Malina, Judith, 1926-....

Judith Malina, director, producer, poet, and actress, was born in Kiel, Germany and emigrated to New York before the War.

In 1948 she was married to the painter Julian Beck, and together they founded The Living Theatre. The Living Theatre had its inaugural season in 1951 at the Cherry Lane Theatre and later moved to a loft on 100th Street. The company, which was dedicated to a non-commercial theater that would be a part of the community and perform the works of contemporary artists, was known in this early period for its productions of works by Pirandello, Brecht, Stein, William Carlos Williams, Paul Goodman, Kenneth Rexroth and others. In 1959, after several years of preparation, The Living Theatre moved to a theater on 14th Street, where they performed until 1963 when failure to pay taxes forced the closure of the theater and the company's subsequent move to Europe.

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