Legendary Summer Stock Director Leslie B. Cutler Passes Away

Leslie B. Cutler, who directed of hundreds of productions over a 50 year period at the storied Kenley Players in Ohio and other stock venues and is widely believed to have directed more stars onstage than anyone else in show business, died of congestive heart failure at the St.Luke's - Roosevelt Hospital in Manhattan on Saturday, May 18th, 2013. He was 93.

He was born on August 31, 1919 in Belmar, New Jersey (the "B" in his name stood for Belmar; he was born there prematurely and a nurse there saved him by placing him on cotton batting in a bird cage and feeding him with an eyedropper.)

Trained as a legal clerk in a family law firm, he was dazzled by the theater and began in the profession as an actor and man of all work for the Claire Tree Majors children's theater in the early 1940s.

He began work for the renowned summer stock producer John Kenley in 1947 in Kenley's Pennsylvania operation, first as a stage manager, and then an actor and director. When Kenley expanded and moved to Ohio in 1958, Cutler went with him; by that time he was directing and acting in up to 10 shows a season. With hundreds of directing credits to his name, he became one of the most sought-after figures in the once-bustling industry of summer stock productions headlined by movie stars. Among the many big names he directed for Kenley were Ann Miller, Robert Goulet, Diana Barrymore, Cloris Leachman and Giorgio Tozzi, Mia Farrow, Richard Chamberlain, Jeannette MacDonald, Jane Powell, Howard Keel, Gene Kelly, Arthur Godfrey and Betty White. He also directed for many other theaters, including the Coconut Grove and Parker Playhouse in Florida, the Theater Under the Stars in Atlanta, the Mineola Playhouse on Long Island and the Westport Country Playhouse in Connecticut; he staged several national tours through the years. His last show was 2001's Sheba, starring Donna McKechnie, at Lucille Lortel's White Barn Theatre in Westport, Connecticut. He had acted on Broadway early in his career.

He is survived by two nieces, Diane Arnold and Ann Lee Robinson. A memorial service in Manhattan is planned for later this year.