Thomas Hilbert Connell III (October 25, 1942 – April 18, 2010) was a longtime chief stage manager at the Metropolitan Opera.
[1][2] Connell was born on October 25, 1942, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and grew up in Westport, Connecticut.
He was a singer, pianist and violist in high school, and was inspired by a class trip to the Met's La Bohème to enter the opera industry.
[1] Connell earned his bachelor's degree in English and Comparative Literature from Columbia University.
[1] He then married writer and Ogilvy & Mather executive Stephanie Pierson,[4][5] a marriage also ended in divorce.