Summer theater producer John Kenley dies at 103

CLEVELAND (AP) — John Kenley, a longtime theater producer who ran a legendary summer stock circuit in Ohio beginning in the 1950s, has died. He was 103.

Family friend Anita Dloniak says Kenley died Oct. 23 at the Cleveland Clinic from complications of pneumonia.

Kenley produced hundreds of plays and musicals. His Kenley Players, a summer stock circuit that began in Dayton, Ohio, in 1957, attracted such stars as Burt Reynolds, Billy Crystal, William Shatner and Robert Goulet.

He later opened other Ohio-based theaters in Warren, Columbus and Akron before moving into the Playhouse Square Center in downtown Cleveland in 1984.

Kenley began acting in theater in New York City in the 1920s and once served as an aide to famed producer Lee Shubert.

Published 10/29/09 by

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