Harold Clurman

Renowned American theatre director, producer, and drama critic Harold Clurman was also a beloved and influential Hunter College faculty member from 1967 to 1980. During his tenure at Hunter, Clurman brought colleagues like Arthur Miller and Walter Kerr to teach Hunter students as visiting faculty. In the 1980s, Hunter established the Harold Clurman Professorship to honor his legacy as a dedicated educator and dramatist committed to using theatre as a means of exploring the human condition and promoting social change.

Born in 1901 in New York City, Clurman would frequently attend performances with his mother. After attending Columbia University for a short time, Clurman dropped out to pursue a career in theatre. In the 1920s he co-founded the Provincetown Players, a groundbreaking theatre company that was instrumental in introducing the works of Eugene O'Neill and other American playwrights to the world. Throughout his career Clurman remained a tireless advocate for American theatre and its artists. He served as a drama critic for The New Republic and The Nation, and in 1930 he co-founded the Group Theatre, a highly influential collective of actors, writers, and directors who sought to create socially relevant and politically engaged works of theatre.

He worked with a number of notable writers and actors during his career, including Arthur Miller, Cheryl Crawford, Lee Strasberg, Elia Kazan, Eugene O’Neill, among many others. A highly influential figure in theatre and beyond, he was recognized for his commitment to the arts with the honor of having a Broadway theater named after him.