Overview
John Hackman Sumner, (27 May 192424 May 2013) was an English-born director and producer and theatre impresario, who was the founder and artistic director of Melbourne Theatre Company in Australia, gathering a group of later internationally famous stars including Ray Lawler, Zoe Caldwell, Barry Humphries and Fred Parslow.
Biography
Sumner was born in England in May 1924. At an early age he attended the National Opera Studio (known then as London Opera Studio). He served in the British Merchant Navy in World War II before commencing his career in theatre in 1947 in Dundee, Scotland as assistant stage manager. He later became stage director and manager with H. M. Tennent Theatres in the west end of London before emigrating to Australia in 1952. In 1959, he married actress Patsy King.
In 1953, Sumner established the Union Theatre Repertory Company (UTRC), which later became the Melbourne Theatre Company, where he served as artistic director until 1955. After a short time in Sydney managing the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust he returned to Melbourne and resumed his role as artistic director in 1959, continuing until 1987.
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).