Joshua Logan Biography

Fast Facts

• Recipient, along with Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, of the 1950 Pulitzer Prize for "South Pacific"
• Passed away at age 79 due to complications from progressive suprenuclear palsy, a degenerative brain disease
• Served in the U․S․ Army during WWII, returning to Broadway as soon as he was discharged
• Quote: "When people come up and tell me the direction was wonderful, then I know I failed․ The audience should be entranced, hypnotized, transported like children listening to a fairy tale․"
• Began his career as a Broadway actor in 1932 before taking a job as a stage manager in London, eventually acting as director for numerous productions there before returning to Hollywood
• Would only begin a career in Hollywood after friend and peer John Ford would fall too ill to complete work on 1955's "Mister Roberts", a title that would help land him other jobs in California despite his desire to return to Broadway
• After being offered a chance to direct 1964's "My Fair Lady", the offer was revoked after he suggested shooting some scenes on location in London
• Co-founded Princeton University's Players theater group in the early 1930s