Le Gallienne, Eva [key], 1899–1991, American actress, producer, director, and translator, b. London; daughter of poet Richard Le Gallienne. She made her debut in London in 1915 and in New York City the next year. She achieved distinction in 1921 in Molnar's Liliom and became known as an outstanding interpreter of Ibsen, whose works she translated. A strong believer in the repertory system, she founded the Civic Repertory Theatre (1926–33) in New York, for which she directed and acted. With Margaret Webster she was a cofounder of the American Repertory Theatre (1946). She directed and acted for the National Repertory Theatre (1961–66). She appeared in the film Resurrection in 1980.
See her autobiographies (1934 and 1953, repr. 1974); biography by H. Sheehy (1996).
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