(Bruce Weber’s article appeared in the New York Times, 9/29.)
Sheldon Patinkin, a writer, director and teacher who helped shape the theatrical life of Chicago over half a century, died there on Sept. 21. He was 79.
He had suffered a heart attack three days earlier, his brother, Norman, said in confirming the death.
The roots of Chicago’s substantial reputation as a theater town were planted in the early 1950s at the University of Chicago in Hyde Park. There, Mr. Patinkin, still in his teens, along with other aspiring artists, formed a company called the Playwrights Theater Club, a forerunner of the celebrated comedy troupe the Second City.