Frank Galati, an actor, director, teacher and adapter who was a pivotal figure in Chicago's theater community and a two-time Tony Award winner, died Monday. He was 79. Galati won twin Tonys in 1990 — best play and best director — for his adaptation and staging of Steppenwolf’s production of John Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath,” starring Gary Sinise as Tom Joad. He was also nominated for directing the 1998 celebrated musical “Ragtime.”
“Every actor will know what I mean when I say that Frank waited for me. He waited for me. He cast you and then he trusted you. Sometimes he knew me as an actor better than I knew myself,” said Steppenwolf member Molly Regan. His screenwriting credits include “The Accidental Tourist,” for which he was an Oscar nominee. He also was credited for writing the teleplay to Arthur Miller’s play “The American Clock” in 1993.
