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)
It’s not easy to become a Westport Emergency Medical Technician.
But there may be no better way to serve your community.
The opportunity to be part of Westport Volunteer Emergency Medical Service — and offer assistance, reassurance, even life-saving care — to relatives, friends, neighbors and strangers — is enriching and fulfilling.
And astonishingly important.
Orientation for the next class begins August 28.
The class runs from September 9 through December 18. Lectures are Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 6:30 to 10 p.m. Labs are on Saturdays, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
On August 24, Langner — the son of founders Lawrence Langner and Armine Marshall — turns 99.
He has known the Playhouse all of his — and its life.
His most recent visit was in 2023. He celebrated the first (and only) Literary Landmark dedication in Connecticut, with 2 younger generations of Langners.
Birthday cards and letters can be sent to Philip Langer, 135 Central Park West, Suite 4S, New York, New York 10023.
Philip Langner (front) with family members and (far left and right, respectively) Westport Library director Bill Harmer and 1st Selectwoman Jen Tooker, at the Literary Landmark dedication. (Photo/Dan Woog)
Community Volunteer Day (Saturday, September 6, 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; free). Help remove invasive plants, and tend to the trails.
Nature Theater: A Harvest Homecoming(Sunday, September 14, 12 to 1:30 p.m.; adults $20, children 4-17 $10; under 3 free). “Who Are We Kiddin’?” returns with an outdoor experience for kids.
Woodland Harvest: Foraging in Fall (Sunday, September 28; 1 to 2:30 p.m.); $12; $10 for members). Leanr to safely and sustainably enjoy goods from the woods.
Woodside Bash (Saturday, October 4, 7 to 10 p.m.; open bar, harvest dinner, fire pit, mechanical bull, live entertainment; $125).
Fall Festival(Sunday, October 5, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.: $40, $12 and $8). Obstacle course, hay rides, corn pool, arts & crafts, pumpkin bowling, animal encounters, brids of prey, apple slingshot, hay search, donut on a string, food trucks and more.
Mini Clubs(Tuesdays, 4 to 5 p.m., grades 3-6; $105; $90 for members). Explore bugs, birds and tracking.
Free Range Kids (Wednesdays, 1 to 3 p.m.; ages 4-11)
Li’l Naturalists (Wednesdays, 4 to 5 p.m.; grades K-2)
Natue Art Club (Thursdays, 4 to 5 p.m.; grades 3-6).
Teen Volunteer Club (Tuesdays or Thursdays, 4 to 5 p.m.; grades 6-12).
Junior Staff (Fridays, 4 to 5 p.m.; one Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; grades 7-12).
Kids’ Night Out: An Earthplace Campout (Friday, September 19, 6 to 9 p.m.; ages 4-13; $60; members $50).
Vacation Day Camp(Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Election Day).
One of Earthplace’s many trails. (Photo/Rowene Weems)
This weekend marks the 56th anniversary of Woodstock.
And the best celebration anywhere is taking place on WPKN-FM 89.5.
The Bridgeport station is airing the complete original recording of the 1969 Woodstock festival. It runs all weekend long.
This is not the double album released as the “Woodstock” movie soundtrack.
And it’s not some outtakes, added later.
This is the entire concert. Complete musical performances by every band — all 32 sets, from Richie Havens, Joan Baez, the Who, Sly & the Family Stone, Johnny Winter, Ten Years After, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Santana, Joe Cocker, Canned Heat, The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, The Band, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Jimi Hendrix and more.
Every stage announcement. The entire affair (on air from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.).
The “06880” connection — besides the proximity to the studio — is that Jim Motavalli, WPKN’s publicity director — and a 1970 Staples High School graduate — was at Woodstock.
As were, presumably, dozens of other “06880” readers.
And thousands of others, who wish they were. (Hat tip: Anne Nesbitt)
The connections to the Fairfield National team — currently tearing up their bracket at the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania — keep coming.
In addition to Ben Herbst, Colin Curley and Boden Dunlap — all with parents who are Staples High School graduates (click here, then scroll down), there is Tommy D’Amura.
The winning pitcher in relief in Friday night’s 5-1 win against Honolulu is the son of Westport Police Department Staff Corporal Al D’Amura, and Greens Farms Elementary School psychologist Katie D’Amura.
It’s almost as if Fairfield is a home town team.
They advance to tomorrow’s winner’s bracket game (Monday, 7 p.m., ESPN), against Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Let’s go, Fairfield!
Tommy D’Amura, at the end of Fairfield’s game against Honolulu. (Photo courtesy of Little League Baseball & Softball)
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In the midst of her move to Bermuda, longtime Westporter Jo Ann Miller has published her 5th novel: “The Devil Dog Brat.”
It’s about a “military brat” who gets involved in the disappearance of her best friend. Human trafficking is suspected.
“Military brats,” who undergo constant transfers of a military parent, consider the term a badge of dedication and patriotism.
Miller, the daughter of the late Lt. General Thomas H. Miller (USMC), attended 4 different high schools.
“The Devil Dog Brat” — part of the Abbey Lane series — will be available Labor Day, on Amazon.
And finally … as for Woodstock (story above): There were a lot of great performances there (and some pretty poor ones too). Here are 3 of the most legendary:
(A ticket to Woodstock cost $18 in 1969. Tons of people got in free, of course. “06880” is the same way: You can enjoy our blog without supporting us, but we hope you will. Please click here. Thank you!)
Philip Langner is 97 years old. He is a theater and film producer, known for classics like “Judgment at Nuremberg” and “The Pawnbroker.” He writes:
I have known the Westport Country Playhouse all my life.
In 1931 — when I was 5 years old — my parents, Lawrence Langner and Armina Marshall, founded what has become one of America’s most historic theaters.
Last May, I was thrilled to return to the iconic red building — once a barn, then a tannery — to celebrate Westport’s first Literary Landmark.
Three generations of the Langner were present, as a plaque was unveiled in honor of my father.
Philip Langner (front) at last year’s Literary Landmark ceremony, at the Westport Country Playhouse. Standing from left: Westport Library director Bill Harmer; Langner’s daughter Eve and granddaughters Brielle and Lauren; Playhouse honorary trustee Ann Sheffer; 1st Selectwoman Jen Tooker. (Photo/Dan Woog)
Soon after that event, I was very happy and relieved that an emergency call for donations to keep the Playhouse going successfully raised $2 million. This fundraising effort illustrated clearly that Westport residents know how important the arts — and specifically this Playhouse — are to the community.
I read the other day that “The Trip to Bountiful” recently played as a Script in Hand on the Playhouse stage.
I am very aware of this beautiful play. My family produced it on the Westport Playhouse stage years ago. before moving the production to Broadway.
Longtime Langner friends Lillian Gish and Horton Foote had great success, along with their whole company. Honoring, revisiting and reviving great plays is very important.
Equally, or perhaps even more important, is following the example set by my parents to find new plays that can begin at the Westport Country Playhouse and then move to New York. That was one of the important goals for the founding of the Westport Playhouse.
For decades, audiences packed the Westport Country Playhouse to see shows that soon headed to Broadway. (Photo/Wells Studio)
In that regard, I would like to suggest a wonderful new play. It is called “Adoption Roulette,” and is based on a true story tied to the Westport area.
I saw the play, read it twice, and found it to be moving, powerful and very timely.
[NOTE: “Adoption Roulette” is written by former Weston resident Elizabeth Fuller, and writer/director/actor Joel Vig. It is based on Fuller’s experiences when she and her husband, author John Fuller, adopted a little girl from Russia in the early 2000s. They found themselves trapped in a story with all the elements of a Hitchcock thriller. The play takes audiences through Moscow and Siberia, as the couple tries to realize their dream.]
From left: actress Sachi Parker, and playwrights Joel Vig and Elizabeth Fuller, at “Adoption Roulette”‘s performance at the Theater Artists Workshop in Norwalk. (Photo/Rose Billings)
If I were younger, I would raise the money myself and produce this play. “Adoption Roulette” could begin as a Script in Hand or a full production at the Playhouse.
I believe this play could have a commercial life on Broadway and beyond, which could give both prestige and revenue to the Westport Country Playhouse.
I look forward to many more years of the Westport Country Playhouse fulfilling an important role in the cultural life of Westport and Connecticut.
As one of my parents’ best friends, playwright George Bernard Shaw, once said, “Without art, the crudeness of reality would make the world unbearable.”
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