Richard Barr

Barr, Richard [né Baer] (1917–89), producer. Born in Washington, D.C., and educated at Princeton, he began his career as an actor with the Mercury Theatre and later served as a director of plays for New York City's Center. Subsequently he became active as a producer, usually working in conjunction with one or more other producers. Barr championed young playwrights, such as Edward Albee, Lanford Wilson, and Terrence McNally, as well as presenting the first American productions of works by Samuel Beckett and Eugene Ionesco. Among his notable productions were At Home with Ethel Waters (1953), Ruth Draper's 1954 and 1956 solo appearances, The Zoo Story (1960), The American Dream (1961), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1962), Tiny Alice (1964), A Delicate Balance (1966), and The Boys in the Band (1968). He served as president of the League of American Theatre and Producers for twenty‐one years.