Margaret Webster (1905-1972), American stage director.
Daughter of two famous actors, Ben Webster and Dame May Whitty. She spent the early part of her career in England, returning to the US in 1937 to direct
Richard II with Maurice Evans in the title role. They formed a partnership that lasted until 1942, with Webster directing Evans in Broadway productions of
Hamlet, Twelfth Night and
Henry IV, Part I. While she was directing
Hamlet in 1938, she began her long romantic relationship with actress Eva Le Gallienne.
Webster continued directing classical plays on Broadway, notably
The Cherry Orchard (1944) starring Le Gallienne,
The Tempest (1945) and her greatest triumph,
Othello (1943), starring Paul Robeson in the title role and Jose Ferrer as Iago, which ran for 296 performances, by far the longest run of a Shakespearean production on Broadway, a record that has not been remotely approached since. She also played the role of Emilia in the production.
In 1946, Webster and Le Gallienne co-founded the American Repertory Theater with producer Cheryl Crawford, with Webster's staging of Shakespeare's
Henry VIII as its premire production, starring Le Gallienne as Katherine.
In 1948, her affair with Le Gallienne ended, and she went on tour with her company, the Margaret Webster Shakespeare Company. The tour lasted until 1951, but she left in 1950 to become the first woman to direct at the New York Metropolitan Opera. She also directed
Macbeth at the New York City Opera.