Theater Kids

Under the tutelage of Helen Murphy, Greenwich House’s Theater program takes off and attracts local children including  Jason Robards, seen standing in the photo. One of her students, Kirk Douglas, expanded the program in the 1940s to include teens and young adults before he began his professional acting career, most notably in the film Spartacus. He received three Academy Award nominations, an Honorary Oscar, and a Golden Globe award for Best Actor for the film Lust for Life. Jason Robards starred on screen on stage in achieved the Triple Crown of Acting having earned competitive wins for two Academy Awards (for All the President’s Men, and Julia), a Tony Award, and an Emmy Award (Inherit the Wind, in which he co-starred with Kirk Douglas). He was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1979, earned the National Medal of Arts in 1997, and the Kennedy Center Honors in 1999.