Ellen Stewart,, American theater director. died she was 91

 Ellen Stewart was an American theater director and producer and the founder of La MaMa, E.T.C. (Experimental Theatre Club) died she was  91. In the 1950s she worked as a fashion designer for Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, Lord & Taylor, and Henri Bendel.^[2]

(November 7, 1919 — January 13, 2011)

Biography

Ellen Stewart was either born in Alexandria, Louisiana or Chicago, Illinois.^[3] This inexactitude stems from Stewart's reticence about revealing details of her early life. As an observer wrote, "Her history is somewhat difficult to sort out—indeed it takes on a legendary quality—since on different occasions she gives different version of the same stories." ^[4] Of her parents, Stewart stated that her father was a tailor from Louisiana and her mother was a teacher and that they divorced during her youth.^[5]
Around 1939 Stewart may have become the second wife of Larry Lebanus Hovell (born August 10, 1910 — died October 1963, a Chicago waiter who was a native of Alexandria, Louisiana, although it is possible they never legally wed. They had one child, a son, Larry Lebanus Hovell, II (1940—1998).^[6]

Career

In 1950 Stewart moved to New York City, where she worked as a trimmer in the brassiere-and-corset department at Saks Fifth Avenue and, later as a dress designer, under the direction of Edith Lances, head of the department store's custom-corset department.^[7] Stewart continued to work as a fashion designer throughout the 1960s and 1970s, notably for a manufacturer called Victor Bijou, where she designed "sport dresses and beach wraps".^[8]

In 1961 Stewart founded Café La MaMa, which became one of the most successful Off-Off-Broadway theatrical companies - La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club. In the next decades she became famous around the world, writing and directing an enormous body of pieces, exclusively based on music and dance, with international artists.^[9]
In 2007 Stewart was awarded the Praemium Imperiale in the field of Film and Theater.^[10][11]
In 2005 Tom O'Horgan presented Stewart with the Stewardship Award from the New York Innovative Theatre Awards. This honor was bestowed to Stewart on behalf of her peers and fellow artists of the Off-Off-Broadway community "in recognition of her significant contributions to the Off-Off-Broadway community through service, support and leadership". ^[12]

Death

Ellen Stewart died on January 13, 2011, aged 91. Stewart had a history of heart trouble and died at Beth Israel Hospital, New York City, after a long illness.^[1] Her memorial service was held at the St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City on Monday, January 17, 2011.^[13]

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