Michael Butler, Broadway's Tony-Award Winning 'Hair' Producer, Dead at 95

Michael Butler
Ira Black/Corbis

The famed Broadway producer died on Nov. 7 at a facility in Reseda, California.

Famed Broadway producer Michael Butler has died. He was 95.

Butler died peacefully on Monday at the Los Angeles Jewish Home for the Aging in Reseda, California, according to an obituary released on Tuesday.

Butler is best remembered for discovering the musical Hair, which originated in New York's The Public Theater, and bringing it to Broadway to great critical acclaim in 1968.

The production earned Butler a Tony Award for Best Musical in 1969, and won six additional Tonys overall. The cast recording earned a GRAMMY award for Best Cast Album and was later inducted into the GRAMMY Hall of Fame.

He also worked behind the scenes to shepherd the big screen adaptation of the beloved musical a decade later when Miloš Forman directed the acclaimed 1979 film.

Butler's additional notable Broadway credits include the 1971 play Lenny, as well as the 1980 musical Reggae.

In addition to his work as a Broadway producer, Butler became a political activist around the time he was producing Hair, and was a liberal activist, donating millions to democratic and left-leaning organizations and causes throughout the 1970s and '80s.

He is survived by his son, Adam Butler, daughter-in-law Michelle Butler, and his grandson, Liam.

RELATED CONTENT: