Alan Mandell, acclaimed actor and interpreter of playwright Samuel Beckett's work, dies at 98
Acclaimed actor and Samuel Beckett interpreter Alan Mandell has died at age 98. His career included pioneering prison theater programs and helping establish major regional theater companies across the United States.
Why it matters
Mandell's work in prison theater and regional arts had a lasting influence on the accessibility and therapeutic use of drama.
Alan Mandell, an acclaimed actor and leading interpreter of Samuel Beckett, built a celebrated theater career spanning San Quentin, Los Angeles and beyond. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) Alan Mandell, an acclaimed classical actor and one of the foremost interpreters of playwright Samuel Beckett's work, died Tuesday at his home in Westwood. He was 98.
Representatives for Mandell's family confirmed his death to The Times.
Mandell started his theater career in the early 1950s as the artistic director of Theater '49 in Toronto.
While visiting his sister, he started to work with the San Francisco Actor's Workshop in 1954. During his time with the theater group, his collaboration with co-founders Jules Irving and Herbert Blau helped transform the workshop into one of the first regional theater companies in the U.S.
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