D. Neumann; a Mainstay of Famed Theater

Dorothy Neumann, veteran character actress and one of four principals in Los Angeles’ storied Turnabout Theater, has died at the age of 80.

Miss Neumann died Friday in Santa Monica Hospital of pulmonary complications, her friend, Robert Hoover, said Sunday.

The unusual theater, subject of a 1993 documentary titled “Turnabout,” flourished on La Cienega Boulevard from 1941 to 1956. Miss Neumann performed in and directed revues for the three men who founded Turnabout--puppeteer Harry Burnett, who died last year, business manager Roddy Brandon, who died in 1985, and composer and lyricist Forman Brown.

The theater got its name because it had stages at both ends of the auditorium filled with reversible old streetcar seats. First a puppet show was presented on one stage, and then the audience was ordered to “turn about” for a live musical revue on the other stage. Miss Neumann was a mainstay of the revue, often headlined by Elsa Lanchester.

Miss Neumann, who appeared in some 60 films, studied theater arts at Carnegie Institute and earned a master’s degree at Yale’s highly respected drama school.

As versatile as her Turnabout counterparts, she designed costumes, painted scenery, built marionettes, wrote plays, and produced and acted in them. She spent several summers teaching in a theater program in Switzerland.

She is survived by a niece, Jacqueline Lacey, of Encinitas, and two great-nephews.