14 Facts About Kermit Bloomgarden

Kermit Bloomgarden was an American theatrical producer.

Kermit Bloomgarden was an accountant before he began producing plays on Broadway including Death of a Salesman, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Music Man, Look Homeward, Angel, and Equus.

Kermit Bloomgarden majored in accounting at New York University and became a Certified Public Accountant after his graduation in 1926.

Kermit Bloomgarden transitioned into theater after meeting Arthur Beckhard at a 1932 dinner party, who convinced Kermit Bloomgarden, as he later recounted, that "the theater was for me".

Kermit Bloomgarden worked for Beckhard as his general manager, before accepting the same position with Herman Shumlin.

Kermit Bloomgarden mounted Hellman's last play Toys in the Attic.

Kermit Bloomgarden's first producing effort was Heavenly Express, starring John Garfield, which closed shortly after it opened.

Kermit Bloomgarden's first hit was Deep Are the Roots, followed by Hellman's Another Part of the Forest.

Kermit Bloomgarden had a major string of success that culminated with the February 1949 opening of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, which earned a Tony Award, Drama Desk Award and the Pulitzer Prize.

Kermit Bloomgarden produced Arthur Miller's modestly successful A View From the Bridge and The Diary of Anne Frank, both in 1955, followed by The Most Happy Fella, starring Robert Weede, and The Music Man in 1957.

In November 1957, Kermit Bloomgarden opened Look Homeward, Angel, based on the novel by Thomas Wolfe.

Producer Scott Rudin worked for Kermit Bloomgarden; Rudin relates on NPR's Fresh Air, how he once carried the artificial leg for repair on NY public transport calling it one of the most memorable days in his life.

Kermit Bloomgarden died at age 71 in his New York City home on September 20,1976, having dealt with a brain tumor for six months before his death.

In 1983, Kermit Bloomgarden was posthumously inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.