Theater News

Producer and Manager Eugene V. Wolsk Has Died

As a producer, Wolsk backed The Sunshine Boys, Man of La Mancha, and Forever Plaid.

Bethany Rickwald
New York City

<i>The Sunshine Boys</i> original poster
The Sunshine Boys original poster

Eugene V. Wolsk, a longtime Broadway and off-Broadway producer and manager, died Thursday, May 2 at the age of 84.

Wolsk, whose career in the theater began as a company manager, first worked with productions including Tchin-Tchin, Luther, and Blues for Mister Charlie in the early 1960s. He then moved on to work as the general manager for Ready When You Are, C.B., and The Impossible Years before taking on his first producing role with The Lion in Winter featuring Rosemary Harris, in 1966.

Wolsk continued to produce and general-manage Broadway productions for the next several decades, with producing highlights including The Sunshine Boys, Man of La Mancha, and the 1981 revival of Fiddler on the Roof, among many others. In 1990 he produced the highly successful off-Broadway musical Forever Plaid.

During his career, Wolsk was nominated for two Tony Awards, for producing Ain’t Supposed to Die a Natural Death and The Sunshine Boys.

Born to Long Island lawyer Isidore Wolsk, Eugene V. Wolsk went on to attend Allegheny College and the Yale School of Drama. He is survived by his wife, Laura Stein.