Kalita Humphreys

A native of Galveston, Texas,[3] Humphreys was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert W. Humphreys.[4] She attended Ball High School and graduated from Vassar College, where she portrayed Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra.[5][6]

Humphreys was a prominent actress in Galveston Little Theater productions,[4] and acted in the Dallas Little Theatre.[6]

Humphreys's first professional summer stock theater experience came at the Westchester Playhouse in New York, where she worked with Henry Fonda, Myron McCormick, Mildred Natwick, and Margaret Sullavan, among others.[6] She was active in productions of the Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia,[3] having leading roles with co-stars including Gregory Peck and Charles Korvin. Other venues in which she performed included Bridgehampton Theatre, Old Town Theatre, and Sayville Playhouse.[6]

Humphreys's Broadway debut had her playing a Swedish girl in Everywhere I Roam (1938). She also performed in Let's Face It! (1941) on Broadway.[7] Shortly before her death she appeared in a 10-week run of Affairs of State in the Alley Theatre in Houston.[8]

In other professional activities, Humphreys served as director of the Federal Theatre Project in Dallas[6] and was a member of the Barter Theatre's board of directors.[2] She also was a volunteer speaker for the American National Theater and Academy, with a focus on Texas theaters[6] and both directed and acted with the Valley Players, a little theatre group in Liberty, Texas.[9]

Humphreys was married to Joe K. Burson. They lived in Liberty, Texas,[2] where he managed the estate that she inherited from her father.[10]

On September 19, 1954, Humphreys and Burson were killed when the small plane in which they were riding crashed at the base of Pinnacle Mountain, near Lenhartsville, Pennsylvania. She was 38.[2] They were on their way to a month's vacation in New York.[10]

In 1959, Humphreys's mother donated $100,000 to the building fund of the Dallas Theater Center. In return, a new Frank Lloyd Wright-designed theater unit was named the Kalita Humphreys Theater.[11] By July 1963, the theater had a company of 14 actors and presented nearly 250 performances annually.[12]