Guthrie protégé John Lewin felt safe on stage

John Lewin, a longtime Twin Cities actor, writer and voice-over talent who was an early member of the Guthrie Theater company, has died.

His Sept. 16 death in St. Anthony was from complications of Lewy body dementia, a progressive neurological disorder related to Parkinson's disease, said his widow, Anne Griffin-Lewin. He was 74.

"John was a person with a lot of energy, a lot of anxiety," she said. "The stage was the place where he felt safe."

Lewin adapted the classic Greek tragedy "The Oresteia" into "The House of Atreus," which was a big hit for the Guthrie under founder Tyrone Guthrie. The adaptation later transferred to New York. Lewin played many roles at the theater, where he worked on and off for 14 seasons.

"Tony [Guthrie] had no natural-born children, but he had a number of protégés," said Jennifer Lewin Wright, Lewin's first wife (the two were married from 1956 to 1990). "He and John were close."

Lewin played Scrooge in "A Christmas Carol" for three years, starting in 1986.

He was born Oct. 1, 1934, in Minneapolis to Harold and Francis Betz Lewin, served two years in the Army, then enrolled at Macalester College on the GI Bill. He left Macalester for the University of Minnesota, where he was a McKnight fellow and where he first worked on "The Oresteia."

"When Tyrone Guthrie heard about his work, he said, 'I've always wanted to do a trilogy and call it 'The House of Atreus,'" said Lewin Wright.

Guthrie encouraged Lewin to adapt other classic texts, including "The Persians" and "Oedipus." Some were staged in New York, with plans to produce them in London, Australia and Minneapolis. But the director died before those plans could be realized.

Lewin often recalled working with Guthrie. "He would talk about being in the middle of a rehearsal and having Tony say, 'Johnny, don't do that! You look like something carved in butter,'" said Griffin-Lewin.

Lewin was involved in the founding of what became the Brave New Workshop. He wrote science-fiction scripts and acted. "John once portrayed a beatnik poet," said Workshop founder Dudley Riggs. "He had a marvelous way of parodying airs."

For more than two decades, Lewin did voice-overs for commercials for stores such as Dayton's and Target.

"He had this warm, cuddly voice that could sell anything," said his former talent agent, Victoria Eide Calder.

While his career was marked by many ups, Lewin also had a spectacular failure. "Blood Red Roses," his Brechtian musical about the Crimean War, opened and closed on the same night on Broadway in 1970 under director Alan Schneider.

"It was a small show that was originally supposed to be off-Broadway," said Lewin Wright. "Then, because a little show called 'The Fantasticks' did not move, they found a Broadway house for it that was too big."

Lewin last appeared onstage at the Guthrie in the early 1990s, directed by Garland Wright. Severe scoliosis and a painful neuromuscular disorder ended his stage career.

A wake has been held.

Rohan Preston • 612-673-4390