Stanley Prager: Movies & Box Office

Stanley Prager (January 8, 1917 – January 18, 1972) was an American actor, theatre director, and television producer whose career spanned the golden age of Broadway, the turbulence of the Hollywood blacklist, and the rise of early TV sitcoms. Born in New York City and raised in a culturally vibrant household, he briefly attended Johns Hopkins University before abandoning academia for summer stock and the Broadway stage, where his early credits included the innovative plays The Skin of Our Teeth and The Eve of St. Mark. By the mid‑1940s he transitioned to film, appearing in the cinematic version of Eve of St. Mark and becoming a reliable presence in B‑movies while also securing roles in acclaimed pictures such as A Bell for Adano, Gun Crazy, In the Meantime, Darling, and A Foreign Affair. His self‑deprecating humor shone in a 1969 interview when he quipped that he took “all the parts that Phil Silvers wouldn’t play,” a testament to his versatility and work ethic. The early 1950s brought a dark chapter when Prager was summoned before the House Un‑American Activities Committee and subsequently blacklisted after former screenwriter Bart Lytton identified him as a Communist Party attendee. Unwavering, Prager and fellow artists refused to cooperate with the Committee, resulting in a 1956 contempt citation alongside luminaries such as Arthur Miller and Sarah Cunningham. Despite industry pressure, director George Abbott championed him, securing his continued employment on Broadway productions like Two on the Aisle, Room Service, and The Pajama Game. By the 1960s Prager reinvented himself as a respected director, helming Neil Simon’s Come Blow Your Horn and other stage hits including Bravo Giovanni and Don’t Drink the Water. His television work encompassed episodes of Car 54, Where Are You? and The Patty Duke Show, while overseas he directed films such as Madigan’s Millions—the first starring Dustin Hoffman—and Bang Bang Kid. In 1956 he married actress Georgann Johnson; the couple raised four daughters, Carol, Ann, Sally, and Molly, until his untimely death in Los Angeles while on business.