Paxton Whitehead(1937-2023)
- Actor
Paxton Whitehead was born on 17 October, 1937 in Kent, England, UK. He
trained at London's Webber-Douglas Academy of Dramatic Arts starting at
the age of 17. After attending the academy for two years he went to
work in stock companies starting with the "weekly rep", small touring
companies that rehearsed and performed a new play each week. He made
his professional debut in 1956, and within two years was signed by the
Royal Shakespeare Company.
Whitehead produced with Doric Wilson, directed and starred in "And He
Made A Her" (1961), a production at the off-off-Broadway venue Caffe
Cino. He made his Broadway debut in "The Affair" (1962) after appearing
in Canadian stage and TV productions. Dudley Moore, Alan Bennett, Peter Cook and
Paxton Whitehead provided vocals on the track "Some Thoughts From
Aboard" from the comedy album "Beyond The Fringe '64". He went on to
appear with the American Shakespeare Company to direct in regional
repertory.
Whitehead was the Artistic Director of the Shaw Festival, the
second-largest repertory theatre in North America. The Shaw Festival at
Niagara-on-the-Lake began as an amateur summer happening. It developed
into a professional, international event, particularly under Paxton
Whitehead, its dedicated artistic director from 1966 to 1977. Notable
appearances there included Magnus in "The Apple Cart", Cusins in "Major
Barbara", "The Philanderer", Sergius in "Arms and the Man", Lord
Summerhays in "Misalliance", Fancourt Babberly in "Charley's Aunt",
Tempest in the North American premiere of Alan Bennett's "Forty Years On"
and Hector in "Heartbreak House" with Jessica Tandy and Tony Van Bridge, a role he
repeated at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, London with Rex Harrison and
Diana Rigg. Whitehead was also the Artistic Director for The Vancouver
Playhouse Theatre Company from 1971 to 1973.
Whitehead appeared opposite Carol Channing in "The Bed Before Yesterday"
(1976) at the Robert Morris University, Colonial Theatre, Pennsylvania.
He received an honourary degree in arts from Trent University in 1978.
At the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Main Stage July 11 - July 15,
1978, Whitehead played Leo in "Design for Living". Suzanne Grossman and Paxton
Whitehead translated and adapted the plays by Georges Feydeau "The Chemmy
Circle" in 1979 and "A Flea in her Ear" in 1982.
Whitehead earned a Tony Award nomination for his appearance in
"Camelot" during 1980. He has appeared in numerous Broadway productions
including "My Fair Lady", opposite Richard Chamberlain, "The Harlequin Studies"
with Bill Irwin, Noël Coward's "Suite in Two Keys", "A Little Hotel on the
Side", "Lettice and Lovage" (playing an emotionally shut-down police
investigator), "Artist Descending A Staircase", "Run For Your Wife",
"The Crucifer of Blood", "Habeas Corpus", "Candida", "Beyond the
Fringe" (1964), "The Affair" and "London Suite" (a comedy by Neil Simon).
Whitehead appeared in "Noises Off" (September 22 - November 27, 1983)
with Linda Thorson, his Marblehead Manor (1987) co-star.
He moved to California in 1980 to rear his children and has been a
resident of Irvine, California for many years. The Shaw Festival of
Canada debuted at the Annenberg Centre with "Charley's Aunt" starring
Paxton Whitehead. Whitehead has also appeared in the Los Angeles
productions of "Woman in Mind" with Helen Mirren, "The Rocky Horror Show",
"Pirates of Penzance", "How the Other Half Loves" and "Beyond The
Fringe", as well as duplicating some of his Broadway roles. Paxton
Whitehead directed the Seattle Repertory Theatre production of "The
Real Thing" in 1986. He was nominated for Best Lead Performance at the
1988-1989 20th Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards for "How the
Other Half Loves".
Whitehead appeared in the June 1992 Tiffany Theatre production of
"Woman in Mind". In 1996 Whitehead appeared in the Studio Arena Theatre
production of "Springtime for Henry". From January 7 to February 15,
1997, Paxton Whitehead starred in Hugh Leonard's play "The Mask of Moriarty"
at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey. Whitehead was the
narrator for the February 1999 Tiffany Theater production of "The Rocky
Horror Show".
In April 2000, Hayley Mills appeared with Whitehead in "Suite in 2 Keys",
"Shadows of the Evening" and "A Song at Twilight". Whitehead played the
celebrated British poet and Latin Professor A.E. Housman in "The Invention
of Love" at Court Theatre, Chicago, Illinois (September 6 - October 21,
2000). On October 10, 2001, The UCLA Centre for the Performing Arts for
17th- & 18th-Century Studies sponsored "Lady Windermere's Fan" by
Oscar Wilde, a staged reading by John Lithgow and friends with Lord Augustus
Lorton played by Paxton Whitehead. In the Signature Theatre Company
production of "The Harlequin Studies" (October 2003) featured Whitehead
as Harlequin's master, Pantalone. Performances of Whitehead's are
available on audio CDs of "The Doctor's Dilemma" (January 11, 2003),
"Thank You, Jeeves" and "The Foreigner" (May 17, 2003) from L.A.
Theatre Works.
Whitehead is an Associate Artist of the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego.
His appearances there include "The Miser", "Richard III", "Sir Peter
Teazle", "Sir Anthony Absolute" and "Benedick". In Costa Mesa he has
been seen in "Heartbreak House", "How the Other Half Loves" and "The
Circle". He has appeared as Lear in Manitoba and several Ray Cooney
farces. He has recent regional credits that include "The Voysey
Inheritance" (December 13, 2003), W. Somerset Maugham's "The Circle", A.E.H. in the
Chicago production of Tom Stoppard's "The Invention of Love" and "Where's
Charley?" (Williamstown Theatre Festival, June 19-30, 2002). Whitehead
played Clive Champion-Cheney in "The Circle" by W. Somerset Maugham at South Coast
Repertory. During the rehearsal of "The Circle" he played Malvolio in
The Globe's "Twelfth Night". He appeared with John Lithgow, Melissa Errico, Roger Daltrey
and Rosemary Harris and played Col. Pickering in a semi-staged production of
Alan Jay Lerner and Enrique Loewe's Classic Musical "My Fair Lady" at the Hollywood
Bowl on August 3, 2003. Paxton Whitehead headed the cast of The
Huntington Theatre Company presentation of "What the Butler Saw" as Dr.
Rance at the Boston University Theatre, March 5-April 4, 2004 for which
he received the Norton Awards for Outstanding Actor, Large Company. He
is co-author on the books "The Doctor's Dilemma" and "The Voysey
Inheritance" published by L.A. Theatre Works. Whitehead appeared in
"Don Juan in Hell" at 92nd Street Y on January 28, 2005.
trained at London's Webber-Douglas Academy of Dramatic Arts starting at
the age of 17. After attending the academy for two years he went to
work in stock companies starting with the "weekly rep", small touring
companies that rehearsed and performed a new play each week. He made
his professional debut in 1956, and within two years was signed by the
Royal Shakespeare Company.
Whitehead produced with Doric Wilson, directed and starred in "And He
Made A Her" (1961), a production at the off-off-Broadway venue Caffe
Cino. He made his Broadway debut in "The Affair" (1962) after appearing
in Canadian stage and TV productions. Dudley Moore, Alan Bennett, Peter Cook and
Paxton Whitehead provided vocals on the track "Some Thoughts From
Aboard" from the comedy album "Beyond The Fringe '64". He went on to
appear with the American Shakespeare Company to direct in regional
repertory.
Whitehead was the Artistic Director of the Shaw Festival, the
second-largest repertory theatre in North America. The Shaw Festival at
Niagara-on-the-Lake began as an amateur summer happening. It developed
into a professional, international event, particularly under Paxton
Whitehead, its dedicated artistic director from 1966 to 1977. Notable
appearances there included Magnus in "The Apple Cart", Cusins in "Major
Barbara", "The Philanderer", Sergius in "Arms and the Man", Lord
Summerhays in "Misalliance", Fancourt Babberly in "Charley's Aunt",
Tempest in the North American premiere of Alan Bennett's "Forty Years On"
and Hector in "Heartbreak House" with Jessica Tandy and Tony Van Bridge, a role he
repeated at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, London with Rex Harrison and
Diana Rigg. Whitehead was also the Artistic Director for The Vancouver
Playhouse Theatre Company from 1971 to 1973.
Whitehead appeared opposite Carol Channing in "The Bed Before Yesterday"
(1976) at the Robert Morris University, Colonial Theatre, Pennsylvania.
He received an honourary degree in arts from Trent University in 1978.
At the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Main Stage July 11 - July 15,
1978, Whitehead played Leo in "Design for Living". Suzanne Grossman and Paxton
Whitehead translated and adapted the plays by Georges Feydeau "The Chemmy
Circle" in 1979 and "A Flea in her Ear" in 1982.
Whitehead earned a Tony Award nomination for his appearance in
"Camelot" during 1980. He has appeared in numerous Broadway productions
including "My Fair Lady", opposite Richard Chamberlain, "The Harlequin Studies"
with Bill Irwin, Noël Coward's "Suite in Two Keys", "A Little Hotel on the
Side", "Lettice and Lovage" (playing an emotionally shut-down police
investigator), "Artist Descending A Staircase", "Run For Your Wife",
"The Crucifer of Blood", "Habeas Corpus", "Candida", "Beyond the
Fringe" (1964), "The Affair" and "London Suite" (a comedy by Neil Simon).
Whitehead appeared in "Noises Off" (September 22 - November 27, 1983)
with Linda Thorson, his Marblehead Manor (1987) co-star.
He moved to California in 1980 to rear his children and has been a
resident of Irvine, California for many years. The Shaw Festival of
Canada debuted at the Annenberg Centre with "Charley's Aunt" starring
Paxton Whitehead. Whitehead has also appeared in the Los Angeles
productions of "Woman in Mind" with Helen Mirren, "The Rocky Horror Show",
"Pirates of Penzance", "How the Other Half Loves" and "Beyond The
Fringe", as well as duplicating some of his Broadway roles. Paxton
Whitehead directed the Seattle Repertory Theatre production of "The
Real Thing" in 1986. He was nominated for Best Lead Performance at the
1988-1989 20th Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards for "How the
Other Half Loves".
Whitehead appeared in the June 1992 Tiffany Theatre production of
"Woman in Mind". In 1996 Whitehead appeared in the Studio Arena Theatre
production of "Springtime for Henry". From January 7 to February 15,
1997, Paxton Whitehead starred in Hugh Leonard's play "The Mask of Moriarty"
at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey. Whitehead was the
narrator for the February 1999 Tiffany Theater production of "The Rocky
Horror Show".
In April 2000, Hayley Mills appeared with Whitehead in "Suite in 2 Keys",
"Shadows of the Evening" and "A Song at Twilight". Whitehead played the
celebrated British poet and Latin Professor A.E. Housman in "The Invention
of Love" at Court Theatre, Chicago, Illinois (September 6 - October 21,
2000). On October 10, 2001, The UCLA Centre for the Performing Arts for
17th- & 18th-Century Studies sponsored "Lady Windermere's Fan" by
Oscar Wilde, a staged reading by John Lithgow and friends with Lord Augustus
Lorton played by Paxton Whitehead. In the Signature Theatre Company
production of "The Harlequin Studies" (October 2003) featured Whitehead
as Harlequin's master, Pantalone. Performances of Whitehead's are
available on audio CDs of "The Doctor's Dilemma" (January 11, 2003),
"Thank You, Jeeves" and "The Foreigner" (May 17, 2003) from L.A.
Theatre Works.
Whitehead is an Associate Artist of the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego.
His appearances there include "The Miser", "Richard III", "Sir Peter
Teazle", "Sir Anthony Absolute" and "Benedick". In Costa Mesa he has
been seen in "Heartbreak House", "How the Other Half Loves" and "The
Circle". He has appeared as Lear in Manitoba and several Ray Cooney
farces. He has recent regional credits that include "The Voysey
Inheritance" (December 13, 2003), W. Somerset Maugham's "The Circle", A.E.H. in the
Chicago production of Tom Stoppard's "The Invention of Love" and "Where's
Charley?" (Williamstown Theatre Festival, June 19-30, 2002). Whitehead
played Clive Champion-Cheney in "The Circle" by W. Somerset Maugham at South Coast
Repertory. During the rehearsal of "The Circle" he played Malvolio in
The Globe's "Twelfth Night". He appeared with John Lithgow, Melissa Errico, Roger Daltrey
and Rosemary Harris and played Col. Pickering in a semi-staged production of
Alan Jay Lerner and Enrique Loewe's Classic Musical "My Fair Lady" at the Hollywood
Bowl on August 3, 2003. Paxton Whitehead headed the cast of The
Huntington Theatre Company presentation of "What the Butler Saw" as Dr.
Rance at the Boston University Theatre, March 5-April 4, 2004 for which
he received the Norton Awards for Outstanding Actor, Large Company. He
is co-author on the books "The Doctor's Dilemma" and "The Voysey
Inheritance" published by L.A. Theatre Works. Whitehead appeared in
"Don Juan in Hell" at 92nd Street Y on January 28, 2005.