Remembering Philip Langner

Philip Langner — the son of Westport Country Playhouse founders Lawrence and Armina Langner, and a towering figure in American theater history in his own right as a Broadway and film producer — died peacefully in his sleep on Sunday. He was one week shy of his 99th birthday.

Langner spent more than 90 years at the center of American theater. His father founded the Theatre Guild in 1919 — a few years before he was born. His father and mother then converted an old tannery and barn a few miles from their Weston home into the Playhouse in 1931, when he was 5.

Philip Langner

At age 9 he saw the original “Porgy and Bess” on Broadway (produced by The Theatre Guild).

Other highlights included conversations with Anna May Wong; playing as a child with Paul Robeson’s son; making suggestions to Richard Rodgers on how to rewrite the play that became “Oklahoma!”; watching Tallulah Bankhead throw her scenery out into the audience; climbing trees with Humphrey Bogart; acting with Tyrone Power; attending the wedding of Olivia de Havilland at his parents’ house; staying with Charlie Chaplin in Switzerland; persuading Katherine Hepburn to help create “Judgment at Nuremberg,” and visiting with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in Rome while they filmed “Cleopatra.”

He served in the Navy during World War II.

In the 1950s Langner operated a theatre in London’s West End, where he worked with Hugh Beaumont, Sir John Gielgud, Dame Patricia Routledge and Joan Collins, among others.

He took over as President of the Theatre Guild from his father in 1962, and produced a number of Broadway plays and musicals. He also managed the Westport Country Playhouse for many years.

Summer crowd, at the Westport Country Playhouse (Photo/Wells Studio)

Langner co-produced 5 movies, including the multi-Academy Award-winning “Judgment at Nuremberg.”

Langner was married to actress and Theatre Guild co-producer Marilyn Clark Langner. They presented 34 Theatre At Sea cruises around the world, featuring Broadway greats like Helen Hayes, Patricia Neal, Lillian Gish, Ed Asner and Loretta Swit..

He is survived by his daughters Lola and Eve, and granddaughters Lauren Kennedy and Brielle Kennedy.

Donations may be made in his honor to the Westport Country Playhouse, Entertainment Community Fund, The Animal Project NYC, or a charity of your choice.

Philip Langner (front), at the 2023 ceremony designating the Westport Country Playhouse as a Literary Landmark. (Photo/Dan Woog)