H. William Fitelson

H. William Fitelson (January 21, 1905 – May 19, 1994 ) was an American entertainment lawyer with Fitelson & Mayers, managing director of the Theatre Guild, and a founding board member of the Actors Studio.

Early life and education Fitelson was born in New York, NY, on January 21, 1905. and Gypsy Rose Lee and Ethel Merman. Author James Baldwin called him "a feisty Napoleon of the theater." He was a member of the original board of directors of the Actors Studio upon its formation in 1948.

He also served on the board of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). In September 1946, he published an article, "The Murders in Monroe," in the September 1946 issue of The New Republic. He was responding to the murders in July of four young African Americans in the Moore's Ford lynchings in Georgia, which had outraged people across the United States. Fitelson raised numerous questions intended to identify issues in the case and challenge statements that had already been made by some figures. The ACLU was among civil rights organizations urging President Harry Truman to take action in the case.

From the 1940s through the 1960s, Fitelson was involved in the production of musicals and dramas, as well as motion pictures.

He retired from Fitelson & Mayers (also known as Fitelson, Mayers & London) in the mid-1980s. and art historian Meyer Schapiro.

He died at home in New York City at age 89 of obstructive cardiopulmonary disease. H. William Fitelson Letter to Kurt Weill, 1949, July 22 (1949)