A director and theoretician of performance, Herbert Blau (3 May 1926 – 3 May 2013) was Byron W. and Alice L. Lockwood Professor in the Humanities at the University of Washington.
Early life and career:
Blau earned his B.Ch.E., Chemical Engineering from New York University (1947). Later, his M.A. in Drama (1949), and Ph.D.,English & American Literature (1954), both from Stanford University.
As co-founder (with Jules Irving) of The Actor's Workshop in San Francisco (1952–1965) and co-director of the Repertory Theater of Lincoln Center in New York City (1965–67), Blau introduced American audiences to avant-garde drama in some of the country's first productions of Samuel Beckett, Jean Genet, and Harold Pinter including the 1957 performance of Beckett's Waiting for Godot at California's San Quentin State Prison. This was the Godot that during the second red scare, after extra-legal State Department maneuvers denied travel permission for unstated political reasons to a member of the company, represented American theater at the 1958 Brussels World's Fair. In 1968, Blau signed the “Writers and Editors War Tax Protest” pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War.
In 1971, after three years as a dean and provost at the newly formed California Institute of the Arts, Blau formed the experimental group KRAKEN, where he continued presenting challenging productions for another decade. The two books that emerged from that work—Take Up the Bodies: Theater at the Vanishing Point (University of Illinois Press, 1982) and Blooded Thought: Occasions of Theater (Performing Arts Journal Publications, 1982)—received the George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism. In addition to the theater, Blau has taken up the subjects of literature, visual arts, fashion, postmodern culture and politics.
California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) conferred an honorary Doctor of Arts degree to Blau in May 2008.
Personal life:
Blau was born in Brooklyn. He married actress Beatrice Manley in 1949 and they divorced in 1980. They had three children: film professor Dick Blau, Tara Gwyneth Blau, and Dr. Jonathan Blau. Blau married a second time to Kathleen Woodward and they had one daughter, Jessamyn Blau.
Death:
Blau died on his 87th birthday May 3, 2013, in Seattle, Washington from a sarcomatoid carcinoma of the chest. He is survived by his wife, Kathleen Woodward; three children from his first marriage, Dick Blau, Tara Gwyneth Blau and Jonathan Blau; a daughter from his second marriage, Jessamyn Blau; seven grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

Source: wikipedia.org