14 Facts About Margo Jones

Margo Jones, nicknamed the "Texas Tornado", was an American stage director and producer, best known for launching the American regional theater movement and for introducing the theater-in-the-round concept in Dallas, Texas.

Margo Jones had recently joined the faculty of the University of Texas's drama department in Austin.

Margo Jones traveled internationally, experiencing theater abroad, and eventually gained commercial success on Broadway as co-director of the original production of The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams.

Margo Jones directed Williams' Summer and Smoke, a flop in its first production, but highly regarded years later.

Margo Jones moved back to Dallas and opened Theatre '47.

Margo Jones's theater was in the sleek "Magnolia Lounge" building, designed by Swiss-born architect William Lescaze, in 1936 for the Texas Centennial and situated on the grounds of Fair Park in Dallas.

Margo Jones was inspired by Franklin Roosevelt's Depression-era National Theater Project and the European arts movement, which she had experienced directly during the 1930s.

Margo Jones wanted her art to exist all across America, beyond the realm of commercialized Broadway, and this was a key component in the start of the regional-theatre movement.

Margo Jones envisioned it as a place where actors, writers, and technicians could have steady jobs and not be subject to the problems found in the volatile New York scene.

On July 17,1955, Margo Jones invited friends over to a party, but during the party she spilled paint on the carpet, so her secretary later brought professional cleaners to deal with it.

Margo Jones woke up dizzy; the gas was later found to have caused kidney failure.

Margo Jones was then found unconscious on the couch resting and she was rushed to hospital, but died a week later.

Margo Jones died July 24,1955, at the age of 43, never realizing what killed her.

The Margo Jones Award was established in 1961 by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E Lee.