It was the first production at the new theater, it was directed by Tyrone Guthrie, and it featured George Grizzard in the title role, and Jessica Tandy as Gertrude.

[1][2] The actress, Zoe Caldwell, acted with Pastene at the Guthrie Theater several times, including productions of Chekov’s Three Sisters and Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

She describes him in her memoir, I Will Be Cleopatra; An Actress’s Journey: Pastene is a tall, elegant man, who for reasons known only to himself, keeps his head on one side.

[5][6][7] In 1947 Pastene appeared in the Broadway production Crime and Punishment in a cast that also included John Gielgud, Lillian Gish, Sanford Meisner, Alexander Scourby and Marian Seldes.

In three years’ service in the infant medium he has played everything from Abraham Lincoln (Studio One) to the title role in Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.

Towards the end of the run of the Broadway production of The Children’s Hour, Pastene travelled a few miles north to Greenwich, Connecticut, to marry the singer and actress Susan Johnson, on May 11, 1953.