Vincent J. Donehue

Vincent Julian Donehue (September 22, 1915 – January 17, 1966) was an American theater, film, and television director born in Whitehall, New York. He attended the Christian Brothers Academy and the New York State Teachers' College, now known as the University at Albany, both located in Albany, New York. Before establishing his directing career, Donehue served five years in the Army Air Force.

His earliest stage work placed him in front of the footlights rather than behind them. He appeared as Cinna the Poet in the Mercury Theatre's 1938 touring production of Caesar, and his Broadway performing credits span the years 1939 to 1941, encompassing My Fair Ladies, The Old Foolishness, Christmas Eve, and Jeremiah.

Donehue subsequently built a substantial career as a Broadway director. His 1953 production of The Trip to Bountiful featured Lillian Gish, Jo Van Fleet, and Eva Marie Saint, followed the next year by The Traveling Lady with Kim Stanley. In 1955 he directed Tennessee Williams' 27 Wagons Full of Cotton with Maureen Stapleton. His staging of Sunrise at Campobello in 1958 earned him the Tony Award for Best Direction. The following year he directed The Sound of Music, the Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II musical starring Mary Martin, which brought him an additional Tony nomination. His later Broadway work included Daughter of Silence (1961), Lord Pengo (1962) with Charles Boyer and Agnes Moorehead, Jennie (1963) again with Mary Martin, and Catch Me if You Can.

Donehue's work extended into film and television. He directed the 1958 film Lonelyhearts, starring Montgomery Clift, Robert Ryan, and Myrna Loy, and adapted Sunrise at Campobello for the screen in 1960, a production that earned Greer Garson the Golden Globe for Best Actress, received multiple Academy Award nominations, and was entered into the 2nd Moscow International Film Festival. He also directed television plays throughout the 1950s and restaged the 1954 Broadway production of Peter Pan, starring Mary Martin, for a 1960 television broadcast, the third telecast of that stage musical.

Donehue died in New York on January 17, 1966, of Hodgkin's disease, at the age of 50. His correspondence and ephemera from 1930 to 1973 are held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.