Brock Pemberton

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Brock Pemberton, born Ralph Brock Pemberton on December 14, 1885, in Leavenworth, Kansas, was an American theatre producer, director, stage actor, and journalist. He is best known for founding the Tony Awards and for his work with Antoinette Perry, co-founder of the American Theatre Wing. He was also a member of the Algonquin Round Table.

He was the third of four children of Albert Pemberton and Ella Murdock. His family moved to Emporia, Kansas, where he excelled in school and finished as valedictorian of Emporia High School in 1902. He attended the College of Emporia on a scholarship, studied journalism at the University of Kansas, and earned a BA in 1908. He worked for the Emporia Gazette and other newspapers, building a strong reputation as a reporter.

In New York, starting in 1910, Pemberton worked for the Evening Mail, the New York World, and later the New York Times drama department. He directed and produced the American premiere of Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author in 1922 and staged other productions such as Strictly Dishonorable, Harvey, Miss Lulu Bett, and Personal Appearance. He gave the award its nickname, the Tony, at a 1947 ceremony honoring Antoinette Perry.

Pemberton married Margaret McCoy in 1915. In 1950, while starring in Harvey in Phoenix, he died of a heart attack on March 11 in New York City, at age 64. A Tony Award was awarded posthumously later that year in recognition of his role as founder and first chairman of the Tony Awards.