17 Facts About Terry Hands

Terry Hands founded the Liverpool Everyman Theatre and ran the Royal Shakespeare Company for thirteen years during one of the company's most successful periods; he spent 25 years in all with the RSC.

Terry Hands saved Clwyd Theatr Cymru from closure and turned it into the most successful theatre in Wales in his seventeen years as Artistic Director.

Terry Hands received several Olivier, Tony and Moliere awards and nominations for directing and lighting.

Terry Hands was born at Aldershot, Hampshire, England, on 9 January 1941.

Terry Hands's mother was a German immigrant, though during World War II and for several years afterward, she said that she was from Switzerland.

Terry Hands studied at Woking Grammar School and the University of Birmingham before attending the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, leaving with the gold medal for acting in 1964.

Terry Hands was recruited by Peter Hall to the Royal Shakespeare Company two years later in 1966 to run the company's touring group Theatregoround.

Terry Hands became an associate director there in 1967, directing his first production for them, The Merry Wives of Windsor, in 1968 at the age of 27.

Terry Hands became joint Artistic Director with Trevor Nunn in 1978, and in 1986 sole chief executive.

Terry Hands was the first foreign director invited to direct at the Comedie-Francaise; he was made a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres, and was appointed as a consultant director.

In 1997 Terry Hands became Artistic Director of Theatr Clwyd, which presents much of its work on tour in Wales and the rest of the UK, saving the theatre from closure.

Terry Hands was appointed CBE in the 2007 Queen's New Years Honours List for his services to drama.

In 2015 Terry Hands left his post as Artistic Director of Clwyd Theatr Cymru after seventeen years in the post, having turned the theatre into the most successful in Wales and leaving a legacy of a Welsh company of associate artists.

Terry Hands's international directing credits include productions in Berlin, Brussels, Chicago, London, New York, Oslo, Paris, Tokyo, Vienna and Zurich.

Terry Hands's opera directing credits include "Otello" with Placido Domingo and Parsifal.

Terry Hands was married to soprano Dame Josephine Barstow, and afterwards to actress Ludmila Mikael, with whom he had a daughter, Cesar winning actress Marina Terry Hands.

Terry Hands died from a stroke at Charing Cross Hospital in London, aged 79, on 4 February 2020.