Warren Hammack and his wife, Pamela White, share a stage scene. Their professional and private lives were closely interwoven for many decades. SUBMITTED PHOTO
BY JENNIFER MOONSONG
GLASGOW NEWS 1
Kentucky-born actor, producer, writer, director and philanthropist Warren Hammack was known and admired for his ability to understand and appreciate people.
“His work required an understanding of humans not everyone has, and Warren was really gifted in that regard. He was canny and perceptive,” Pamela White mused.
Hammack married White, an actress, after three years of their working together at the Horse Cave Theatre and the pair devoted 25 years of their professional lives to that theatre.
Hammack died peacefully at home with his family in Northampton, Massachusetts, on Feb. 13, one day shy of his 89th birthday.
Early Life
Hammack, the eighth in a close-knit family of nine children, was born in the western Kentucky town of Sturgis in 1934. Farm tasks bred a lifelong ethic of patience, determination, and practicality. His stories of lessons drawn from his work with Jake and Queen, “the smartest mule team in Union County,” evoked the experience and spirit of a bygone era. “Growing up with that many siblings, Warren was a worker, and he did more than his share of the work around the house, and the garden. He was a task-oriented man, and I came to really appreciate that,” White said,
Hammack seemed to be gifted at everything to which he applied himself. His academic achievements at Sturgis High School were complemented by his athleticism. In 1951, the Louisville Courier-Journal attributed him with “the longest touchdown run in Kentucky this year” – with the headline, “Hammack Shows ’Em How.”
The next act in Hammack’s life was as an enlisted man.
“Warren enlisted after high school, serving as a U.S. Army motion picture photographer. Kentucky’s Georgetown College, afforded by the G.I. bill, followed. Warren’s passion for theater was awakened there through his study with Orlin and Irene Corey. He played the central role in their production of “The Book of Job,” — first at the 1958 World’s Fair in Brussels, Belgium, followed by a tour of the British Isles. Later, Warren played Job at Pine Mountain State Park, and in 1962 began his Equity acting career in the lauded New York production. He also played Job at Horse Cave Theatre, Kentucky, for a total of close to 500 performances. In 1990 he directed “The Book of Job” for the Theatre Royal in Norwich, England,” White said in Hammack’s obituary.
After graduating magna cum laude with majors in drama and history, Hammack was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, with those studies followed by yet more at the Dallas Theatre Center as a Danforth fellow and resident artist.
Hollywood to Horse Cave
In Hollywood for 10 years, Warren freelanced in film and network television, with guest appearances on “The Virginian,” “Gunsmoke,” “Ironside,” “My Three Sons” and other popular shows. He collaborated with Jon Voight to produce “A Streetcar Named Desire,” and later played the role of Polonius to Voight’s Hamlet. One of Warren’s favorite projects was acting in Horton Foote’s adaptation of the William Faulkner story, “Old Man,” at the Loft Studio in Los Angeles with the legendary acting teacher Peggy Feury. Years later, Warren reconnected with Foote in New York at the HB Studio where he starred in “Valentine’s Day,” with Foote’s daughter, Hallie Foote, and Matthew Broderick and Matthew’s father, James Broderick.
Warren Hammack appears on one of multiple television shows that hired him during his Hollywood days. SUBMITTED PHOTO
In 1975, Hammack welcomed an invitation from southcentral Kentucky’s Judy and Bill Austin, known as local visionaries, to bring professional theater back home. He created the Horse Cave Theatre, a regional Equity theater in central Kentucky. 1977 saw its first season, along with his fortuitous hiring of Pamela White as lead actress. Pamela and Warren married in 1979, remaining artistic and administrative partners at the theatre. During his tenure as artistic and producing director at Horse Cave, Hammack produced over 130 productions; he directed more than 70 of these, with acting roles in many. The theatre received national recognition for its quality productions. In 1997, the New York Times saluted the theatre on its 20th anniversary season with an article, “By an Ancient Cave, the Classics Flourish.”
“Under Warren’s artistic leadership, Horse Cave Theatre contributed to the cultural life of the region with such programs as the summer Student Theatre Workshops leading young people ages 8 to 18 to put on their own plays and a statewide outreach program enabling thousands of Kentucky students each year to see a live performance of a Shakespeare play. The Kentucky Voices new-play development program produced 17 world premieres by or about Kentuckians. Playwrights who learned from Warren through Kentucky Voices continue to write, and their plays have been produced across the country and abroad. An anthology of 14 of those original plays was published in 2009, edited with Liz Bussey Fentress, a fellow playwright and, for many seasons, Horse Cave Theatre’s associate producer. Warren taught acting, directing, and playwriting to young people and adults in Hart and Barren county schools, and the Nashville Institute for the Arts,” Pamela wrote in the obituary.
The work and dedication to the arts was tasking and required much time and attention. During the Kentucky years, Hammack served on numerous boards and councils.
“On a personal level, Warren loved society more than being home. And I wouldn’t have had it any other way. It’s who he was, and he picked me,” Pamela said.
Beyond Horse Cave
Later in life, Warren Hammack and his wife, Pamela White, relocated to New England, where he became an expert gardener. SUBMITTED PHOTO
In 2002, Warren and Pamela moved to their home in Nelson, New Hampshire. Opportunities in theater then took them to Florida as resource artists for WordBridge, a new-play development program at Eckerd College. Warren also continued to act in theatrical productions in Arkansas, Florida, West Virginia, Tennessee and Maine. Closer to home, he worked with the Peterborough Players and the New Hampshire Institute for the Arts. Neighbors in and around Nelson were often treated to readings and short productions offered by White and Hammack. Hammack’s commitment to Nelson also led to his service on the Select Board. After 15 years in Nelson, White and Hammack moved to the Lathrop Independent Living Community in Northampton in 2016.
Warren was the last of his siblings to die. Even as an older gentleman living a very different life in New England than he did in Hollywood or Horse Cave, he drew attention, respect and admiration.
In New England, he also became an expert gardener, his widow said.
“In retirement, Warren did what he had not had the opportunity to do since he was a kid. He grew a garden,” White said.
In their neighborhood, he helped design, plot and cultivate a community garden.
“Since Warren is from Kentucky, he became regarded as the one to know about such things and people often sought his advice, and found it worked,” White said.
Although Hammack didn’t quite make it to 89 years, he celebrated the milestone a few days in advance of his passing with his wife, friends and neighbors with cake and shared memories. Back home in Kentucky, the life and accomplishments of Warren will be long celebrated and remembered.
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