Eva Le Gallienne

Legendary stage actress Eva Le Gallienne's life began just as grandly as the daughter of poet Richard Le Gallienne. Sarah Bernhardt was her idol growing up and, at age 18, was brought to New York by her mother. Making her London debut with "Monna Vanna" in 1914, she proved a star in every sense of the word. She appeared on Broadway first in "Liliom" in 1921 and lastly at the Biltmore Theatre in 1981 with "To Grandmother's House We Go," which won her a Tony nomination at age 82. Noted for her extreme boldness and idealism, she became a director and muse for theatre's top playwrights, a foremost translator of Henrik Ibsen, and a founder of the civic repertory movement in America. A respected stage coach, director, producer and manager over her six decades, Ms. Le Gallienne consciously devoted herself to the Art of the Theatre as opposed to the Show Business of Broadway and dedicated herself to upgrading the quality of the stage. She ran the Civic Repertory Theatre Company for 10 years (1