Olney Theater Center's William H. Graham Receives Lifetime Achievement Award

Olney Theater Center's Chairman Emeritus William H. Graham, Sr. was recognized for his lifetime commitment to the arts by Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett at the Arts and Humanity Executive Ball on October 24.

The occasion, the 10th Annual County Executive's Awards for Excellence in the Arts and Humanities, honored the eight awardees and recipients of FY 2011 and FY 2012 grants from the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County at a free reception in The Music Center at Strathmore at 7 p.m.

Graham's Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes his 50 years of working as an artist, teacher, administrator, and leader in the theater. Those 50 years include leading the National Players, a classical touring company that now runs under the Olney Theatre Center umbrella, from 1949-1999, and teaching in the Drama Department of the Catholic University of America since 1952. During his time serving on the board of Olney Theatre Center, he has transformed the organization from a straw-hat theater to a year-round, four venue (three indoor theaters and one amphitheater) cultural campus that produces an 6-play Mainstage Season, and a theatre education program through the National Players.

A member of Actor's Equity Association (AEA), Screen Actor's Guild (SAG), and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), Mr. Graham has also narrated for National Geographic, Voice of America, and PBS.

For more information on Olney Theatre Center, please call 301-924-4485.

Olney Theatre Center, located in Olney, Maryland, is a 73-year-old professional, award-winning, nonprofit, Equity theater whose mission is to inspire and nurture artists, students, technicians, administrators, and its audience members through its diverse array of theatrical and musical productions year round. Located in arts-rich Montgomery County, Olney Theatre Center is easily accessible from Washington, DC and Baltimore, MD. For more information please visit www.olneytheatre.org.

In operation since 1949, National Players is America's longest running touring company. Comprised of young professional actors, each year the company travels throughout the country (including every region of Maryland) performing two plays in repertory - one Shakespearean play and one dramatic classic. National Players reaches students and families who might otherwise have a limited opportunity to see live, classical theater. In addition, Players conducts workshops with students in such theater-related areas as Shakespeare, playwriting, acting, stage combat, scene analysis, and improvisation. Committed to the development of young theatrical talent and audiences, National Players' tours celebrate the experience of theatergoing by presenting the world's greatest dramatic literature.