Robert Fryer was born in Washington, D.C. in 1920. His father was a successful department store manager, but died of tuberculosis in 1929. Fryer spent the bulk of his childhood in Cleveland, Ohio, where his mother raised him and his sister, Eleanor (later Massell). Fryer graduated from Case Western Reserve University, and served in the Army during World War II.[1]
Theatrical career
After the War, Robert worked in New York City as an assistant to the producer of the Old Vic season at the Century Theatre. His first Broadway hit was A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" which he co-produced with George Abbott.[4] Robert Fryer won multiple Tony Awards,[1] and the plays he produced received a total of 37 Tony Awards.[4] Between 1971 and 1988 he was the director of the Center Theatre Group's Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles.[5] Shortly after his death in 2000, Fryer was posthumously inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.[6]
Film career
Fryer's most memorable film production was The Shining. Fryer was once quoted as stating, "[m]ovies pay the rent but stage is my true love.".[4]
