Harold R. Scott Jr., 70; 1st Black Artistic Director of a Regional Theater

Harold R. Scott Jr., an award-winning stage director who was the first African American to be named artistic director of a regional American theater, has died. He was 70.

Scott died July 16 at his home in Newark, N.J., according to a spokeswoman for Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts, where Scott had headed the directing program for nearly two decades. The cause of death was unavailable.

Scott’s Broadway directing credits include “The Mighty Gents,” starring Morgan Freeman; “Suddenly Last Summer” with Elizabeth Ashley; “Paul Robeson” starring Avery Brooks; and “A Celebration of Lorraine Hansberry” with Sidney Poitier and Phylicia Rashad.

In 1973, Scott was named artistic director of the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park.

Cincinnati Playhouse Producing Artistic Director Ed Stern remembered Scott as a meticulous director whose careful approach helped actors create performances that felt fresh onstage.

“That was Hal’s unique ability -- to make things appear spontaneous that had been worked out beautifully,” Stern said. “He loved actors and trusted them, and they believed in the moment.”

Scott was born in Morristown, N.J., and educated at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire and Harvard University. He began his career as an actor, studying under director Elia Kazan at the Lincoln Center Repertory Theatre in New York City. He won an Obie Award for his 1958 performance in Jean Genet’s “Deathwatch” and created roles in the premieres of Edward Albee’s “The Death of Bessie Smith” and Arthur Miller’s “After the Fall.”

“The Mighty Gents,” in 1978, marked Scott’s Broadway debut as a director.

In February, he directed his final play -- an examination of black-on-black prejudice titled “Yellowman” -- at the Cincinnati Playhouse.

Scott’s 50-year career featured many African American productions, including an Afrocentric version of “Othello” at the Rutgers Theater Company. But Stern said Scott relished directing numerous works at regional theaters that did not have black themes.

“His love of dramatic literature was wider than one racial issue,” Stern said.