Alan Mandell, a foundational fixture of the Los Angeles underground theatre scene and a frequent collaborator with avant-garde luminaries, died last month at the age of 98, prompting an extensive outpouring of grief and remembrance from peers across the performing arts, AMERICAN THEATRE reported.
- Playwright Michael Sargent published a retrospective essay in AMERICAN THEATRE detailing his decades-long creative partnership and friendship with late actor and director Alan Mandell.
- Mandell spent his final years starring in a film adaptation of Sargent’s play I Hate!, coming out of retirement for the project alongside co-stars Rick Cosnett and John Cameron Mitchell.
- The actor was widely celebrated in Southern California for his definitive interpretations of Samuel Beckett works, including landmark staging of Waiting for Godot and Endgame.
In a column for AMERICAN THEATRE, playwright Michael Sargent argues that Mandell was not only a great artist but a remarkably generous friend to the hothouse ecosystem of Los Angeles independent theatre. Sargent recalls first encountering Mandell in 1986 playing an embittered landlord in John Steppling’s The Dream Coast at Taper, Too.
Over the following decades, Mandell’s distinct diction and theatrical fearlessness anchored productions across the city, from Charles Marowitz’s boxing-ring staging of Hamlet at the Los Angeles Actors’ Theatre to Reza Abdoh’s sprawling works at the Los Angeles Theatre Center.
Sargent notes that Mandell readily transitioned from prestigious regional stages to tiny 99-seat venues, appearing without hesitation in readings and workshop productions of his own scripts. Beyond performing, Mandell actively shaped Sargent’s artistic circle by encouraging him to broaden his casting horizons and introduce new collaborators to his work. Their creative alliance endured for decades, spanning numerous black-box productions across Santa Monica Boulevard and Cahuenga Avenue.
Mandell built a profound reputation as a master interpreter of Samuel Beckett, directing an acclaimed staging of Happy Days starring Barbara Bain and delivering unforgettable performances in Waiting for Godot at the Mark Taper Forum and Endgame at the Kirk Douglas Theatre.
Even as he formally stepped away from the stage, Mandell maintained a sharp critical eye, privately critiquing contemporary revivals of Beckett and continuing to mentor younger generations of theatre artists.
When Sargent and directing partner David Schweizer decided to film an adaptation of Sargent’s signature play I Hate! during the pandemic, Mandell agreed to emerge from retirement to star in the project. The production utilized Mandell’s own home as a shooting location, surrounded by decades of theatrical memorabilia. Though Schweizer passed away before final completion, Sargent finished the film, ensuring that Mandell’s final cinematic performance was preserved on screen.
