BIOGRAPHY
Sam Wanamaker
Sam Wanamaker was born in Chicago on 14 June 1919.
His first job in the theatre was acting in Shakespeare, ironically in a representative Globe which was one of the highlights of the Great Lakes’ World Fair in Cleveland, Ohio. This early experience significantly influenced his entire career.
After a period in the Army in the South Pacific during World War II, Sam returned to the US where he received his ‘big break’ on Broadway at the age of 27 playing opposite Ingrid Bergman in Joan of Lorraine. Within two weeks he took over direction of the play and became a huge success. After producing, directing, and acting in several Broadway plays, he moved to Hollywood where he directed and acted in a clutch of films.
In 1949 Sam paid his first visit to the UK to star in the film Give Us This Day. He returned in 1951 for another film and stayed to produce, direct, and star in Clifford Odets’ Winter Journeywith Sir Michael Redgrave. He decided to remain in Britain. Sam had his own theatre company in Liverpool, taking over the Shakespeare Theatre. There, he created the first arts and performance centre in Britain. He also continued his acting career, performing as Iago with the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Othello opposite Paul Robeson.
In 1960, Sam returned to the US to star in Macbeth in Chicago, and on Broadway in A Far Country, a play about Sigmund Freud. He then acted in, and directed, over a dozen television shows for major US networks, as well as acting and directing in over 50 films including The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines, Superman IV, Baby Boom and Guilty by Suspicion opposite Robert De Niro. He also participated in two long-running TV series, Holocaust and his own series, The Berengers.
Sam also directed opera, notably War and Peace for the opening of the Sydney Opera House, two new Sir Michael Tippett operas at Covent Garden (King Priam and Icebreak), as well asForza del Destino. He directed Pavorotti’s debut in Aida in San Francisco and Tosca in San Diego, as well as staging the 25th Anniversary Gala of the Lyric Opera House in Chicago.
In 1970 Sam founded the Shakespeare Globe Trust, and International Shakespeare Globe Centre – the final attempt to build a faithful recreation of Shakespeare’s Globe close to its original Bankside, Southwark location. He also established the Shakespeare’s Globe Museum.
While many had said that the Globe reconstruction was impossible to achieve, he had persevered for over twenty years, overcoming a series of monumental obstacles. At the Royal unveiling of two sections of the Globe in June 1992, Sam saw clearly that his life had come full circle.
In July 1993, Sam Wanamaker was made an Honorary Commander of the British Empire (CBE) by the Queen, in recognition of the remarkable contribution that he had made to relations between Britain and the United States and, of course, for all he has done on behalf of the Shakespeare Globe project.
He died in London on 18 December 1993.
The Globe was opened by Her Majesty the Queen in June 1997.
Sam Wanamaker was a recipient of the Royal Society of Arts’ Benjamin Franklin Medal; an Honorary Doctor of Law, University of New Brunswick, Canada; Honorary Doctor of Dramatic Arts, Roosevelt University, Chicago; Doctor of Letters, University of London; Distinguished Graduate, The Theatre School, DePaul University, formerly the Goodman School of Drama, Art Institute of Chicago; Fellow of St Mary and Westfield College, University of London; Honorary Doctor of Literature, University of London.
https://www.shakespearesglobe.com/discover/blogs-and-features/2018/06/14/who-was-sam-wanamaker/
https://www.shakespearesglobe.com/discover/blogs-and-features/2019/06/06/such-stuff-s3-e2/