Hal DeWindt

blog

Hal DeWindt, director, producer, writer and teacher, died Monday at UCLA Medical Center following a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 72.

Born and reared in Harlem, DeWindt’s career began when he appeared in the Broadway play “Golden Boy.”

He was later chosen as the first male model for the “Ebony Fashion Fair.” He also served as the production stage manager during the years President Kennedy was in the White House, overseeing several “Galas for the President” at the Washington Armory and President Kennedy’s 45th birthday party at Madison Square Madison.

Along with Harry Belafonte and Brock Peters, DeWindt also directed salutes to Paul Robeson, Quincy Jones, Alex Haley, Smokey Robinson and Aretha Franklin.

DeWindt also worked in Hollywood as an assistant VP for Paramount Television and later as the director of development for New Ventures at Universal Studios.

Popular on Variety

In addition, DeWindt was a professor at Loyola Marymount and California State U. at Northridge.

He was in Los Angeles for the summer serving as the artistic director of the Hal DeWindt Actors workshop and Multicultural Theatre Project at Loyola Marymount U.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. tomorrow at the Sacred Heart Chapel on the campus of Loyola Marymount U., 7900 Loyola Blvd., in the Westchester section of Los Angeles. Speakers include: Sidney Poitier, Roscoe Lee Brown and Ambassador Stephen Rhodes.

Flowers may be sent c/o the Campus Ministry.

Jump to Comments

More from Variety

Most Popular

Must Read

Sign Up for Variety Newsletters

By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy.We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. // This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Variety Confidential

A Variety and iHeartRadio Podcast

ncG1vNJzZmiukae2psDYZ5qopV9mhnqDjqyanqaVZL2mu8%2BlnGamlazAcLTApWSdnaeeu6XAjGpoam5mbIZzf5Zo