Cliff Goodwin, program director of New Dramatists into the 1970s, has passed away.For the New Dramatists, Goodwin produced workshop stagings of over 150 new American plays, including works by Paddy Chayevsky, William Gibson, John Guare, Lanford Wilson, Joe Masteroff, June Havoc, Megan Terry, and Maria Irene Fornes. Titles during his tenure ranged from The Lion in Winter to Cabaret.
Goodwin tirelessly developed an informal pool of young, unknown New York actors who donated their talents to these productions; among them: Al Pacino, Gloria Foster, Christopher Walken, Clarence Williams III, Robert De Niro, James Earl Jones, Jill Clayburgh, John Travolta, Linda Lavin, and Bette Midler.