Mike Ellis

Mike Ellis, a theatre producer who ran the Bucks County Playhouse and other regional theatres and staged plays that helped launch the careers of noted playwrights and actors, died Thursday, October 2nd at his home in Galloway Ridge in Pittsboro, NC. He was 90.
His death from natural causes was announced by his wife, Betty Lou Ellis. The couple recently celebrated their 21st wedding anniversary.
Mr. Ellis owned and was managing director of the Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope, PA from 1954 through 1964 and during this period staged 45 world or American premieres. Recognized there for his support of new playwrights, Mr. Ellis produced Neil Simon's first play in 1960, "Come Blow Your Horn."
While at the Playhouse, Mr. Ellis sought out talented actors regardless of whether they were established. He cast newcomers Robert Redford and Louise Fletcher as the young lovers in a 1963 show called "Nobody Loves Me" which on Broadway became "Barefoot in the Park." Others who performed there early in their careers during Mr. Ellis' tenure include Faye Emerson, Dick Van Dyke, Merv Griffin, and Constance Bennett.
With a commanding presence and deep voice, Mr. Ellis loved performing and always had an easy rapport with audiences. He gave a curtain speech before every show at the Playhouse and also appeared on the late night television news as a theatre commentator for two years on the NBC affiliate in Philadelphia.
Mr. Ellis began his career in the theatre as an actor then stage manager in New York City. He was then producer or co-producer of nine Broadway and three off-Broadway shows between 1951 and 1970. The most notable of these shows was a notorious flop, a musical revue starring Bette Davis. As chronicled in James Spada's biography of the actress, More Than A Woman, Mr. Ellis scored the biggest coup on Broadway in 1953 by convincing Davis to star in a singing role in "Two's Company." It featured Jerome Robbins as choreographer, Jules Dassin as director, lyrics by Ogden Nash and music by Vernon Duke. Not long into rehearsals, Davis proved to be "the most difficult of all actresses to work with," Mr. Ellis said, and the production closed after only 10 weeks.
Mr. Ellis was the first manager of the Coconut Grove Playhouse in Coral Gables, Florida which opened in January 1956. The opening show was the American premiere of Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot" starring Bert Lahr and Tom Ewell. Mr. Ellis returned to South Florida in 1971 where he lived for many years and managed the Parker Playhouse in Ft. Lauderdale from 1973-1976.
After retiring from the theatre, Mr. Ellis pursued another of his life's great passions: magic. Having always loved magic as a part of theatre, Mr. Ellis began studying magic with a continuing education class at age 60. He became actively involved with the community of fellow magicians and served as International President of the International Brotherhood of Magicians from 1990 to 1991.
Born in Philadelphia and raised in Wilkes Barre, PA, Mr. Ellis received a BA from Dartmouth College in 1939 and an MA from Drew University in 1973. He studied at the University of Grenoble in Grenoble, Switzerland and at the Sorbonne in Paris, France in 1937 and 1938 and received certificates from both institutions. Mr. Ellis served three years in the US Army from which he received an honorable discharge in 1946.
Mr. Ellis was married two times previously. His first marriage to the actress Neva Patterson ended in divorce and his second wife, Mary Elizabeth Walker, died in 1986. Mr. Ellis and his second wife had three children, two of whom, Sandra Woosnam and Thomas Ellis, predeceased him.
In addition to his wife, Betty Lou, Mr. Ellis is survived by his son, Gordon W. Ellis and his stepchildren, Merrill Rose and Robert L. Rose, Jr. He is also survived by his granddaughter, Robin Haff, her husband, Alex and their children, Cassandra and Sarah and by his grandson, Jeffrey Woosnam, his wife, Julie and thir children, Katie and Jeffrey, Jr.
A memorial service will be held 11:00 a.m. October 23rd in the auditorium of Galloway Ridge at Fearrington in Pittsboro, NC.