| Merle Armitage | |
| Birth Date: | 1893 |
| Birth Place: | Iowa, U.S. |
| Death Date: | March 15, 1975 |
| Death Place: | Yucca Valley, California, U.S. |
| Nationality: | American |
| Occupation: | tour manager, set designer, opera producer, art collector, author, book designer |
| Children: | 1 |
Merle Armitage (1893 - March 15, 1975) was an American set designer, tour manager, theater producer, opera producer, art collector,[1] author, and book designer.
Armitage was born in 1893 in Iowa.[2]
Armitage became a theater set designer in New York City.[2] He was the tour manager for the Scotti Grand Opera Company, the Russian Grand Opera Company,[3] and The Beggars Opera.[4] He co-founded the Los Angeles Grand Opera Association in 1924, and he was its manager until 1930.[4] [3] He managed the Los Angeles Philharmonic Auditorium, from 1933 to 1939.[2] From 1933 to 1934 he was director of the Public Works of Art Project's Region 14, California south of Paso Robles.[5]
Armitage was the editorial and art director of Look magazine,[6] and he was the president of the American Institute of Graphic Arts in 1951.[2] He designed and authored many books, including Saints and Saint Makers, Operatic Masterpieces, Operations Santa Fe, and Burro Alley.[4] He authored two books about Igor Stravinsky and a book about George Gershwin, two men whose tours he managed.[3]
Armitage was married four times, and he had a daughter, Chama.[3] He died on March 15, 1975, in Yucca Valley, California, at age 82.[4] [3] [6]