Michael Blakemore Dies: Acclaimed ‘Noises Off’ Director Who Won Two Tony Awards In One Year Was 95

Michael Blakemore, the only director in Tony Awards history to win twice in one year, died Sunday, December 10 following a short illness. He was 95.

His death was announced by the London-based United Agents literary and talent agency.

An acclaimed director of both West End and Broadway productions – his formidable credits include A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (1968), Noises Off (1983), City of Angels (1989), Lettice & Lovage (1990) and The Life (1997), among many others — Blakemore secured his place in the Tony record books by becoming the first, and to date only, director to win twice in one year: In 2000, he won the award for Best Director of a Play for Copenhagen and Best Director of a Musical for the revival of Kiss Me Kate.

Born June 18, 1928, in Sydney, Australia, Blakemore made his directing debut in 1966 at the Glasgow Citizens’ Theatre, where he served as Artistic Director. His international breakthrough came in 1967 when the Citizens’ Theatre production of the Peter Nichols drama A Day in the Death of Joe Egg transferred to the West End. A year later the production moved to Broadway, earning Tony nominations for Blakemore, Nichols and stars Albert Finney and Zena Walker.

Among his other notable productions were the results of his long, 18-show collaboration with playwright Michael Frayn, most famously Noises Off, the popular farce that moved from the West End to Broadway in 1983 and ran for 553 performances. (Peter Bogdanovich directed a film version in 1992.) Blakemore and Frayn also collaborated on 2004’s Democracy.

The pair’s 2000 collaboration, Copenhagen, brought Blakemore his record-setting Tony evening: The production won three Tony awards (for Blakemore, Frayn and actress Blair Brown), and was one-half of Blakemore’s haul for the night. The musical revival of Kiss Me, Kate, starring Brian Stokes Mitchell and Marin Mazzie, won numerous Tonys that year, including one for director Blakemore.

In 2007, Blakemore directed Angela Lansbury in the Broadway production of Terrence McNally’s Deuce, and director and star would reunite two years later for the Broadway revival of Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit. Lansbury won her fifth Tony for Blithe Spirit, her last until a 2022 Lifetime Achievement Tony.

Blakemore’s film credits included Privates on Parade (1982) starring Denis Quilley and John Cleese, and Country Life (1994), an adaptation of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya starring Sam Neill.

Blakemore is survived by wife Tanya McCallin; children, Conrad, Beatie, and Clemmie; and three grandchildren.