Ruth Maleczech

Ruth Sophia Reinprecht, known professionally as Ruth Maleczech, was an American avant-garde stage actress. Born on January 8, 1939, in Cleveland, Ohio, Maleczech won three Obie Awards for Best Actress in her career for the plays Hajj (1983), Through the Leaves (1984), and Lear (1990). She also received an Obie Award for Design, which she shared with Julie Archer, for Vanishing Pictures (1980), a play she directed. Maleczech's portrayal of King Lear as an imperious Southern matriarch was highly acclaimed. Raised in Phoenix, Arizona, she was the first in her family to attend college, studying theater at UCLA before meeting Lee Breuer, co-founder of Mabou Mines, with whom she formed a professional partnership.