 On 17 February 1963, "Baal"'s British premiere opened at the Phoenix Theatre, London, starring Peter O'Toole, directed by William Gaskill and designed by Jocelyn Herbert.The first U.S. production was presented by Circle in the Square Theatre in May 1965 at New York's Martinique Theater, directed by Gladys Vaughan and starring Mitchell Ryan.In 1970, actor/film director/screenwriter Rainer Werner Fassbinder played the title role for a German TV production of "Baal" by Volker Schlöndorff where Fassbinder got to know his former star actors Margarethe von Trotta and Günther Kaufmann.