Lars Schmidt (producer)

Lars Schmidt
Lars Schmidt with his first wife Ingrid Bergman, 1961
Born(1917-06-11)11 June 1917
Uddevalla, Sweden
Died18 October 2009(2009-10-18) (aged 92)
Occupation(s)Theatrical producer, director, publisher

Lars Reinhold Schmidt (11 June 1917 – 18 October 2009) was a Swedish theatrical producer, director and publisher. He owned theaters in Paris, France, and Sweden.[1] Schmidt was instrumental in bringing American theater to the European stage.[2] He produced and translated numerous post-war American plays in Europe; including A Street Car Named Desire, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, Oklahoma! and Anne Frank. He is considered one of the most important cultural personalities of the 20th century evolution and commercialization of European theatre.[2] In a 1964 Life magazine article, he was called "Europe's most important theatrical producer."[3] Lars Schmidt married three-time Academy Award-winning film star Ingrid Bergman in December 1958.[4]

  1. ^ "Lars Schmidt papers, 1910-2010". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  2. ^ a b Gindt, Dirk (2013). "Transatlantic Translations and Transactions: Lars Schmidt and the Implementation of Postwar American Theatre in Europe". Theatre Journal. 65 (1). The Johns Hopkins University Press: 19–37. doi:10.1353/tj.2013.0015. ISSN 0192-2882. JSTOR 41819820. S2CID 162294032.
  3. ^ Hamblin, Dora Jane (1964-10-16). Hardly Anybody Knows Him - That's The Way He Wants It. LIFE, Time Inc. pp. 134–135, 137, 139.
  4. ^ Larson, Sarah. "Ingrid Bergman, As Time Goes By". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2020-03-29.