Don Gregory, American stage producer, Died at 80

  Dead Famous

Don Gregory died on November 6, 2015 due to a stroke.

He was an American stage producer, he produced Camelot, My Fair Lady, The Belle of Amherst.

He brought Richard Burton back to Broadway in one of his most celebrated roles, certainly his best-known musical role, as King Arthur in a 1980 revival of “Camelot.”

In 1981, Don and Mr. Merrick brought Rex Harrison back to Broadway in a revival of his most famous show and most famous role, Henry Higgins in “My Fair Lady”; later that year, they brought “Camelot” back for a return engagement starring Richard Harris, a performance of which was taped and shown on HBO.

In 1983, Don helped produce a Broadway “Othello” that starred Mr. Jones in the title role and Christopher Plummer, in what many have considered one of the great Shakespearean performances of the last half-century, as Iago.

In the 1970s, Don produced, or co-produced, a number of solo-performer shows that matched a celebrated actor with a celebrated historical personage.

They included “Clarence Darrow,” a play by David W. Rintels based on Irving Stone’s novelistic biography “Clarence Darrow for the Defense,” which toured widely with Mr. Fonda, appearing twice for limited runs on Broadway; and William Luce’s play “The Belle of Amherst,” in which Ms. Harris gave a Tony-winning performance as Emily Dickinson.

A third show, “Paul Robeson,” starred Mr. Jones as Robeson, the actor, singer and social crusader. (The cast technically includes a second performer on stage, a piano player.)

Don Gregory passed away at 80 years old due to a stroke.