JERRY LEITH
Portland--Gerald H. "Jerry" Leith, 51, formerly of St. Louis, Oregon, died Tuesday at his home.
A native of Gervais, he grew up in St. Louis, Oregon. In 1957 he graduated from Oregon City High School. He was assistant manager of the University Club Building in Portland for 30 years. He also was an actor and director at the Portland Civic Theatre and Lakewood Theatre, Lake Oswego, for many years. He enjoyed traveling and had traveled extensively in Europe.
He is survived by his parents, Harold and Evelyn Leith of Oregon City; and brother, Robert of Wilsonville.
[Statesman Journal (Salem, Oregon) - Thur, Apr 11, 1991 - Page 12]
Contributor: Diane Pusieski (49160544)
Photos LEFT are from a contact sheet for the production of After The Rain b Donnie - Jerry’s last directing gig. The show opened in April 1991 - Jerry did not see opening night. Click Here for triangle productions
This is from The Oregonian Obituary April 12, 1991: Gerald H. ``Jerry'' Leith, an assistant manager of the University Club who had been involved in the Portland-area theatrical scene for many years, died of pneumonia Tuesday in his Southeast Portland home. He was 52.
The graveside service will be at 11 a.m. Saturday in St. Louis Roman Catholic Cemetery near Gervais. A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. April 20 in the Lakewood Theatre Company in Lake Oswego.
He was born July 18, 1939, in Gervais but was raised in the St. Louis, Ore., area. He was a 1957 graduate of Oregon City High School and attended Portland State University. For the past 30 years, Mr. Leith had been in charge of the University Club building.
Mr. Leith had directed or acted in more than 200 plays in the Portland area since the 1950s. He appeared in or directed many productions at the Civic Theatre and the Lakewood Theatre Company and also had worked at Sylvia's Class Act Dinner Theatre, the Sumus Theatre, and the School of Opera and Related Arts.
Mr. Leith played the role of Henry Higgins in ``My Fair Lady'' at the Civic Theatre and the part of Andrew Wyke in a production of ``Sleuth'' at the Lakewood Theatre Company.
However, his great passion was directing, and he filled that role to much acclaim in scores of local plays. ``Last of the Red Hot Lovers,'' ``Cat and Canary'' and ``The Innocents'' were among the productions he directed at the Lakewood Theatre Company.
At the Civic Theatre, his credits as director included ``California Suite,'' ``Eqqus,'' ``Butley'' and ``Nightwatch.'' He also directed ``Death of a Salesman,'' ``Blithe Spirit'' and ``Harvey'' for the Mark Allen Players, as well as ``P.S. Your Cat Is Dead'' and ``Last Meeting of the Knights of the White Magnolia'' at the Pub Theatre; and ``Chapter Two,'' ``Deathtrap,'' ``Social Security'' and ``Sleuth'' at Sylvia's Class Act Dinner Theatre.
Mr. Leith is survived by his parents, Harold and Evelyn Leith of Oregon City; and his brother, Robert of Wilsonville.
Jerry began his career on stage in 1958 at the age of 19, when by the time in 1966 when he directed No Exit and Conquest of Everest for the Interplayers Theatre [a company he was the artistic director of, his bio cites “Jerry reenacts the role of Garcin for the fourth time, in No Exit which is name is associated more than any of the other 125 shows [seems he stretched the truth a bit!] he has directed and acted in, in the Portland vicinity. He last directed Phoenix Too Frequent, and he has appeared in Lesson, Chairs, Miss Julie and Gallows Humor where his notable roles were Sherlock Holmes in Crucifer of Blood, Dobbs in Child’s Play and Barney Cashman in Last of the Red Hot Lovers at Lake Oswego/Lakewood for the Performing Arts. At Portland Civic, he starred as Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady, dual leads in A Flea in her Ear, the son in I never Sang for my Father and the leading roles in Silent Night, Lonely Night, There’s a Girl in My Soup. For the Mark Allen Players he played Biff in Death of A Salesman as well as Felix Sherman in The Owl and the Pussycat. In 1988 he played Sidney Bruhl in Deathtrap at Sylvia’s Dinner Theatre. Right before his passing he starred and directed in Sleuth. He was tremendously popular at Sylvia’s directing and starring in Chapter Two, Social Security and Deathtrap. As a director he was responsible for such shows as Little Footsteps, Men’s Singles, Beyond Therapy and Whodunnit and The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940 at Lake Oswego/Lakewood for the Performing Arts; On Golden Pond, Everything in the Garden, The Bad Seed, A Romantic Comedy, The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window [which he also starred in], The Bat, Arsenic and Old Lace and Boys In The Band for Portland Civic Theatre. He was acting in Sleuth at Sylvia's and had just finished directing the inaugural show for triangle productions! When he was taken ill.
Bob Hicks, a review at the Oregonian recalled his time with Jerry: A roar resounded over the telephone: angry, hurt, indignant. Jerry Leith had just read the morning paper, and now he was hopping mad. I was the guy he called. It was -- what? -- eight or nine years ago. Jerry was starring as Sherlock Holmes in one of those moody stage mysteries. His performance, I thought, was interesting but affected -- and without thinking much about it, I wrote something catty. That's what Jerry Leith read over his morning coffee. And that's what set him off. There was pent-up grievance in his voice: The natural wariness and resentment of actor for critic. Foul, he cried. If you don't like what I did, say so. But don't make fun of me.
He was right. He knew it. I knew it. I told him so. After a while, a rant turned into a conversation -- and a conversation into a distant but genuine friendliness that would last until last week, when Jerry Leith died of pneumonia at age 52.
I reviewed Jerry many times after the Sherlock Holmes episode -- sometimes positively, sometimes not. We had many a street-corner conversation (for 30 years he worked at the University Club, just across the street from my office), and somehow that telephone confrontation made the talking easier: like a couple of boxers realizing, after a tough 10-round standoff, that they liked each other. At 2 p.m. Saturday, friends and admirers of Jerry will gather for a memorial service at Lakewood Theatre in Lake Oswego. ``I've asked everybody, if they have a Jerry story, to share it,'' says Lakewood producer Kay Vega. ``That's much better than a somber funeral.'' There should be lots of stories. Beginning in the 1950s, Jerry directed or acted in more than 200 Portland-area shows. No, he wasn't a ``professional'' -- he was an ardent advocate of community theater. But you could hardly call him a hobbyist. He loved theater with a passion, and spent the passionate part of his life in it. With his swept-back graying mane, lean frame and prominent nose there was something leonine about Leith: He had that slightly actorish, Barrymore air. And he seemed, somehow, sepia: In love with an earlier kind of theater that simply wanted to entertain, not instruct its audience or change their lives. Like Noel Coward, he had a talent to amuse. As director and actor Jerry did all kinds of theater: romances, comedies, even the occasional heavyweight: ``Equus'' and ``Death of a Salesman.'' But perhaps most vividly he was a connoisseur of the bloody and nefarious: murder most foul, with all its comically civilized twists and turns. ``Corpse!'' ``Deathtrap.'' ``Sleuth.'' You could say that, at his best, Jerry Leith went out there every night and knocked 'em dead. April 18, 1991 | Oregonian, The (Portland, OR) Author: BOB HICKS - of the Oregonian Staff | Page: B08 | Section: ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT
Below is the final show that Jerry acted in, SLUETH in 1990/91.
What is missing from above is that Jerry directed and was part of a theater at Caffe Espresso operated by Walter W Cole (aka Darcelle XV). He also directed shows for the Pub Theater.
Per Looking from My Mirror, Walter W Cole’s autobiography written by Donnie and Walter, “The Muses Theatre is to be housed in the basement of Walter Cole’s Café Espresso SW Clay Street and 2nd Ave. The company will stage No Exit…In the cast was three actors known to be some of the finest in Portland, all who had acted at Portland Civic Theatre – the largest community theatre in Portland; Pat Merrill, Jerry Leith and Neana Davidoff…And, it did. Then the next, in February 1964 was several one-act plays The Bald Soprano with Krapp’s Last Tape – Jerry Leith was not only acting but directing in this one…It seemed that the theatre had taken off – next was The Intruder, by March it was Tennessee Williams’ Take Me To The Rain, then Raisin In The Sun, and rounding out 1964 was Actor without Words. But not everything was rosy in the basement between Don and Jerry; Jerry stayed and Don left. The Muses Theatre lasted about a year, and the new name, per Jerry’s suggestion, was Caffé Espresso Players. Jerry became a successful producer for many reasons, he wasn’t afraid to go over to the Oregonian and chat with Ted Mehar or any other reviewer. He’d take over a handwritten press release and photos. The University Club at that time was right across from the Oregonian and Oregon Journal main building so his access was just a few steps away. Since there weren’t many theatre groups then, he was welcomed with open arms. Jerry was always prepared – always to the point of even typing out his director’s notes. Getting critics down to see the shows, was Jerry – he made that happen.
1965 started off with the play Miss Julie and the review stated, “(Jerry) Leith and players are to be thanked for returning to Portland, badly needed theatrical institution.” You see, with the infighting at The Muses Theatre between Don and Jerry – it seemed that having a theatre in the basement might end. It did, but that would take another year. Jerry staged The Lesson and The Chair, then The O’Neil Trilogy: The Rope, Ile (which is whale oil – who knew?), and Where the Cross is Made. Jerry said, “These three go together – they’re not very long and they involve a whaling schooner stuck in the ice, three specters from the dead, and a hangman’s noose.”
It wasn’t long though when Jerry was back to do another show Sleep with Prisoners. Early 1966 he wanted to restage The Bald Soprano and added two other one-acts Jack, or the Submission, and Sing To Me Through Open Windows.
You see, Jerry and I had a talk and he was moving out and he’d gone to the press with it, it was on page 26 of The Oregonian, but it was front page to me, “Jerry Leith, director of the Caffé Espresso Theater said the scheduled opening of Glass Menagerie Thursday has been postponed. The theatre, Leith said, is investigating the possibility of a new playhouse and hopes to announce a new opening date in the near future. Space limitations and problems with noise from the coffee shop led to a decision about relocation, he declared, insisting that his venture was on a firm financial foundation. The Espresso Theatre performed an important role in Portland’s bleak theatrical scene and served encouragement at this critical period.”
The reviewer didn’t realize that the words that deserve encouragement at this critical period also meant me. Losing the theatre meant that I was losing a built-in crowd each night of a show. Then Jerry told me that he had found a space, at 1424 SW 2nd – I was on 1440 it was a half-a-block away. “I don’t think you’ll lose too many patrons.”
Within two weeks Jerry was in the paper again, “An acting group originally founded by Don Zain as “The Muses Theatre” and continued by Jerry Leith as the “Caffé Espresso Players” has moved out of the coffee house to a new location, and as a result, acquired a new name. Now known as “The Interplayers” the group will open Tennessee Williams’ Glass Menagerie on March 4 at the new playhouse, 1424 SW 2nd Ave. The new theatre, according to Leith, will accommodate about 75 people in a raised seating arrangement. This will be a great improvement over the coffee house cellar which was full of blind spots in the rear seats. The coffee house theatre was also plagued by noise from the upstairs folk singers.”
Front row left to right: Ellen Preston, Claudette Webster, unknown, unknown Back row: unknown, unknown, Walter Cole/Darcelle, Jerry Leith at Darcelle XV Showplace. ABOVE RIGHT: Darcelle XV had a cable access show in the early 1980s. Photo shows unknown, Jerry, Darcelle, and Mark Allen.
BELOW LEFT: Photo of Jerry from 1963 BELOW RIGHT: Woodblock print by Jo Hasson dated 10/1/1987 entitled “The Actor-Director”
Letter dated June 16, 1995 from Donnie/Donald Horn about working with Jerry on his final directorial show, After The Rain.
