Joseph Chaikin

American stage director, actor, and writer

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Born:: Sept. 16, 1935, Brooklyn, N.Y., U.S.

Died:: June 22, 2003, New York, N.Y.

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Joseph Chaikin (born Sept. 16, 1935, Brooklyn, N.Y., U.S.—died June 22, 2003, New York, N.Y.) was an American stage director, actor, and writer. He was a member of the Living Theatre before founding the Open Theatre (1963), which became an influential force in experimental theatre. His celebrated productions, the results of intense collaboration between writer, director, and actors, included America Hurrah (1966), The Serpent (1969), Terminal (1970), The Mutation Show (1971), and Nightwalk (1973). He published his ideas about theatre in The Presence of the Actor (1972). He later collaborated with Sam Shepard on a number of plays, including The War in Heaven (1984) and When the World Was Green (1996). In 1977 he received the first lifetime-achievement Obie Award. He was the subject of the documentary film The Presence of Joseph Chaikin (2008).

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