H EADLINES
Theater Mainstay Dolly Beechman Schnall Dies at 96
work, she directed local
productions, coached
acting independently and
taught theater at Rutgers
University-Camden and
Penn State Abington. She
penned historical plays like
“Sojourner,” a biograph-
ical play about abolitionist
and activist Sojourner
Truth, and “Without the
Sainted Father,” a play
about President Abraham
Lincoln’s family aft er his
assassination. OB ITUARY
SOPHIE PANZER | JE STAFF
M A R I L LY N
“ D O L LY ”
Beechman Schnall dedicated her
life to supporting local theater.

The actor, playwright,
director, teacher and philan-
thropist served on the
boards of the Walnut Street
Th eatre, the Wilma Th eater,
1812 Productions and Act
II Playhouse. In 2008, 1812
Productions named her
“Woman of the Year.” Th at same
year, the Th eatre Alliance of
Greater Philadelphia presented
her with the Barrymore Award
for Lifetime Achievement.

She died of long-term compli-
cations from a stroke at Sunrise
Senior Living in Abington on
Oct. 29. She was 96.

Beechman Schnall was born
on April 9, 1924 to S. Beryl and
Rosalie Lush. She grew up in
Germantown and Mt. Airy in
a household that prized the
arts. Her father founded the
Suburban Opera Co., which later
became Opera Philadelphia,
and her mother was a painter,
violinist and patron.

She displayed an early love
for the stage and began taking
acting classes at the Germantown
Th eatre Guild when she was 11.

At 16, she got her fi rst paid job
in theater as a summer stock
apprentice at the Cape Th eater in
Cape May, New Jersey.

She graduated fi rst in her
class at Germantown High
School and won a scholarship to
the University of Pennsylvania,
where she was elected to Phi Beta
Kappa and earned a bachelor’s
degree in Spanish in 1944. In
1970, she went back to school and
earned a master’s of fi ne arts in
theater from Temple University.

As an actor, Beechman
Schnall performed at the
Philadelphia Th eatre Co. and
the Keswick Th eatre. She was
a member of both the Screen
Actors Guild and the Actors’
Equity Association.

In addition to her acting
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM Former Philadelphia Mayor Michael
Nutter presented Marillyn “Dolly”
Beechman Schnall with the Barrymore
Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2008.

Courtesy of the Beechman Schnall family
Beechman Schnall married
Eugene Beechman in 1948. Th e
couple had three daughters
before they divorced in 1965.

Schnall raised her daughters
in Westmont, New Jersey, an
area with few Jews at the time.

Although she was not religious,
Beechman Schnall was always
proud of her Jewish heritage
and culture.

Her daughters described her
as a strict but warm mother
who always dressed beautifully
and loved to laugh.

“We benefi ted from her wit
and her love and her intelli-
gence, and just her sheer joy
of being,” her daughter Jane
Beechman Segal said.

In New Jersey, she directed
award-winning plays
at Haddonfi eld Plays and Players.

She also taught acting in the
theater her brother helped
her build in her basement.

Beechman Segal said her mother
kept their suburban home fi lled
See Beechman, Page 10
Name: Human Good c/o Mayo Seitz
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...to be continued
JEWISH EXPONENT
NOVEMBER 12, 2020
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