Theatre World Founder John Willis Dies at 93; Broadway to Dim Lights in His Memory June 30

John Willis, the founder of the publications Theatre World and Screen World and creator of the Theatre World Awards, died on June 25, at his home in Manhattan, of complications from lung cancer. He was 93. The marquees of Broadway theaters in New York will be dimmed in his memory on Wednesday, June 30, at exactly 8pm for one minute.

Founded in 1945, Theatre World is a pictorial and statistical record of the New York and regional theater season. It is now published annually. The Theatre World Awards, which are now presented by a separate organization, honor performers who have given outstanding major debut performances in a given year.

Willis served on the Tony Award nominating committee, the New York University Musical Hall of Fame selection committee, and the board of directors of the National Board of Review. In 1996, he received a caricature on the wall of Sardi’s.

On behalf of Theatre World, Willis received a 2001 Tony Honor for Excellence in the Theatre, the 2003 Broadway Theater Institute Lifetime Achievement Award, a 1994 special Drama Desk Award, and in 1993, the first Outstanding Special Lucille Lortel Award. On behalf of Screen World, he received the 1998 National Board of Review William K. Everson Award for Film History.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Theatre World, c/o 190 Riverside Dr. #1D, New York, NY 10024.