Introduction
Josephine R. "Josie" Abady (August 21, 1949 in Richmond, Virginia – May 25, 2002 in New York City) was an American artistic, stage and film director/producer.
Education
Abady graduated from Syracuse University and earned her MFA from Florida State University.
Theatrical career
Abady taught theater at Bennington College and was head of the theater program at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts before she began her professional career as the artistic director of the Berkshire Theater Festival (in Stockbridge, Massachusetts). She opened the season at the Cleveland Play House with a revival of Born Yesterday, starring Ed Asner and Madeline Kahn, a production that moved to Broadway.
Film & TV work
Abady also did film & TV work, including, with the assistance provided by an American Film Institute grant, To Catch a Tiger, a short film inspired by the life of Nina Friedman Abady, Abady's own mother.
She later co-produced a TV remake of A Raisin in the Sun, which starred Esther Rolle and Danny Glover.
Last years
Despite her advanced breast cancer, she was active during the last years of her life, until her death, at her home in Manhattan, aged 52. She was survived by her husband, sister, and brother.
Affiliations
- Member, League of Professional Theatre Women
- League of Professional Theatre Women: The Josephine Abady Award Retrieved January 25, 2013