Robert Pastene

Robert Pastene (January 29, 1918 – October 15, 1991) was an American actor who appeared films, television and on stage. He acted in a variety of television dramas during what is known as the “Golden Age” of television throughout the 1950s and 60s. On Broadway he performed in plays by Shakespeare, Strindberg, Brecht, Aeschylus, Shaw and Lillian Hellman. In the 1960s and 70s he had a significant career at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, which began in 1963 with the theater’s inaugural season.

Career

In 1963, Pastene appeared as Polonius in Shakespeare’s Hamlet at the Guthrie Theater. It was the first production at the new theater, it was directed by Tyrone Guthrie, and it featured George Grizzard in the title role, and Jessica Tandy as Gertrude. He then went on to play many roles at the Guthrie, in dramas and comedies, modern and classic. He played Henry in Pirandello’s play Enrico IV, a production that also featured Michael Moriarty and Gale Sondergaard.[1][2]

He first appeared on Broadway in 1945, in a production of the comedy The First Crocus; the cast also included Jocelyn Brando. In his second appearance on Broadway, in 1947, he appeared in a production of Hamlet, which starred Maurice Evans in the title role. He also appeared in the 1952 Broadway production of Lillian Hellman’s play The Children’s Hour as Dr. Joseph Cardin. Hellman also directed the play. Cast member, Patricia Neal, has said that the author could be quite a brutal director, and that Pastene bore the brunt of Hellman’s lashing out, which, as related by Neal and Christopher Plummer, supposedly gave Pastene a permanent crick in his neck.[3][4][5]

In 1947 Pastene appeared in the Broadway production Crime and Punishment, in a cast that also included John Gielgud, Lillian Gish, Sanford Meisner, Alexander Scourby and Marian Seldes.[6]

He appeared in off-Broadway plays, including the 1949 Lenox Hill Playhouse production of George Bernard Shaw’s play Saint Joan, with Kim Stanley playing Joan.[7] Two years later he appeared in the same play, Saint Joan, and in the same role, but this time it was on Broadway with Uta Hagen playing Joan.[8]

In television he appeared in a variety of dramas. He plays the title role in the 1952 Studio One production of Abraham Lincoln, which also includes a 21 year old James Dean in the cast.[9]

Pastene appeared in 1973 at the McCarter Theatre in a production of John Osborne’s play The Entertainer, earning very positive reviews.[10]

Personal Life

Pastene was born in Brockton, Massachusetts, he was married to actress Susan Johnson, and then they divorced. He died on October 15, 1991.[11]

References

  1. ↑ Sullivan, Dan. “Compelling Hamlet is Traditional”. Minneapolis Tribune. May 7, 1963
  2. ↑ Rossi, Alfred. Minneapolis Rehearsals: Tyrone Guthrie Directs Hamlet, Volume 1. University of California Press, 1970. ISBN 9780520017191
  3. ↑ Shearer, Stephen. Patricia Neal: An Unquiet Life. University Press of Kentucky, 2006. ISBN 9780813171364
  4. ↑ Internet Broadway Database listing
  5. ↑ Plummer, Christopher. In Spite of Myself: A Memoir. Knopf Canada, 2009. ISBN 9780307373120
  6. ↑ Affron, Charles. Lillian Gish: Her Legend, Her Life. Simon and Schuster, 2001. ISBN 9780684855141. page 415
  7. ↑ McDonald, Dennis. ”Off-Broadway Review: St. Joan”. The Billboard. November 19, 1949. page 49.
  8. ↑ Internet Broadway Database listing
  9. ↑ IMDB database
  10. ↑ Barnes, Clive. “Stage: ‘The Entertainer’ at Princeton”. The New York Times. November 22, 1973.
  11. ↑ ”Pastene Weds Susan Johnson”. The New York Times. May 12, 1953 page 32
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