Producer and Director Manny Fox Has Died
(Courtesy of the Fox Family)
Manny Fox – a producer and director who worked with such notables as George Burns, Johnny Cash, Gregory Hines, Barbra Streisand, and Orson Welles – died of complications from a heart condition in Phoenix, Arizona on Tuesday, September 23. He was 77.
Fox is best known for producing Sophisticated Ladies on Broadway (starring Hines), and in subsequent productions throughout the world. He was also responsible for the first major presentation of Performance Art, A Happening with Salvador Dali at Lincoln Center, in which the famous artist painted on a huge scrim ‘live’ onstage, while ballet dancers improvised to a live jazz band.
His record career included numerous anthology albums including Welles’ famous broadcast of The War of the Worlds; The Golden Age of Comedy narrated by Burns; and Showstoppers – 50 performances by the original casts in Broadway musicals which included not only Streisand, but performers like Rex Harrison, Ethel Merman, and Ezio Pinza.
Fox is survived by his four sons, Stephen, Richard, Jon and William, as well as three grandchildren.
