H. William Fitelson

H. William Fitelson (January 21, 1905[1] – May 19, 1994[2]) was an American entertainment lawyer with Fitelson & Mayers, managing director of the Theatre Guild,[3] and a founding board member of the Actors Studio.[2] He also served on the board of the American Civil Liberties Union.[4]

Early life and education

Fitelson was born in New York, NY, on January 21, 1905.[1] He attended public schools. He graduated from New York Law School in 1927[2] and passed the bar.

Career

He took up the practice of entertainment industry law in New York City. His clients worked in theater and film, including Broadway personalities and investors.[2] Clients included Joshua Logan and Elia Kazan,[5] and Gypsy Rose Lee and Ethel Merman.[6] Author James Baldwin called him "a feisty Napoleon of the theater."[3]

"While practicing law in the firm of Fitelson and Mayers, Fitelson advocated for many causes."[6] He served as general counsel and managing director of radio and television programming for the Theatre Guild.[2][7] He was a member of the original board of directors of the Actors Studio upon its formation in 1948.[2] He was a sponsor of the National Lawyers Guild.[8]

He also served on the board of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). In September 1946, he published an article, "The Murders in Monroe," in the September 1946 issue of The New Republic. He was responding to the murders in July of four young African Americans in the Moore's Ford lynchings in Georgia, which had outraged people across the United States. Fitelson raised numerous questions intended to identify issues in the case and challenge statements that had already been made by some figures. The ACLU was among civil rights organizations urging President Harry Truman to take action in the case.[9]

From the 1940s through the 1960s, Fitelson was involved in the production of musicals and dramas, as well as motion pictures.

He retired from Fitelson & Mayers (also known as Fitelson, Mayers & London) in the mid-1980s.[2]

Personal life

Fitelson married Anita. They had two daughters, Margaret and Robin, and a son, David Fitelson. He became a doctor.[2]

Fitelson had a wide circle of acquaintances, and corresponded with New York intellectuals such as philosopher Sidney Hook[10] and art historian Meyer Schapiro.[11]

He died at home in New York City at age 89 of obstructive cardiopulmonary disease.[2]

Bibliography
  • Theatre Guild on the Air, edited by H. William Fitelson (1947)[12]
  • H. William Fitelson Letter to Kurt Weill, 1949, July 22 (1949)[13]

References
  1. Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television. Gale. 1988. p. 100. ISBN 9780810320680. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  2. "H. W. Fitelson, 89, Broadway Lawyer". New York Times. 20 May 1994. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  3. Baldwin, James; Stein, Sol (2005). "Native Sons". One World Books. p. 18. ISBN 9780307538826. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  4. "ACLU Letter to U.S. Senator Herbert H. Lehman re Alaska's Statehood" (PDF). Columbia University. 9 June 1950. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  5. Kazan, Elia (1988). Elia Kazan: A Life. Knopf. ISBN 9780307959348. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  6. Franke, Noralee (2009). Stripping Gypsy: The Life of Gypsy Rose Lee. Oxford University Press. p. 131. ISBN 9780199831012. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  7. Barnouw, Erik (1996). Media Marathon: A Twentieth-century Memoir. Duke University. p. 90. ISBN 0822317281. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  8. "The National Lawyers Guild" (PDF). On Target, publication of The Minutemen (via Hood College). 1 July 1964. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  9. Childers, Jay P. (Winter 2016). "Transforming Violence into a Focusing Event: A Reception Study of the 1946 Georgia Lynching". Rhetoric and Public Affairs. 19 (4): 571–600. doi:10.14321/rhetpublaffa.19.4.0571. JSTOR 10.14321/rhetpublaffa.19.4.0571. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  10. "Sidney Hook Papers - Subject File, 1904-1990". Stanford University. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  11. "uncatalogued letter dated 20 February 1973, Box 6, Meyer Schapiro Collection, 1919–2006". Columbia University. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  12. "Theatre Guild on the Air". Library of Congress.
  13. "H. William Fitelson letter to Kurt Weill, 1949, July 22". Library of Congress. 22 July 1949.
  • Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television. Gale. 1988.
  • "H. W. Fitelson, 89, Broadway Lawyer". New York Times. 20 May 1994.
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