Robert Ellenstein

Robert Ellenstein graduated with honors from the University of Iowa, was a founding member of Theatre West in Hollywood, was co-founder and artistic director of the Los Angeles Repertory Company, was the first artistic director of the Company of Angels, and served as a member of the Army Air Corps during World War II, earning a Purple Heart. These achievements alone are enough to fill an average lifetime, but Ellenstein was much greater than average. As an actor, he performed in hundreds of stage productions, appeared on television over 200 times over five decades (including performances during the golden age of live TV), and took on a handful of feature film roles for good measure. Though he directed only one project for television and none for film, he was a well respected theater director, most notably for his staging of a "Hamlet" that featured just six actors and not a single prop.