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Robert James Glenn, born September 13, 1925, is an American theatrical producer, director, actor, and founder of the Shakespeare Festival of Dallas (1972).

Early Life

Glenn was born Robert James Goethals in Chicago, the son of Walter Goethals and Rose (Soska) Goethals. He attended Lane Tech High School in Chicago, graduating at age 16, just before Pearl Harbor. Soon after his 18th birthday, Bob began training as a flight officer (bombardier) in the U.S. Army Air Corp. When the war ended, he entered Columbia College, in Chicago, on the GI bill. Playing the leading man in “Toby Shows” in the mid-west, he began using the stage name of Bob Glenn.

Career

Glenn re-located to Dallas, Texas in 1948 and directed in several Dallas theaters before spending time in New York, where he worked for the American National Theater and Academy and directed the critically acclaimed Shakespeare in Harlem (196x) at the Theatre de Lys and The Legend of Charlie Parker at the Café a Go Go. Before returning to Dallas to start the Shakespeare Festival, Glenn directed plays in St. Louis, Atlanta, Greenwich, CT, Houston, and served as Artistic Director for the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton, Alberta (1966-68).

Glenn’s acting career included radio shows in the 1940’s, television commercials and several live appearances in The Guiding Light in the 1960’s. In films, Glenn played xxxx in Academy Award winning Last Picture Show, and xxxx in A Bullet for Pretty Boy. Modeling the free Shakespeare Festival in Dallas after the New York Shakespeare Festival, Glenn served as its producer for 16 years.

Personal Life

Glenn was married to Ethel Chappel Glenn from 1950 to 1963. Their four children are Christopher, Tricia, Phillip and Paul. He is currently married to Sigrid (Skousgard) Glenn and they have one daughter, Brittany. Glenn has one sister, Phyllis Hamm. Glenn retired from the Shakespeare Festival in 1987 and soon thereafter moved to Denton, Tx where he now lives.