Josephine Abady - Biography

Josephine R. "Josie" Abady (August 21, 1949, Richmond, Virginia – May 25, 2002, New York City) was an American artistic, stage and film director/producer.

Education

Abady graduated from Syracuse University and earned her MFA from Florida State University.

Theatrical career

Abady taught theater at Bennington College and was head of the theater program at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts before she began her professional career as the artistic director of the Berkshire Theater Festival (in Stockbridge, Massachusetts). She opened the season at the Cleveland Playhouse with a revival of Born Yesterday, starring Ed Asner and Madeline Kahn, a production that moved to Broadway.

Film work

Abady also did film work, including, with the generous assistance provided by an American Film Institute grant, To Catch a Tiger. To Catch a Tiger was a short film, which had been inspired by the life of Nina Friedman Abady, Abady's own mother. She later co-produced a film remake of A Raisin in the Sun, which starred Esther Rolle and Danny Glover.

Last years

Despite her advanced breast cancer, she was active during the last years of her life, until her death, at her home in Manhattan, aged 52. She was survived by her husband, sister, and brother.

Affiliations

• Member, League of Professional Theatre Women

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External links

• IBDb database
• Tribute