Welles' Lear, staged by Peter Brook, on DVD

Press Release:

The Archive of American Television in partnership with E1 Entertainment is releasing Orson Welles 1953 dramatic Television debut as King Lear on DVD. The release date is January 26, 2010 with a list price of $29.95.

The DVD will come with over 80 minutes of bonus features, including:

* Interviews and rehearsal footage with Peter Brook and Virgil Thomson.

* Discussion of scenes from Hamlet by Walter Kerr.

* Reports from the Yale University Shakespeare Festival by Omnibushost Alastair Cooke.

* A collectible booklet with essays and photos from the performance.

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KING LEAR
(Omnibus/CBS-TV)
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Adapted from the play by William Shakespeare
and staged by Peter Brook

Produced by Fred Rickey
Television director: Andrew McCullough
Music composed by Virgil Thomson
Associate producer: Paul Feigay
Production designer: Henry May
Set decorator: Gene Callahan
Artistic consultant: Georges Wakhevitch

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The Cast

Lear, King of Britain — ORSON WELLES
The Fool — ALAN BADEL
Cordelia — NATASHA PARRY
Regan — MARGARET PHILLIPS
Coneril — BEATRICE STRAIGHT
Poor Tom (Edgar) — MICHEAL MacLIAMMOIR
Duke of Albany, (husband to Goneril) — ARNOLD MOSS
Earl of Kent — BRAMWELL FLETCHER
King of France — WESLEY ADDY
Oswald, (servant to Coneril) — DAVID J. STEWART
Earl of Gloucester — FREDERICK WORLOCK
Duke of Cornwall, (husband to Regan) — SCOTT FORBES
Duke of Burgundy — FRED SADOFF
First Gentlemen — LLOYD BOCHNER

Omnibus series host: ALASTAIR COOKE