Alexander Cohen; Broadway Producer

Alexander Cohen, a Broadway producer for nearly 60 years and the man who brought the Tony Awards to national television, died Saturday of complications from emphysema. He was 79.

A colorful, prolific showman who was never shy about voicing his opinions, Cohen was a product of the golden age of Broadway when one man could put on a play or musical.

“Angel Street,” Cohen’s first production, was one of his biggest hits, opening in 1941 and running 1,295 performances. Patrick Hamilton’s Victorian thriller, which starred Vincent Price, was later made into the movie “Gaslight,” with Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman.

His last show, “Waiting in the Wings,” a Noel Coward comedy starring Lauren Bacall and Rosemary Harris, is playing at Broadway’s Eugene O’Neill Theater.

In between, Cohen produced scores of shows, including the legendary 1964 production of “Hamlet,” which starred Richard Burton and was directed by John Gielgud.

Among his biggest successes were a series of small, intimate entertainments, usually featuring one or two performers. They included Michael Flanders and Donald Swann in “At the Drop of a Hat,” “An Evening With Mike Nichols and Elaine May,” “Beyond the Fringe,” “Good Evening” featuring Peter Cook and Dudley Moore and revues starring Yves Montand, Maurice Chevalier and Marlene Dietrich.

Yet it was as executive producer of the Tony Awards that Cohen made his biggest mark in the theater, opening Broadway up to a national audience. For 20 years, Cohen and his wife, writer Hildy Parks, produced the show.

In addition to his wife, Cohen is survived by a daughter, Barbara Hoffmann, and two sons, Christopher and Gerry.