Walter Hartwig (1840-1941)

Founder of Ogunquit Playhouse 1933

Walter Hartwig sits with Laurette Taylor

PHOTO LEFT: Laurette Taylor and Walter Hartwig, Courtesty of Carole Lee Carole

Ogunquit Playhouse founder Walter Hartwig was an integral part of the theatre culture of New York City throughout the early years of Broadway. He worked for legendary producers Daniel Frohman and David Belasco and dedicated himself to learning every aspect of show business. In 1920, he was appointed Executive Director of the New York Drama League. Through his work with the League, he founded the Little Theater Tournament in New York City, a very successful annual international competition for amateur theater groups which fostered and supported the Little Theater Movement (a national movement designed to promote theatre arts in rural communities). In addition, he took over Mariaden in 1927, a summer school of drama and dance in Peterborough, New Hampshire and renamed it the Manhattan Theatre Camp. The “camp” involved a comprehensive eight-week program in theater for advanced students that covered everything from theater history to voice control, dramatic criticism to makeup design; the camp also included a professional stock company that toured New England. Walter Hartwig deeply believed in the valuable contribution theatre had on society and importance of education for those working in the theatre industry. Because of this passion, Walter dedicated the majority of his career to training theatre professionals and bringing theatre to communities outside of the city.

Ogunquit Playhouse 1934 in the garage in downtown OgunquitPHOTO RIGHT: The Ogunquit Playhouse's first home, downtown Ogunquit, 1934.

In the summer of 1933, the Depression finally put an end to the Little Theater Tournament. Hartwig, along with his wife Maude, relocated his Manhattan Repertory Theatre Company and its associated school for aspiring theater professionals to a converted car garage in the village of the renowned art colony of Ogunquit, Maine and created the Ogunquit Playhouse. Because of Hartwig’s connections and reputation in New York and Hollywood, he was able to bring celebrated stars of stage and screen to the small Maine town: Ethel Barrymore, Laurette Taylor, Edward Everett Horton are just three of these established stars. After four successful years, Hartwig took an unusual step in the history of summer theater by commissioning Alexander Wyckoff to design a state-of-the-art theater, one that rivaled many theatres in New York, to house the Ogunquit Playhouse. The theater was completed in time for the 1937 summer season and has since featured hundreds of stars on its stage.

Opening Night of the NEW Ogunquit Playhouse in 1937PHOTO LEFT: The Ogunquit Playhouse on Opening Night 1937. Photo courtesty of the New York Public Library

Walter Hartwig died in 1941 at the age of 61, but his legacy endures through generations of theatre professionals he influenced and most importantly through the theater he founded.

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