Robert Beecher

Robert Beecher was an actor, director, and producer whose career was rooted in the Los Angeles stage. Born in Hollywood in 1924, he grew up in the Baldwin Hills neighborhood and, as a boy, put on shows for other children and charged a penny for admission. He attended Dorsey High School, then served in World War II as a weatherman with the 10th Weather Squadron, 14th Air Force, in Kunming, China, and was later given the job of organizing mail for units in that region. Back in Los Angeles, he trained at the Pasadena Playhouse and at a theater arts school, graduating in 1949. He was one of the founders of the Orchard Gables Repertory Theatre Company at Fountain and Wilcox in Hollywood, and in January 1956 he opened the Horseshoe Stage Theatre on Melrose Avenue, where he produced, directed, and appeared in plays for many years. He also taught students. He died in 2016.