George C. White, Founder of Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, Dies at 89

Theater|George C. White, Founder of Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, Dies at 89

George C. White, whose Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, on an idyllic waterfront estate in Connecticut, gave generations of budding playwrights a chance to try out their latest works — many of which went on to success in New York and elsewhere — died at his home in Waterford, Conn., on Aug. 6, 10 days before his 90th birthday.

His children, Caleb White, George White and Juliette White Hyson, said the cause was congestive heart failure.

Since its first summer conference for playwrights was held in 1965, the O’Neill, named in honor of the playwright who spent much of his life in nearby New London, has helped incubate generations of new talent, including John Guare, August Wilson and Sam Shepard, all of whom made the trek to eastern Connecticut.

There, on a sprawling property that rolled down to Long Island Sound, they lived, ate and worked together, far from the pressure exerted by producers, critics, actors and everyone else who, for better or worse, shape the public presentation of a play.

Mr. White, the child of an artistic, semi-patrician Connecticut family who founded the center when he was in his 20s, called himself its “innkeeper.” He spent most of the year in New York, raising funds and running the admissions process, and migrated north in the summer to run the O’Neill’s day-to-day operations.

“There have been plays here over the years that I think are pretty awful,” he told The New York Times in 1982. “But I stand behind the selection of the playwright every single time. We really are looking for the playwright who shows promise, more than the play that can be a hit.”