Tony Tanner obit

Tony Tanner, ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’ Director, Dies at 88

Tony Tanner, an actor, director and choreographer who received a pair of Tony nominations for his work on the original Broadway production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, has died. He was 88.

 He was not on the list.

Tony Tanner, an actor, director and choreographer who received a pair of Tony nominations for his work on the original 1982 Broadway production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, has died. He was 88.

Tanner died Sept. 8 of cancer at his home in Los Angeles, his husband, Henry Selvitelle, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Tanner also directed a 1981 adaptation of Shelagh Delaney’s A Taste of Honey starring Amanda Plummer, Valerie French and Keith Reddin that was nominated for the Tony for best revival. He directed and choreographed Something’s Afoot in 1976 and Prince of Central Park, starring Jo Ann Worley, in 1989 for Broadway as well.

Born in England, Tanner appeared on stage opposite Harold Pinter in The Birthday Party, then starred as Littlechap on the West End in Stop the World — I Want to Get Off and in the 1966 Warner Bros. adaptation.

He had come to the U.S. to replace Tommy Steele as the lead in the original 1965-66 Broadway production of Half a Sixpence, then toured with the musical comedy. He later appeared on the Great White Way in No Sex Please, We’re British and Sherlock Holmes.

Tanner returned to the U.K. in 2010 to portray Ballets Russes founder Sergei Diaghilev in the one-man show Charlatan.

On television, he starred as Puck alongside Benny Hill in an ITV production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 1964 and as Burgess Meredith/Penguin in the 2003 CBS telefilm Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt.

 

He and Selvitelle were together for about 50 years

Actor

Blessing House (2008)

Blessing House

Video

2008

 

Exorcism (2003)

Exorcism

2.2

Dr. Lewis

2003

 

Adam West and Burt Ward in Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt (2003)

Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt

6.5

TV Movie

Burgess Meredith

Penguin

2003

 

Cary Elwes in Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993)

Robin Hood: Men in Tights

6.7

Villager

1993

 

Kristen Alderson, Kassie Wesley DePaiva, Erika Slezak, Trevor St. John, and John-Paul Lavoisier in One Life to Live (1968)

One Life to Live

6.9

TV Series

Dr. Ripley

1987

1 episode

 

Sean Connery, Michael Caine, Paul Scofield, and Anna Calder-Marshall in ITV Saturday Night Theatre (1969)

ITV Saturday Night Theatre

6.2

TV Series

Mr. Ford

1969

1 episode

 

Turn-Up for Tony

TV Movie

Tony

1968

 

The Kraft Music Hall (1967)

The Kraft Music Hall

6.4

TV Series

Bob Cratchit

1967

1 episode

 

The Sandwich Man (1966)

The Sandwich Man

5.5

Ferry Man

1966

 

Stop the World: I Want to Get Off (1966)

Stop the World: I Want to Get Off

5.2

Little Chap

1966

 

Call It What You Like

TV Series

Various Roles

1965

6 episodes

 

The Pleasure Girls (1965)

The Pleasure Girls

5.8

Paddy

1965

 

A Home of Your Own (1964)

A Home of Your Own

6.7

Workman with radio

1964

 

The Human Jungle (1963)

The Human Jungle

7.9

TV Series

Stan

1964

1 episode

 

ITV Play of the Week (1955)

ITV Play of the Week

6.9

TV Series

Puck

Uncle Selwyn

Leffler

1958–1964

3 episodes

 

Bernard Goldman, Jeanne Moody, Joan Sims, Graham Stark, Tony Tanner, and Alan Baulch in Strictly for the Birds (1964)

Strictly for the Birds

4.6

Terry Blessing

1964

 

John Gregson in First Night (1963)

First Night

8.5

TV Series

Charlie

1963

1 episode

 

Moonstrike (1963)

Moonstrike

8.5

TV Series

Louis Francois de Mansert

1963

1 episode

 

ITV Television Playhouse (1955)

ITV Television Playhouse

7.8

TV Series

McWhirter

1963

1 episode

 

A Book with Chapters in It

TV Movie

Egbert

1961

 

No Hiding Place (1959)

No Hiding Place

7.7

TV Series

McCabe

1960

1 episode

 

Emergency-Ward 10 (1957)

Emergency-Ward 10

6.2

TV Series

Jimmy Conners

1960

1 episode

 

A Picture of Autumn

TV Movie

John

1957

 

I Capture the Castle

TV Movie

Stephen Colly

1954

 

Director

Something's Afoot (1982)

Something's Afoot

8.8

TV Movie

Director

1982

 

Writer

Turn-Up for Tony

TV Movie

story

1968