Alan Mandell dead: Actor and interpreter of Samuel Beckett dies
Acclaimed classical actor and Samuel Beckett interpreter Alan Mandell has died at age 98. Mandell was a pioneer in regional theater and founded the first extended prison theater program in the U.S. at San Quentin.
Why it matters
His work bridged the gap between high-art theater and social rehabilitation, leaving a lasting legacy on American regional performance.
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. “My one-week vacation turned into a 12-year stay,” Mandell told The Times in 1992 about what was meant to be a short trip.
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