Maria Ley Piscator

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Maria Ley Piscator (1899-1999) is best known as the wife of Erwin Piscator (1893-1966), Germany's famous left-wing theater director. Born August 1, 1899 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary (now Austria), Maria Ley sought to create a theatrical career for herself as a dancer in Paris and Berlin. Later, she turned to choreography and helped in several stage productions with Max Reinhardt, including "A Midsummer Night's Eve."

Maria Ley also studied literature at the Sorbonne, where she met Mr. Piscator (her third husband) shortly before his exile in the late 1930's. After marrying, the couple moved to the Manhattan in 1940, where they founded the Dramatic Workshop at the New School for Social Research. Their students included Harry Belafonte, Marlon Brando and Tony Randall.

Mrs. Piscator died in New York on October 14th, 1999, 2 months after her 100th birthday.

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