Hayes Gordon AO OBE (February , â€" October , ) was an American
actor, stage director and acting teacher with a considerable career in
Australia.Gordon was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He was mentored by
Oscar Hammerstein, and appeared on Broadway in several musicals,
including the original production of Oklahoma! (), Show Boat and
Brigadoon. He also appeared in America's first television soap opera
Fashion Story. He was named in a newsletter Red Networks, which
specialised in naming alleged communists and sympathisers, and after
he refused in to sign a loyalty oath declaring that he was not a
communist, work dried up completely.Gordon went to Australia in to
star in the musical Kiss Me, Kate. He stayed in the country and
established the Ensemble Theatre in North Sydney with a group of
young students he tutored from the Independent Theatre. This was a
co-operative style theatre and also Australia's first
theatre-in-the-round. He also established Australia's longest
surviving acting school, the Ensemble Studios, in the s, which closed
in . Hayes was Principal of the school from its inception until his
death. Toward the end of his life he published Acting and Performing
which outlined his Stanislavsky-influenced acting methods. He passed
on directorship of the Ensemble Theatre to Sandra Bates in .He played
Tevye in the original Australian cast of Fiddler on the Roof from to
, and later in a - revival for the Australian Opera. He also played
'Daddy' Warbucks in the original Australian cast of Annie which opened
in .
actor, stage director and acting teacher with a considerable career in
Australia.Gordon was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He was mentored by
Oscar Hammerstein, and appeared on Broadway in several musicals,
including the original production of Oklahoma! (), Show Boat and
Brigadoon. He also appeared in America's first television soap opera
Fashion Story. He was named in a newsletter Red Networks, which
specialised in naming alleged communists and sympathisers, and after
he refused in to sign a loyalty oath declaring that he was not a
communist, work dried up completely.Gordon went to Australia in to
star in the musical Kiss Me, Kate. He stayed in the country and
established the Ensemble Theatre in North Sydney with a group of
young students he tutored from the Independent Theatre. This was a
co-operative style theatre and also Australia's first
theatre-in-the-round. He also established Australia's longest
surviving acting school, the Ensemble Studios, in the s, which closed
in . Hayes was Principal of the school from its inception until his
death. Toward the end of his life he published Acting and Performing
which outlined his Stanislavsky-influenced acting methods. He passed
on directorship of the Ensemble Theatre to Sandra Bates in .He played
Tevye in the original Australian cast of Fiddler on the Roof from to
, and later in a - revival for the Australian Opera. He also played
'Daddy' Warbucks in the original Australian cast of Annie which opened
in .
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