Guthrie, << GUHTH ree, >> Tyrone (1900-1971), was an English director and producer who specialized in inventive productions of plays by William Shakespeare and other classics. He often experimented with stage techniques, such as using modern costumes for classic plays, to make the works more accessible. He also stressed the psychology of the characters and guided performers toward more realistic acting.
William Tyrone Guthrie was born on July 2, 1900, in Tunbridge Wells, England. He directed the Old Vic Theatre in London from 1933 to 1945. He helped create the Stratford Shakespeare Festival (now the Stratford Festival) that began in 1953 in Ontario. In 1963, he established the Tyrone Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota, one of the first nonprofit regional repertory companies in the United States. In 1961, Queen Elizabeth II knighted Guthrie for his services to the theater, and he became known as Sir Tyrone Guthrie. He died on May 15, 1971.
