Albert McCleery

Albert McCleery (December 30, 1911 – May 13, 1972) was an American theatre practitioner, television producer, and director whose Broadway credits include a 1934 appearance in Romeo and Juliet. Born the son of Mr. and Mrs. J. C. McCleery, he grew up largely in Fort Worth, Texas, where he attended R. L. Paschal High School. During his senior year there, he was recognized as the best actor in a one-act play competition held in Austin, Texas, and he helped establish a dramatic club at the school. He subsequently studied at Northwestern University and the Pasadena Community Playhouse.

At Northwestern, McCleery became involved in the creation of the Georgian Little Theatre, which he described as the first arena theatre in the midwestern United States. His commitment to that project was so consuming that he attributed his departure from the School of Speech and Theatre Arts to having no time to attend to academic coursework. His early career was rooted in American community theatre, and he participated in founding experimental theatre companies across the country. In 1939, Pittman Publishing Company published Curtains Going Up, a book he co-authored with Carl Glick examining the community theatre movement. He also contributed a column titled "West of Broadway" to Stage Magazine, and when that publication folded, he launched his own periodical, American Theater, in 1940, incorporating the column as one of its features. That same year, he married Sannye Sue Bailey.

McCleery left Columbia Studios in September 1942 to enter the U.S. Army as a second lieutenant. In March 1945 he transferred from the Signal Corps to serve as a paratrooper, commanding a photographic crew in the 101st Airborne Division during the invasion of Germany. He was discharged in February 1946 holding the rank of lieutenant colonel, and his military service earned him the Bronze Star, the Silver Star, and three campaign stars.

Following his return, McCleery led the arena theatre program at Fordham University before making his television debut as a director with NBC Repertory Theatre. He subsequently directed The Philco Television Playhouse, though an error-filled episode resulted in his reassignment in 1949 to directing a puppet program. He recovered his standing in the medium by developing a distinctive production philosophy centered on the elimination of elaborate scenery in favor of close-up photography and minimal backgrounds, arguing that resources saved on sets could be redirected toward writers and other creative talent.

That philosophy found its fullest early expression in Cameo Theatre, which McCleery created for television in 1950. The weekly live series ran until 1955 and presented dramas performed against pure black backgrounds, allowing cameras positioned in the surrounding darkness to capture shots from any angle. His work on Cameo Theatre led directly to his role with NBC's Matinee Theatre beginning in 1955. That program broadcast five different live stage productions per week, airing around midday and serving in part as a vehicle to promote color television. McCleery employed five directors and five art directors to sustain the production schedule, and his signature approach of furnishing scenes with a minimum of props rather than full sets remained central to the series.

McCleery also served as producer and director of the Hallmark Hall of Fame. In 1953 he directed a two-hour television production of Hamlet for that program, starring Maurice Evans. The production marked the first time Hamlet had been presented on television, stood as the longest drama broadcast on the medium up to that point, and represented Evans's sole television portrayal of the role, despite his having performed it in multiple Broadway productions. McCleery additionally produced The Further Adventures of Ellery Queen on NBC beginning in 1958, and by 1960 he had moved to CBS as producer of The CBS TV Workshop.

In July 1966, McCleery was appointed director and executive producer of the Pasadena Playhouse, an institution whose board of directors he had served on for the preceding thirteen years. His career spanned stage, print, military service, and television, with his work in the latter medium earning him recognition as an innovative contributor to some of television's most esteemed theatrical productions.