Actress and Broadway League Alum Harriet Slaughter Dies at 88

BroadwayWorld is saddened to report that Harriet Slaughter, a Broadway actress and longtime director of labor relations at the League of American Theater Producers, died on November 12. She was 88.

Slaughter made her theatrical debut as a child in the world premiere of “Inherit the Wind,” directed by her mentor Margo Jones, in Dallas in 1955. She spent four years as Fruma Sarah in the original Broadway run of “Fiddler on the Roof,” playing the ghostly character who haunts Tevya over his daughter Tzeitel’s arranged marriage. 

But it was Slaughter’s later work behind the scenes, as a labor negotiator for the organization now known as the Broadway League, that put her center stage in the theater world. She spent 29 years at the organization, handling the contentious issues of actors’ benefits and salaries, and working to head off potential disruptions such as stagehand strikes. 

“She was beloved on both sides of the negotiating table,” said her friend Carole O’Blenes, who was then a Labor & Employment partner at the law firm Proskauer, Rose LLP, and who worked closely with her before retirement. O’Blenes noted her “radiant personality,” adding: “She really was a bright sweet light, an aura of smiles, sunshine and music, for many.  That is what I will remember most clearly and treasure.”

One of Slaughter’s major projects was the 1990 agreement among theater owners and producers and the labor unions to reduce ticket prices in order to spur more theatrical productions. 

In 1994, she co-founded the Better Wellness and You (BWAY) consortium, which brought together labor, management, and performers across the industry to improve access to preventative healthcare, organizing free health fairs, distributing mammogram vouchers, and led to the creation of the Actors Fund’s Phyllis Newman Women’s Health Initiative.

A dedicated professional mentor, Slaughter cherished cultivating young talent in the business of theater, especially women. She served as board president for the League of Professional Theater Women, where she co-produced the Women in Theatre television series on CUNY TV. After her retirement, she became a prolific painter and published poet, and served on the boards of arts organizations including the Pen + Brush and Encompass New Opera Theater Company. 

Slaughter was born in Fort Worth, Texas on April 2, 1937 to Richard Lewis, the head of the Drama Department at the University of Texas at Arlington, and Nan (Grigsby) Slaughter, a school teacher. Slaughter graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, with a BA in theater and dance, and later earned a Master of Arts in Arts Administration from NYU.

In 1955, Slaughter was cast in “Inherit the Wind,” the renowned, fictionalized account of the 1925 Scopes monkey trial that was meant to shine a spotlight on the threats posed by McCarthyism. After eight Broadway producers passed on the script, it was staged by Margo Jones, the Dallas theater producer, who was heralded for taking on the politically charged subject in the deep South. The production drew such critical acclaim that it was brought to Broadway within months. 

Jones promised her young protege that she would cast her in a Broadway performance of the show someday, but died before it could happen. In 1996, Slaughter finally saw the dream come true -- stepping in with a cameo during a Broadway revival of the show that starred the actor George C. Scott. At the time, she was also in the middle of back-to-back labor negotiations with Local 751 and IATSE. “This performance was a childhood wish fulfilled,” Slaughter later wrote.  After the performance, a large group of friends and admirers waited at the stage door for her autograph, before heading off to Sardi’s.

Slaughter’s longest running onstage engagement was “Fiddler,” the musical about a Jewish family in the fictional Russian shtetl Anatevka in 1905. She acted alongside a then undiscovered Bette Midler, who played the daughter Tzeitel. [optional trim] When the production moved from the Majestic to the Broadway theater in December, 1970, Slaughter helped debut the tight-knit cast’s intermission routine: doing impromptu dances and poetry readings for each other backstage. They dubbed it “Wuji Theater,” named after the nonsensical “wuji wuji” phrase that cast members said as they passed each other backstage numerous times each night. “We now have something to look forward to every week,” she was quoted as saying in a 1971 piece in the NY Times. “It has given us some relief from our frustrations, the opportunity to laugh together and share ideas. What better way is there to exchange ideas than to engage in creative play and act out the fantasies of our imaginations?” [end optional trim]

Slaughter’s other stage credits included “The King and I,” “Brigadoon,” “Annie Get Your Gun,” “Kismet,” and the national touring company of “Man of La Mancha.” She worked as a production assistant on Brendan Behan’s Broadway show “The Hostage.” She was a member of Actors’ Equity and the Screen Actors Guild, and also worked at Actors’ Equity as well as at the iconic performance venue The Town Hall.

She was married to Renato Cibelli from 1976 until his death in 1996. She is survived by her sister, Jane Slaughter Kornblut, her two nieces, Emily Kornblut and Anne Kornblut -- as well as by grand nephews and nieces, stepchildren and grandchildren, cousins, and countless friends.

She requested that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Entertainment Community Fund (formerly the Actors Fund) on her behalf. A memorial is being planned in New York for early 2026.