William Dodds, a veteran stage manager with dozens of Broadway credits, died Nov. 1 in his sleep. He was 91.
From 1957-1991, Mr. Dodds—who was known as Bill to all who knew him—stage-managed 39 Broadway shows, including such notable productions as Dylan, Little Me, The Great White Hope and Dracula.
Born May 24, 1922, Mr. Dodds was a founding member of the Stage Managers’ Association and was part of the group that first saw stage managers join Actors’ Equity.
His first Broadway show was the 1957 Ronald Alexander comedy Holiday for Lovers. From then on, he worked on a mix of plays, musicals and revivals. Other credits included Miss Lonelyhearts, Look After Lulu, Five Finger Exercise, Write Me a Murder, Ben Franklin in Paris, Pickwick, Happily Ever After, The Star-Spangled Girl, Henry, Sweet Henry, Here's Where I Belong, The Engagement Baby, Dance of Death, Night Watch, Via Galactica, Smith, Full Circle, Saturday Sunday Monday, A Musical Jubilee, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, A Texas Trilogy, Caesar and Cleopatra, Carmelina, Night and Day, Mass Appeal, On Your Toes, Leader of the Pack, The Petition, Into the Light and Orpheus Descending.
He took over stage managing duties on two hits, The Elephant Man and Six Degrees of Separation. His last Broadway credit was The Speed of Darkness in 1991.
In accordance with his wishes, there will be no memorial or funeral service. Instead, he asked that donations be made in his memory to The Actor’s Fund.