has been sung by renowned performers such as Mary Testa, Rebecca Luker, Judy Kuhn, Pattie Darcy Jones and Annie Golden.
In 1984, he wed Alison Fraser.
The couple had one son, Nathaniel. Rusty Magee died of colon cancer, aged 47. A memorial service was later held in his native Ann Arbor on July 26, 2003, where he was interred at Forest Hills Cemetery.
He belonged to Actors" Equity Association, the Screen Actors Guild, American Federation TV and Radio Artists and American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.