Eva Le Gallienne (January 11, 1899 – June 3, 1991) was a British-born American stage actress, producer, director, translator, and author. A Broadway star by age 21, Le Gallienne gave up her Broadway appearances to devote herself to founding the Civic Repertory Theatre, in which she was director, producer, and lead actress. Noted for her boldness and idealism, she became a pioneering figure in the American repertory movement, which enabled today's off-Broadway. A versatile and eloquent actress herself (playing roles ranging from Peter Pan to Hamlet), Le Gallienne also became a respected stage director, coach, producer and manager. Le Gallienne consciously devoted herself to the art of the theater as opposed to the show business of Broadway and dedicated herself to upgrading the quality of the stage. She ran the Civic Repertory Theatre Company for 10 years (1926–1936), producing 37 plays during that time. She managed Broadway's 1100-seat Civic Repertory Theatre at 107 West 14th Street (formerly the Fourteenth Street Theatre) from 1926 to 1932, which was home to her company whose actors included herself, Burgess Meredith, John Garfield, Norman Lloyd, J. Edward Bromberg, Paul Leyssac, Florida Friebus, David Manners, and Leona Roberts. Life and career Le Gallienne was born in London to Richard Le Gallienne, an English poet of French descent, and Julie Nørregaard, a Danish journalist. They married in 1897 and separated in 1903, later divorcing. After Eva's parents separated when she was four years old, she and her mother moved to Paris, and she spent her childhood shuttling back and forth between there and Britain. While in Paris, she was taken backstage to meet Sarah Bernhardt, which, she said "made an enormous impression on me". She made her stage debut at the age of 15 with a walk-on role in a 1914 production of Maurice Maeterlinck's Monna Vanna, then spent several months in a drama school. She left to perform in a minor comedy in the role of cockney servant, and "brought down the house", receiving excellent reviews. The next year, at the age of 16, Le Gallienne and her mother sailed for New York City, where her first few productions were not successful, and she was released from another while it was performing in out of town tryouts. She then spent a season performing on the road and in summer stock. After travelling in Europe for a period of time, she returned to New York and