Name Harry Rigby Role Theatre Producer | ||
Born 1925 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Movies Pound, OPEN THE DOOR AND SEE ALL THE PEOPLE Awards Tony Award for Best Musical Nominations Tony Award for Best Play, Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical Similar People Al Dubin, Jimmy McHugh, Dorothy Fields, Artie Malvin, Terry Allen Kramer | ||
Harry Rigby (c. 1925 – January 17, 1985) was a Tony Award-winning American theatre producer and writer.
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Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Rigby joined forces with Jule Styne and Alexander H. Cohen to produce the short-lived 1951 Hugh Martin musical Make a Wish as his first Broadway outing. Two years later he enjoyed greater success with John Murray Anderson's Almanac, a revue with an eclectic cast that included Harry Belafonte, Polly Bergen, Hermione Gingold, Billy Wolfe, Orson Bean, Kay Medford, Larry Kert, and Tina Louise.
A decade passed before Rigby returned to Broadway, this time as a production associate for The Ballad of the Sad Cafe, Edward Albee's adaptation of the Carson McCullers story. In 1971, he was the driving force behind the hit revival of No, No, Nanette, which lured both Ruby Keeler and Busby Berkeley out of retirement and started the nostalgia craze on Broadway. His acrimonious relationship with fellow producer Cyma Rubin led to a lawsuit that resulted in his credit being reduced to "Revival originally conceived for production by Harry Rigby," but insiders claimed he deserved full credit for the show's success. Undaunted by the experience, he revived the 1919 hit Irene, for which he helped adapt a new book, with Debbie Reynolds two years later.
Rigby died in New York City.