Producer and Director Gilbert Cates Has Died

Gilbert Cates, a noted Broadway producer and director, the founder and producing director of Los Angeles’ Geffen Playhouse, and a long-time producer of the Academy Awards, has died suddenly in Los Angeles at age 77, according to published reports.

Cates’ first job on Broadway was as stage manager of the 1957 musical Shinbone Alley. In later years, he produced such shows as You Know I Can’t Hear You When the Water’s Running and I Never Sang for My Father, and directed and produced Voices and Tricks of the Trade, both of which had very brief runs.

In addition to producing 14 Academy Awards shows, earning an Emmy for the 1991 presentation, Cates directed and/or produced dozens of films and television shows, including I Never Sang for My Father, Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams, After the Fall, Collected Stories, Hobson’s Choice, Call Me Anna, and A Death in the Family.

Cates was the dean of UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television from 1990 to 1998, as well as a former member of the Academy’s Board of Governors and former president of the Director’s Guild of America.

In a statement, Geffen Playhouse Chairman of the Board Frank Mancuso. wrote:”Gil has always referred to the staff of the Geffen Playhouse as his second family. And it is as a family that we mourn this tremendous loss. Gil built this theater and he will forever be at the center of it – we honor his life by continuing the fulfillment of his dream. As my dear friend Gil would no doubt say ‘onward and upward with the arts.'”

He was married to Dr. Judith Reichman and had four children, two stepchildren, and six grandchildren.