Paul Libin, Twelve-Time Tony Recipient and Broadway Producer, Dies at 94

Paul Libin, the Theater Hall of Fame inductee and longtime Broadway producer who received 12 Tony Awards, including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, died on June 27 in New York City after a brief illness. Libin, who also served as Executive Vice President of Jujamcyn Theaters and President of Circle in the Square theater, was 94 years old. 

Born in Chicago in 1930, Libin officially embarked on a career in the theater as a gopher for scenic designer Jo Mielziner. Prior to that, during a two-year stint in the army, Libin launched a theater group, an experience which introduced him to directing, designing and producing.

He went on to work as an actor, stage manager and general manager, before moving into producing with the first revival of The Crucible, staged in an empty ballroom found by Libin himself.
 
In 1963, Libin joined Theodore Mann in the running of Circle in the Square Theatre. Under their leadership, the company mounted landmark productions including The Iceman Cometh, Uncle Vanya, Death of a Salesman and True West. Libin additionally served as President of Circle in the Square Theatre Schools. After Mann’s death in 2012, Libin continued on as President of Circle in the Square Theatre.  

In 1990, Libin joined Jujamcyn Theaters as Executive Vice President and Producing Director, a position he held until his retirement from that role in 2017. He also served as President of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, overseeing considerable expansion of the organization’s philanthropic reach. 
 
In addition to his Tony Awards, Libin was the recipient of the Eugene O’Neill Medallion, the Eugene O’Neill Foundation Tao House Award and the Lucile Lortel Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award. Beloved in the community, Libin made a point of attending every opening night he could. “Sometimes I despair of seeing people in tattered clothes,” he told The New York Times, “but what the hell, they’re there.”

"Paul was one of those magnificent Jewish-Americans who came home from defeating fascism and helped build an American theatrical culture, ambitious and democratic, popular and powerful, suitable for a great Republic," said Oskar Eustis, artistic director of the Public Theater, on social media. "We will miss him, but oh, how grateful we should be that we had him. We will honor him best by remembering him and keeping his spirit, his values, and his love of theater alive.”
 
Libin is survived by his wife of 70 years, Florence Rowe Libin, his three children, Charles Libin and his wife Mindy Goldstein, Claire Libin, and Andrea Libin and her husband John High, and his grandchildren Travis Libin, Milah Libin, and Sasha High. A celebration of his life will be announced at a later time. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS or the Entertainment Community Fund.